Justin stared into the distance as he hung up the call.
There was a tinge of loneliness in his eyes.
To be honest, he had never believed that his mother had suddenly stopped loving him. When he was a child, he had been so stubborn that he had fainted in rain. When he woke up, he had known right away that it would be useless to approach her again.
Later, as he grew up, he suddenly discovered one day that a servant at home was filming a video of him. After that, the servant had sent it to someone.
At first, he’d thought that the servant must be scheming something, so he’d constantly stayed on guard against him. However, even as time passed, the servant didn’t take any action.
After he grew up, Justin quietly studied and learned hacking techniques without anyone knowing. He had then hacked into the servant’s phone and discovered his secret.
As it turned out, all the videos of him-from when he was a child all the way until he turned into a young adult—had all been sent by the servant to his mother, who had never shown any concern for him!
He took the opportunity to hack into his mother’s cell phone, only to find all the videos of him stored within. Every video of him from when he was a child until he became a young adult-was in there. None of them had ever been deleted. And every night, before going to bed, she would watch the videos of him over and over again.
Justin had been thirteen years old then.
Since then, he became certain that his mother was hiding something from him, and that she had her reasons and difficulties for doing so.
It could be said that he had never held any grudge towards his mother.
However, this did not mean that he was not angry about it.
He was indeed furious.
When he was young, he couldn’t do anything. Thus, for his own good, his mother had kept those secrets from him. But even as he grew up, was his mother still unable to believe in him?
Besides…
It was undeniable that feelings and relationships were built and developed through daily contact and interaction with one another. The twenty-year-long separation had left him and Iris with nothing much to say to each other.
Thus, later on, he only occasionally visited her at the villa, and never without reason.
He was waiting.
He was waiting for his mother to take the initiative to tell him the truth. But judging from her behavior, was his mother planning to keep it from him for the rest of her life? Just because it would bring him trouble?
Justin lowered his head.
To be honest, there were times when he felt like giving up on the investigation.
So what even if he found out what had happened?
Since she hadn’t been by his side as he grew up, why should he accompany her as she grew old…? Besides, sometimes habit really was something awfully scary—he had already grown used to not having her at home.
If there came a day where he suddenly found himself with a mother nagging at him, he might not be able to get used to it either.
Yet when he heard from Sean that she had cried, his heart softened again.
No matter what, they were still mother and son. Even if he was indifferent by nature, and even if he might only care about a few people; the woman was still among the few he cared about.
Moreover-and also the main reason-Nora seemed to share a very good relationship with her.
Upstairs.
Nora entered the room to see Cherry pulling a long face. Although she was sitting on the sofa and playing games, she was not happy.
Pete glanced at her. “What’s the matter? Is something troubling you?”
Cherry killed an enemy in the game and then looked up at him. “Is it that obvious that I’m upset?”
“… You didn’t rant at anyone while playing your game today,” replied Pete with the corners of his lips spasming. The little girl was pretty much just short of blatantly writing the words “I’m unhappy” on her face.
Even Princess Lucy asked, “Cherry, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you? I’ll get the bodyguards to beat them up!” As she spoke, she even waved her tiny little fists. She looked just like a Barbie doll.
Cherry sighed quietly. “Don’t beat her up, Lucy. You don’t understand.”
A puzzled Lucy asked, “What don’t I understand? Is this some kind of rule in America? Why should you put up with it when that person is upsetting you?” “Because it’s my grandma we’re talking about!”
Cherry rested her chin on her hand and said, “Grandma was really nice to me in the past, I don’t know why she suddenly changed today. She must have a reason for doing so! Do you know why she did that, Pete?”
Pete shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Cherry was a little disappointed. “You are so stupid~”
Cherry sighed quietly. “Forget it, it’s time for my live-stream!”
After speaking, she sat on the sofa and opened the live-stream app.
Seeing the little fellows chatting so happily, Nora didn’t go in to disturb them and left instead.
Cherry was not someone to dwell on things, so she would never take such small matters to heart. Neither did she need Nora to comfort her. In her opinion, Justin was simply overthinking things.
After she left, she looked downstairs again and saw that there was no one in the living room. However, there was a figure on the balcony.
Although Nora was very sleepy and wanted very much to look for someplace where she could sleep, when she thought of how hurtful Iris’ words earlier in the day had been for Justin, she nevertheless went down the stairs and walked towards him.
As she went over, she saw the man standing there with his back to her.
The moonlight cast a silver glow on him, making a smooth silhouette of the dark and overcast figure. He exuded a sense of alienation and indifference, yet at the same time, he looked as though he had been forgotten in a corner.
He seemed so sad and lonely that it made one feel sorry for him.
This was especially when the man, who had never smoked, actually had a cigar held in between his fingertips at the moment. The smoke from the cigar curled upwards, making him look even lonelier.
Nora felt like they could pretty much make a movie with the scene.
The corners of Nora’s lips twitched a little. She hadn’t expected the man to be so deeply hurt.
She walked over and stood behind him. Just as she was about to speak, the man suddenly turned around and embraced her tightly. His chest was very hard and solid. It felt rather uncomfortable when he held her so tightly.
Yet Nora did not dare to push him away at a time like this, for fear that he would become even sadder–because the man happened to whisper into her ear, “Nora, you’re the only one I have left now.”
IIII
Nora kept quiet for three seconds, but in the end, she still couldn’t stop herself from saying, “You still have Cherry, Pete, Xander, Brenda, and also Sean and Lawrence. There’s also…”
Justin: “…”
He really shouldn’t have allowed the woman to speak. The moment she opened her mouth, she would absolutely become the insensitive girl who ruined the atmosphere!
The corners of Justin’s lips spasmed. Seeing that Nora was actually planning to continue listing the rest, he promptly and decisively lowered his head suddenly and caught the woman’s lips.
He could see the girl freezing suddenly. Then, her almond-shaped eyes widened and she looked at him in astonishment. It seemed like her first reaction was to push him away, yet she held back.
Justin closed his eyes. He could sense that the girl was being extra-tolerant today, so he pushed his luck and invaded her mouth.
The crisp smell of tobacco on the man rushed into Nora’s nostrils bossily, making her feel like the smell was actually quite pleasant?
To be honest, she hadn’t thought of pushing him away.
If the man needed a hug and a kiss to reinforce his sense of security, then she didn’t mind giving them to him.
Besides, he really was exceptionally pitiful today. Thus, not only did Nora not resist, but she even stretched out her arms and circled them around his neck tightly, and started responding to his kiss.
The atmosphere gradually turned amorous.
It seemed like all the air at the balcony had been sucked away. In the narrow space, the man and woman’s chests heaved up and down. After some time, Justin suddenly picked up Nora and carried her like a newly-wed bride. He said, “Let’s… go to the bedroom upstairs.”
The suggestiveness in his words were very apparent.
When he stared hard at Nora, he saw the girl, whose cheeks were scarlet and her eyes misty, reply, “Okay.”
