Sheena threw a ton of questions to the child’s face just to give her ‘country bumpkin’ niece an opening gambit.

Nora cast her eyes down with a slightly chilly look and kept quiet.

Melissa hurriedly played peacemaker and said, “Sheena, Cherry grew up abroad with Nora. Over there, they value quality education…”

Sheena leaned on the sofa. As though a person in power talking down to her subordinates, she said, “Quality education? It’s all a lie. That’s just so that they can better bridge the gap. Real aristocrats and the wealthy put their children through strict education from an early age!”

Her eyes were like blazing torches as she looked at Nora. She said, “So, your name is Nora? You’re all grown up, so you’ve already missed the best time and opportunity to study. But rest assured; since you’ve come to us, on account of my sister, I won’t let you roam the streets homeless. I heard that you got yourself pregnant before you were married, right? And that your ex-fiance broke off the engagement? Don’t worry, I’ll find you a good husband and ensure that you live worry-free for the rest of your life. As for your daughter…”

She looked at Pete and scanned the child up and down. Then, as though she was being charitable, she said, “Although five years old is a late start compared to others, there’s at least still hope for her.”

Nora had a very cold look in her eyes. She lowered her gaze and then, with a sardonic smile at the corner of her lips, she said, “You don’t need to bother. I’ll take care of my daughter’s education myself.”

Cherry’s studies were indeed a huge headache. Her daughter had an extremely high IQ, but she was only interested in games and was sloppy in her studies. In particular, her history knowledge had become a huge mess thanks to her aunt abroad…

However, this didn’t mean that others could criticize her at will.

“You? Take care of her education matters?”

Sheena said coldly, “What are you going to teach her? Are you going to teach her how to become obsessed with her cell phone and how to play games every day? Are you going to have her be like you and engage in a chaotic private life, and become pregnant before marriage when she grows up?”

“Shut up!” Mrs. Anderson reprimanded Sheena, causing her to curl her lip.

Melissa even frowned and said reproachingly, “Sheena, I know you have her interests at heart, but can you speak in a less hurtful manner?”

Sheena sneered, “I just want her to have a clear idea of the situation she’s in! Does she really think it’s that easy to be a child of a wealthy family?”

She glanced at the ‘girl’ who was standing there stubbornly and said, “Not convinced, are you? Fine, I’ll show you Lena’s progress in her studies and give you a good sense of the gap between the two children! Go on, Lena, tell the big sister here what you’re capable of.”

Lena Xavier was Sheena’s daughter who was born at a later point in Sheena’s life. She gave birth to her at the age of forty, so Lena was only six that year.

The little girl wearing a dress was adorable and pretty. When she heard her, she raised her chin and declared proudly, “I know two foreign languages—Spanish and French—and can communicate fluently in them.”

Then, she said a couple of lines in the two foreign languages fluently, forming an animated and impressive sight.

After speaking, she looked at Pete triumphantly.

Sheena raised her chin proudly along with her. After Lena was done, she looked at Nora and asked, “I wonder what your daughter is capable of?”

Nora was about to speak when a sullen Pete’s lips suddenly parted and he prattled on in a language that no one understood.

Stunned, Lena asked, “What language is that?”

Pete calmly replied, “It’s Arabic. It’s very normal that you can’t understand it. Mommy has taught me eight different languages.”

“…”

Lena, who felt as if she had lost, refused to concede defeat and spoke again. She said, “I’ve also participated in many competitions and took second place in a children’s calligraphy competition, as well as second place in a robotics competition for juniors!”

A puzzled Pete frowned and said, “Second place? How sad.”

Lena was confused.

Furious, she went on and said, “I can recite 300 poems and spell 1,500 words. At the same time, I also learned programming and Mathematical Olympiad-level mathematics!”

Pete pursed his lips and sighed. “Are poems that hard to memorize and recite? Does programming even require effort to learn? Don’t people immediately get these things after just a look?”

“???”

A puzzled Pete took Nora’s hand and said, “Let’s go upstairs, Mommy. Aunt Sheena probably still has something to talk to Grandma and Aunt Melissa about, so let’s not disturb them anymore.”

The two of them left behind a group of dumbfounded people and went upstairs.

Nora closed the door. Then, she turned around, picked up Pete, and put him down on the sofa while observing him. Cherry hated language studies. Since when did she even speak Arabic?

Something was definitely wrong!

She was about to ask Pete when her cell phone suddenly rang and interrupted her thoughts.

Nora picked up the call. The moment she did, she heard Henry’s voice from the other end. “Nora! You’ve gotten gutsy, haven’t you?! How dare you arrange for the company dividends to be sent to your bank account! Give me back the money right now! Otherwise, what am I supposed to live on?”

Nora replied coolly, “What does your survival have anything to do with me?”

“You—!” Henry was furious. But in the end, he said viciously, “I see. Now that you’ve gone to the Andersons, you don’t intend to acknowledge a poor man like me as your father anymore? Thinking of cutting off your relations with me? No way! But if you give me $8,000,000, I’ll cut off relations with you from now on. How about it?”

Nora’s eyes darkened. Asking for $8,000,000 right away? He sure had a pretty big appetite.

When he heard her silence, Henry smiled triumphantly and said, “I know you don’t have any money. However, the Andersons do! I’m sure the Andersons won’t want me to show up in New York and embarrass them, right?”

“…”

What a shameless man. However, the corners of Nora’s lips suddenly curled upward the next moment and she said, “Fine, I’ll transfer the money to you right away, but you must tell me where you abandoned my son back then.”

After a short pause, Henry finally agreed and said, “Fine! I’ll tell you immediately after I receive the money!”

After hanging up, Nora tapped casually on her cell phone, wrote a Trojan horse malware program, and sent it to Henry.

The program would show fake funds transfer information when it reached him. However, once he opened the message, his cell phone would immediately be invaded by Nora, thereby allowing her to eavesdrop on him!

Money? Heh, dream on.

After she finished all this, she used her cell phone to monitor the conversation on the other side.

She heard Wendy’s voice first: “Has the money arrived? Has the money arrived?”

“Yes, it has!”

“You’ve never mentioned her son’s whereabouts all these years, Henry. Where exactly did you abandon her son?”

Henry let out a sinister laugh and replied, “Her son? He died a long time ago! I watched him breathe his last back then. After that, I buried him in the suburbs! So, she wants her son back? No problem, I can tell her where he is. I reckon he’s probably a pile of bones by now?”

“…”

Nora felt as if a bomb had suddenly gone off in her mind.

Her grip on her cell phone loosened and it fell onto the ground.

He’s dead…

No wonder Henry had so vehemently refused to reveal any information all this time! No wonder all the private investigators couldn’t find any news of her son!

Everything in front of her turned blurry, and large teardrops slid down her cheeks…

Her son was dead… He had died a long time ago!

It was her fault! It was her fault for not protecting her son!

She clenched her fists tightly. Her fingernails were embedded in her palms, yet she didn’t feel any pain.

She felt as if someone had ruthlessly drawn a blunt blade across her heart. It hurt so much that she suddenly couldn’t breathe anymore. She bent down, seemingly unable to hear anything at all…

It was at this moment that a small pair of hands held her.

Nora raised her head and immediately saw a small face stained with tears from shock and fright. Pete’s lips parted and closed as he repeated something over and over. She tried hard to hear what he was saying. At last, she finally heard him.

He said, “Mommy! Don’t cry! I’m still alive!”