As soon as Nora said that, Mrs. Landis, who was next to her, said, “But we don’t have an invitation!”
Nora and Iris looked at each other. The two spoke at the same time, “We will have one very soon.”
Mrs. Landis: “?”
A puzzled Mrs. Landis looked at Justin. “Are you going to ask Mr. Hunt to ask for two tickets?”
“No, it’s fine.”
As soon as Iris said that, someone knocked at the door. Then, the mailman appeared and said, “Mdm. Iris, mail for you.”
Iris and Nora looked at each other again.
A look of realization flashed across Nora’s eyes, and she said to Mrs. Landis, “See, isn’t that the invitation?”
Mrs. Landis: “?”
Mrs. Landis took the mail from the mailman. When she opened it, she found that it was indeed an invitation for the orchid exhibition. She was astounded. “Ms. Smith, Ma’am, aren’t the two of you too amazing?”
Iris scoffed. “By holding the orchid exhibition right after she returned to New York, she’s clearly coming right at me. Since she wants to slap me in the face, how could she possibly not invite me?”
Mrs. Landis couldn’t help but smack her own forehead. “Look at me, because I’ve been living here all this time and haven’t come into contact with people much, I’ve even forgotten about such basic household infighting!”
Both Nora and Iris were amused by Mrs. Landis’s use of the words “household infighting”:
Iris patted her and asked, “Where did you learn all these words from?”
Mrs. Landis replied with a smile, “Oh, you know how I watch all those TV dramas when I have nothing to do! I learned it from them!”
Iris suddenly gave her a fierce look and said, “Mrs. Landis, how dare you slack off while I wasn’t paying attention! You sneaky treacherous woman! I’m going to deduct your
pay!”
Mrs. Landis pretended to be scared. “Ma’am, other people work only nine to six, whereas I wait on you twenty-four hours a day! Aren’t you even going to allow me to watch a bit of TV for entertainment?”.
Iris smiled. “Your salary is for twenty-four hours of work each day! You should already be thankful that I’m letting you sleep!”
Mrs. Landis protested, “You capitalist!”
“In that case, I’ll pay you for sixteen hours instead?”
“… Ma’am, if you exploit your staff any further, I might secretly add poison into your favorite food.”
The two of them bickered and started to joke with each other.
There was finally a smile on Iris’s face that was calm and serene all year round.
Mrs. Landis looked at her, very glad and relieved.
The two of them were just joking around, of course. Iris had given Mrs. Landis much more than her salary all these years. Both of Mrs. Landis’ children were already married, and they both had their own properties in New York and were living lives of luxury. This was all thanks to Iris.
After twenty years of her company, Mrs. Landis was more like family to Iris now.
Justin stood at the side and watched them bicker and joke with each other.
To be honest, for so many years, his mother’s appearance had long become vague and blurry in his mind-because every time he came over, all he would see was Iris’s frosty face.
The woman’s lively appearance faintly reminded him of how she had hugged, kissed him, and teased him when he was a child.
At that time, she had also laughed and talked happily like what she was currently doing.
Originally, because he hadn’t had much contact with Iris for more than two decades, Justin had felt some estrangement towards his mother. However, that sense of estrangement had lessened considerably at this instant.
It was as though the mother in his memories, who loved to talk, laugh, play, and joke around, had returned. For him, the word “mother” was no longer just an identity but had once again become vivid and animated.
The feeling made the corners of his lips curl upward imperceptibly. He cast his eyes down and hid the complex emotions in his eyes. Mrs. Landis was a huge mischief-maker. She had also wanted Iris and Justin to reconcile for very long. Seeing that the atmosphere today was great, she said, “Mr. Hunt, you really loved the ravioli I made when you were a child. Why don’t you stay for dinner tonight?”
Justin subconsciously looked at Nora.
When she saw him looking over, Nora nodded and said, “Alright.”
Mrs. Landis became excited at once. She rolled up her sleeves and walked into the kitchen as she said, “Since you guys are staying for dinner tonight, I will have to show off my culinary skills! Ma’am eats too little, so she doesn’t give me a chance to show off my skills at all.”
ILII
After Mrs. Landis entered the kitchen, the atmosphere among the trio standing outside immediately became a little awkward.
Iris looked at Nora and then at Justin. At last, she said, “I’ll go and give Mrs. Landis a hand. Given her age, she’ll be too slow!”
After speaking, she also went into the kitchen.
Nora and Justin were the only ones left outside. The two of them looked around the greenhouse. Justin pointed at the orchids and said, “I heard that people who raise orchids have high moral character. Now it seems like that’s not always the case.”
He was referring to Lauren.
Nora, however, laughed and said, “I don’t know about others, but I know why my god-sister likes taking care of orchids.”
Nora deliberately emphasized the words “god-sister”.
Justin: “??!”
He raised his eyebrows, knowing that Nora was being cheeky and asking to be taught a lesson again.
As soon as the thought formed, he looked at Nora’s lips, wishing he could take a few nips to vent his “anger”.
As for Nora, she said, “Do you want to know why? If you do, then call me God-aunt Nora. I’ll tell you if you do.”
Tsk.
She was starting to take advantage of him now.
Justin stroked his chin and suddenly leaned forward. He lowered his voice and asked, “Ms. Smith, are you sure you want to be my god-aunt?”
Nora: “?”
She decided not to tease him anymore, lest it backfired on herself. She coughed and said, “Iris… I mean, Aunt Iris and I already knew each other before she even knew who I was. She told me at that time that she was raising all these flowers because her son had given her a pot of orchids once.”
Justin was stunned.
He looked at the orchids, his jaw tensing up.
He remembered now. When he was ten years old, he had indeed given her a pot of orchids on her birthday. The woman had accepted his gift. At the same time, she had also told him that she had only accepted the gift because she liked orchids.
Since then, the floodgates opened and she started to buy a lot of orchids.
Justin had always thought that it was because she liked orchids. But as it turned out, it was just an excuse for her to accept her son’s gift.
He turned to look at Iris in the kitchen.
Mrs. Landis had prepared some ingredients, and she was picking and choosing from among them. However, everything that she picked out just so happened to be his favorite…
Justin lowered his head.
In truth, his mother had never really left him all these years, and he’d always had his mother’s love with him by his side, right?
In this instant, he suddenly reconciled with his mother—or rather, with the part of himself that had been uncomfortable because his mother hadn’t taken care of him.
He also suddenly became open-minded and let go of some things in this instant.
He let out a silent sigh. Right at this moment, his cell phone rang.
When he answered, Herman’s voice came from the other side.
“Justin, didn’t you want to know why your mother has been avoiding you? I will tell you now.”
