"Daddy?" Melissa was taken aback. "What Daddy?"
Nora replied frankly, "It's Cherry's father."
Melissa became even more confused. "He's in New York?"
When she was checking Nora's background back then, it was said that her premarital pregnancy had come about due to illicit sexual conduct. However, Melissa didn't think that she was a loose woman, so she must have been deceived instead.
Therefore, she subconsciously thought that Cherry's father must be a bad person.
And now, despite everything he had done, he had come to New York to look for them?
While she was lost in thought, Nora took Cherry's hand and went out. Melissa watched the two of them from the back.
The lazy and sloppy adult held her hands behind her head and dragged her feet when she walked, while the child automatically grasped the corner of her clothes and skipped alongside her obediently.
Neither of them were walking properly in the traditional sense, yet they formed an inexplicably harmonious and heartwarming sight.
Nora was still driving the Andersons' jeep today. Her movements were neat and snappy as she got into the car. She got Cherry to sit properly in the backseat. After putting on the seatbelt, she stepped on the gas pedal and the car zoomed out.
Her driving was a little daredevil, but Cherry wasn't afraid.
She reduced the half-hour-long journey to just fifteen minutes.
The Hunts owned a large manor, but it was said to house a few generations of the Hunts, so Justin lived elsewhere with his son instead.
Soon, Nora's car arrived at the guardhouse. Visitors were usually required to register at the guardhouse, but as soon as she slowed down, the guard immediately said, "Ms. Smith, Mr. Hunt has already notified us that you're coming today. Please proceed."
Nora raised her brows. Surprise flashed across her eyes. She hadn't expected Justin to be so considerate.
But when one thought about it, it made sense. It must be very crowded and busy when a golden boy high up in the air like him held a birthday party, so he must have already given the guards the guest list a long time ago, right?
Otherwise, it would be too much trouble to register the visitors and call the host one by one.
With that in mind, she drove into the villa complex.
The villa complex was very big and the environment very beautiful.
The last time Nora was here, was when she had learned that Pete was her son. Pete had brought her here to look for Cherry. It was very late that night and she hadn't been in any mood to appreciate the surroundings that time either.
As she looked around, she noticed that there was even a small stream inside. The villa complex was built next to hills and rivers, so the surroundings were very unique and distinctive. In addition, there were only a few villas inside, each situated very far away from the other, so it was very quiet and peaceful there.
When she turned the corner, someone suddenly rushed to the front of the car.
Screeeeech!
Nora slammed on the brakes. Inertia caused her body to lean forward a little. When she sat up straight to see who exactly it was being so reckless, someone knocked fiercely on the car window by the side.
She turned to the side to see a few big and muscular men standing there and beckoning to her.
A few people stood in front of and behind the car, trapping her and leaving her nowhere to go.
Nora frowned unhappily. She rolled down the window, casually rested an arm on the door, and asked lazily, "What is it?"
The man standing by the window had a long scar on his face and looked very fierce and menacing. He roared, "Get out of the car!"
Nora, "?"
Tsk. Were they trying to scare her?
She didn't move. Her cat-like eyes were downcast as she asked, "Is something the matter?"
Scarface was about to say something when someone beside him sighed in admiration and commented, "Hey, that chick is gorgeous!"
As soon as he said that, malicious looks suddenly appeared in the other men's eyes and they stared at Nora greedily.
Scarface frowned and ordered in a low voice, "Our target is the Hunts' little mister. Don't create any unnecessary trouble! If women are what you want, you can get any woman you want after we finish the job and get our money!"
He was likely the leader of the group. After he said that, no one made any more movements, though they continued to stare at Nora.
Nora, however, frowned and asked, "Is your target the Hunts' little mister?"
"Yes!" Scarface looked through the window at the backseat. He said, "If you know what's good for you, then hand him over! We don't want to do anything more than that, so we can let you go! Otherwise, neither you nor he will live!"
'Neither you nor he will live'…
A sharp look suddenly flared up in Nora's eyes.
Like what she had thought, they were indeed here for her son.
Scarface was just paid to do whatever the person who hired him wanted. Someone had offered an astronomical sum for the Hunts' little mister's life. Although it was a difficult mission, it paid more than others.
After finishing the job, they wouldn't have to worry about making ends meet for the rest of their lives.
Therefore, he had brought his men with him and lay here in ambush.
They had already destroyed the surveillance cameras in the neighborhood a few days ago and had also waited here for a very long time. However, as expected of a rich man, Mr. Hunt had bodyguards with him all the time. On top of that, the little mister was never left alone and always had at least three or four bodyguards with him.
They only either went to the Hunt Corporation or the Quinn School of Martial Arts.
How would they possibly have the guts to go to either of those places?
As such, they could only wait for an opportunity here, and now, he was finally alone!
Scarface looked at Cherry and curled his lip disdainfully.
The Hunts' little mister sure was cautious. The moment he was alone, he dressed up like a little girl. If it weren't because he had seen photos of him, he probably wouldn't even have recognized him!
As for the charming female driver, he didn't take her seriously at all.
At last, he was about to complete his mission. At the thought of the money he was going to get, Scarface moved toward the car excitedly. However, it was at this moment that someone suddenly held him down by the shoulder.
Nora calmly said to the person in the car, "Cherry, close your eyes and sing."
"Okay, Mommy."
Cherry, who was seated in the backseat, had long been accustomed to this. She stretched out her chubby fingers and covered her eyes. Then, she began to sing.
"Mary had a little man, little man, little man~
"Mary had a little man, he was so handsome~"
Bam!
"Ugh!"
Bam!
"Ouch! That hurt!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The chaotic sounds outside rang out together with Cherry's nursery rhymes. The little fellow couldn't help but peek through her fingers, but every time she looked over, she would make eye contact with Nora's vigilant eyes.
Cherry immediately looked ahead of her obediently. She didn't dare to peek anymore.
At the same time, she also became a lot more well-behaved.
Sigh, Mommy was just too ferocious.
Those baddies were just too pitiful~
By the time she finished the nursery rhyme, the seven to eight large and muscular men outside were all sprawled on the ground.
Scarface, who hurt all over, couldn't get up at all. He stared at the woman in astoundment. "Who are you?"
Given her skills, there was no way she was a nobody in the scene.
Nora grabbed Scarface's collar. Instead of answering, she asked, "What's your name?"
"B-Ben Loris."
Nora asked, "Where do you live? Who do you have in your family?"
Scarface answered her questions one by one. Nora picked up her cell phone, tapped a few times on it randomly, and hacked into the public security system. Then, she found his personal information.
She held up the cell phone to Scarface and showed it to him. At once, he was terrified. "What do you want? It's a rule in our line of work to leave family members out of this!"
However, Nora's lips curled into a smile and she said, "Remember, if anything happens to little Mr. Hunt, no matter who did it, I'll come only for you."
Scarface, "!!"
Nora dusted her hands off and looked at Cherry. "Let's go.. Don't hold up your father's birthday celebrations."
Nora turned around, intending to return to the car.
But before she could get in, Scarface cried out fiercely, "You can't do that! There are too many people in the scene who want him dead!"
Nora paused. She suddenly looked back and asked, "What did you say?"
Scarface replied, "We have a chat group where we take on missions. Over the years, quite a few missions to kill the Hunts' little mister have been issued every once in a while! There are a lot of people after his life, and there are also a lot of people who've accepted the missions! While we were lying in ambush here, we've already encountered four to five other groups coming here for him…"
Nora, "!!"
She had no idea that her son was actually living in such an environment ever since he was a baby!
It must be a miracle that he managed to reach five years of age safely!
A sullen Nora asked, "Can you find out who issued the missions?"
The woman had already thoroughly investigated his background and found out who his family members were. For his wife's sake, Scarface didn't dare to lie. He replied truthfully, "Mr. Hunt is a very well-known man. At the same time, he has also made a lot of enemies in the business world, so who can really say for sure?"
"…"
His words rendered Nora lost for words.
A brief moment later, she said, "Well, just remember what I told you just now."
Scarface, "!!"
Had he said all that in vain?
The men could only watch helplessly as Nora got into the car and drove away. They huddled together and asked, "What do we do now, Boss?"
Scarface shouted angrily, "What else can we do? Continue to lay in ambush, of course!"
"Are we going to look for another opportunity to kill him?"
Scarface smacked him on the head and snapped, "Yeah, right! It's so that we can protect the little Mr. Hunt, of course! If anything happens to him, I won't let any of you off!"
"…"
Nora didn't hear how their discussion went. After making another turn, she suddenly stopped the car and hopped into the backseat from in between the driver seat and the passenger seat.
Cherry asked, "… What's the matter, Mommy?"
Nora grabbed her bag and took out some cosmetics. She said, "Let's not tell your Daddy the truth for now. It's too dangerous. After thinking about it, I decided that we'll just smuggle your brother out someday and go abroad together and be done with it."
"…"
The corners of Cherry's lips spasmed.
So, did Mommy get a bad impression of Daddy again after hearing that he had a lot of enemies?
At the villa.
Pete had been very excited ever since he received a text message from Cherry half an hour ago, saying that they were going to be reunited as a family that day.
After much thought, he decided that he had to give the tyrant a warning first, lest he got too worked up and did something inappropriate.
Thus, after a short internal struggle, Pete went to Justin's study.
With a very serious look on his face, the little fellow said to Justin, "Daddy, I have something to tell you."
Justin was currently looking at the mirror and adjusting his clothes. Did the black suit make him seem a little old?
But wouldn't a white suit make him look too frivolous?
Dark colors suited him better after all…
Which tie should he use?
In the midst of his internal struggle, upon hearing Pete, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "What is it?"
Pete kept quiet for a moment. Then, he finally said, "Actually, you have a daughter."
Justin, "??"
He turned his head abruptly to see Pete staring at him seriously.
Father and son stared at each other for a long while before Justin finally asked, "Oh? Where is she?"
Pete replied, "You'll meet her very soon."
Practically right after he said that, his cell phone beeped.
Pete looked down and glanced at it—it was an audio message from Cherry. Her young, tender voice rang out in his earphones: "Mommy says she doesn't want to tell Daddy anymore, Pete. Don't accidentally reveal anything, okie?"
Pete, "?"
His tiny form stiffened for a moment. Then, he slowly raised his head and saw that…
The tyrant was staring at him silently.
He was staring at him silently…
He was still staring at him…
"…"
A few seconds later, Pete suddenly tilted his head and tried his best to imitate Cherry. He said, "Daddy, look at me. Am I cute? Aren't I adorable? Do I look like a little girl?"
Justin was utterly bewildered.
His son's personality change had been invisible and sporadic previously, but he had actually personally witnessed him switching from a taciturn personality to a cute and adorable one this time. He felt like he was about to have a mental breakdown.
If one were to visualize how he currently felt using an emoji, then it would definitely be a face that was split down the middle in two…
Rows and rows of it…
Pete quietly turned and walked away. He heaved a long and heavy sigh.
Life was simply too hard!
At his young age, he was shouldering a burden that one his age shouldn't be shouldering!
Ding-dong!
The doorbell suddenly rang. Before Pete could do anything, he saw the tyrant walk over quickly. However, he didn't open the door immediately when he reached it. Instead, he tidied his clothes a little before he finally opened the door. There was even a smile on his face.
It must be Ms. Smith at the door…
… Or so Justin thought. Instead, he saw a surprised and flattered Chester standing outside. "You're actually opening the door for me, Justin?"
Justin, "?"
With a look of displeasure, he asked, "Why are you here?"
Chester beamed and replied, "It's your birthday today, so I specially came over to celebrate it with you!"
"…"
Justin stepped aside to let him in. Chester entered the house and placed the gift in the hallway.
In the kitchen, Sean and the others were preparing lunch.
After all, they had told Ms. Smith the day before that it was a 'birthday party', so they couldn't have no one else around.
A while later, the doorbell rang again.
Chester, who liked running errands the most, ran over to open the door.
Seeing that he had gone over, Justin remained on the sofa, though his ears perked up. However, when he looked at the door out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tina York coming in instead. She exuded a mature charm all over as she stood there gracefully and said, "Happy birthday, Mr. Hunt."
Justin's expression darkened even further. "What are you doing here?"
Tina's fists balled up a little, but the next moment, she asked graciously, "Is it inconvenient for me to be here?"
Typically, the host would never drive anyone out when they came bearing birthday gifts, right?
But as soon as she said that, she heard Justin replying coldly, "Yes, it certainly is."
Tina, "?"
Chester could sense Justin's displeasure. Knowing that he was the one who had let her in, he smiled awkwardly and said, "Everyone here tonight is male, Ms. York. It is indeed inconvenient when you're the only woman here…"
In other words, please have some self-awareness and leave after leaving the gift behind!
However, Tina acted as if she didn't understand what he meant and said, "It's okay. We pretty much grew up together, so you can just think of me as a guy."
After speaking, she went straight to the kitchen.
At this point, the doorbell rang again.
Tina ran over and opened the door while saying, "I'll get it."
However, when she opened the door, she saw Nora's pretty face. Tina's expression immediately darkened. She took a couple of steps out, lowered her voice, and demanded, "Why are you here?"
Nora, "??"
She raised her eyebrows. "Why can't I be here?"
Tina immediately replied, "There's still a certain difference in status between the Andersons and the Hunts, Ms. Smith. I'd advise you to stop daydreaming. Also… Mr. Hunt has said that it's not convenient to host female guests at home today. Please leave!"
After saying that, she immediately took a step back and closed the door!
Inside, Justin, who didn't see anyone coming in, asked, "Who was it?"
"Oh," Tina smiled gently and said, "It's nothing. The building management staff came to wish you a happy birthday, but they said that they won't enter in case they disturb you."