Chapter 311: Five Years Ago
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yvonne had always been someone very good at keeping herself calm and collected, but in front of Joel, she always felt like he could see through everything she was thinking.
The last ten minutes when the assistant was away were the most unbearable ten minutes she had ever experienced.
She could pretend to be flawless in front of everyone, but her eldest brother’s eyes seemed to always be able to see through all her thoughts.
He had deliberately kept quiet and sat there just like that. It was just a short ten minutes, yet she felt as if a whole year had gone by.
That was why she had so eagerly asked that question when the assistant entered the study, causing herself to expose all of her sneaky little thoughts.
As soon as she spoke, she secretly cursed.
She turned to Joel. Sure enough, he was looking straight at her. His usually amicable countenance was sharp and chilly.
Yvonne swallowed hard.
She lowered her head.
The assistant could clearly feel something wrong between the siblings. He hurriedly lowered his head and replied, “This card was used for the first time in a foreign country five years ago. Although the card registrant hadn’t left any information, it was indeed Ms. Nora Smith who used it that time.”
In other words, although it was an anonymous card, barring any accidents, it was indeed Nora’s.
Yvonne had already been too afraid to speak when Joel was staring at her just now. Even though she was astounded, she nevertheless bit her lip and asked, “Did she already know Mr. Hunt five years ago?”
Her words took the assistant by surprise, and he glanced at Joel.
Joel glanced at the door. The assistant immediately understood. He lowered his head and quietly left the study. When he was exiting, he even thoughtfully closed the door for them.
As soon as the door closed, Joel’s gentle but cold and mellow voice reached Yvonne. “Are you hoping very much that this card belongs to Justin? Why?”
Yvonne: “!!”
She looked up in a panic. “N-no… Let me explain, Joel. That’s not…”
But when Yvonne’s eyes met Joel’s calm but mocking gaze, she shut up.
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She knew that there was no use no matter what she said.
He knew.
Yvonne lowered her head. “Joel, in your eyes, who is more important? Me or her? I’m Dad’s lawful daughter…”
Joel lowered his head. He suddenly asked, “Then do you still remember what your legal name is?”
Yvonne was taken aback. “Yvonne Smith…”
She suddenly paused.
Yv… onne… Smith…
Her name had always been a topic of discussion ever since she was a child. In fact, even her adoptive father’s love history was a famous one. However, he never seemed to care about people talking about how much he loved Yvette.
Even if everyone said that Yvette had betrayed him, he had never once diminished his love for her in front of others.
He stayed single all his life.
He adopted a daughter who would marry into the Hunts in the future, and named her Yvonne.
Yvonne lowered her head, her fingers balling up even tighter into fists. “Joel, is it because Dad likes that woman that he would also like the daughter she had with another man?”
Joel was silent.
However, it seemed like Yvonne had regained her strength. She said, “Aren’t you afraid that Dad would be disappointed if you defend her? Everyone says that I’m Dad’s adopted daughter, but even I feel for him and dislike Nora, despite how I’m not related to Dad by blood. You’re not just his blood-related nephew, you’re pretty much Dad’s son. You’re even closer to him than I am, so how can you let him down?”
Had he let Uncle Ian down?
Joel pressed his lips together again.
He thought of how his uncle had reacted when the DNA report was first released. He thought of his internal struggle during that time. He thought of how he had gone to the Hunts’ party and defended her…
Joel slowly lowered his gaze. “You are not allowed to act rashly until Uncle Ian makes a decision.”
Seeing that he wasn’t pursuing the matter anymore, Yvonne breathed a sigh of relief at once.
She nodded. “I promise.”
When she left the office, someone suddenly opened the window. Quentin came in nimbly from the window. The thin and fair-skinned young man stared in the direction Yvonne had left, and curled his lips disdainfully. “Are you really not going to do anything about it?”
Joel had always handled family affairs fairly.
However, his actions had been a little partial toward Yvonne this time.
Joel looked at him and asked, “What can I do?”
Quentin was taken aback.
If he gave Yvonne a warning, he would be slapping Ian in the face.
Yet if he defended Nora, it would also shame Ian.
“But she’s our cousin! She has blood ties with us!”
As soon as Quentin said that, Joel sighed and said, “She’s also the daughter that woman had with Uncle Ryan.”
Quentin: “…”
He scratched his head and kept quiet for a long while. At last, he said, “Forget it, the previous generation’s relationships are too complicated. I’ll just pretend I don’t know anything.”
Joel nodded. However, he then looked at him again and asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting her?”
Quentin curled his lips disdainfully. “Yeah, she’s home. There, she’s here!”
—
A big black jeep stopped outside the manor with a screech.
Afraid that Joel would confiscate his card again, Louis slipped away at high speed, causing him to almost bump into the car in front of him!
He stood in front of the car and patted his chest. “Is that how you should be driving? You almost scared me to death!”
He walked to the side of the car as he spoke, upon which he saw Nora’s cool and expressionless face through the open window.
Louis’s anger froze instantly. Then, a huge smile blossomed on his face at once. “Nora!”
Nora: “??”
Did someone run over the kid and damage his brain?
Why was there suddenly such a huge change in his attitude toward her?
While she was wondering about it, Louis said, “You’re my cousin, indeed! Don’t worry, I will protect you in the future! Joel has taken the card again, though. Can you transfer me some money?”
‘Again’…
Poor child.
“… Alright. How much do you need?” asked Nora.
She took out her cell phone. Only then did she realize that Louis had sent her a voice message.
She raised her eyebrows. “You sent me a voice message? What did you send?”
She was about to play it when Louis abruptly grabbed her phone—he had just thought of the ‘You stinky woman! You’ve gotten me into huge trouble!!’ message that he had sent earlier.
He hastily deleted the voice message.
Only then did Louis return the phone. “It’s nothing, nothing…”
Nora: “…”
Seeing how he was behaving, Nora didn’t stoop to his level. Instead, she picked up her phone and asked, “How much do you want?”
Louis held up five fingers.
His monthly allowance was 50,000 dollars. Although that was considered rather low for a family like theirs, it was just enough to feed the cats and dogs. Even though he had already ordered cat food for the next one month and Joel had also returned him his credit card—limit of which also happened to be 50,000 dollars—who would ever say no to more money?
Nora glanced at his hand and uttered an ‘oh’. Then, she tapped on her phone a few times. A beep rang out and Louis received an SMS.
Nora then tossed the phone onto the car seat and left coolly.
“Bye, Nora!”
Louis picked up his cell phone after he called out ingratiatingly, but when he saw the transfer amount, he was astounded.
