Putting The Cards On The Table
He heard clearly everything that Ruth said.
However, he could only hear static noise coming from the other side.
Obviously, the other party also had a very powerful hacker who could block his signal, so only Ruth could
hear the voice.
Lawrence frowned and put down the listening device altogether. He went up to Ruth and turned on the
speaker mode on the cell phone.
Ruth had already known this when she made the call, of course. That was why she had called Xander
with peace of mind and hadn’t been afraid that he might let something slip. After all, Xander’s phone had
been modified, so no one could listen in on his voice.
But with Lawrence switching on the speaker mode so blatantly, she immediately said, “Xander, behave.
Hurry up and come to America to look for me. I promise I won’t touch your rabbits anymore when I go
back!”
When Xander heard this, his voice suddenly rose. “Really?”
Xander, who grew up in the basement, had never been allowed to go out. His father was the only one
who had accompanied him and taught him everything. He was also able to teach himself a lot of things
through online classes.
His father was very busy sometimes, so he could only stay in the basement by himself.
The little rabbits, cats, and dogs had accompanied him for many years. They were his closest friends,
but those friends of his were instead the adults’ tools for experiments.
Xander was very unhappy about this.
But he didn’t know how to fight back. Having grown up there, he didn’t even know that he could fight
back. He just wanted to save the rabbits and keep his little friends alive.
Therefore, if an organ transplant was possible, then he was willing to do it!
In his world, there was only life and death. There was no right or wrong!
Even if sewing a dog’s head onto a cat’s body was a serious violation of natural science and went
against humanity’s moral compass, for him, as long as it could keep Dog No. 6 alive, nothing else
mattered.
Ruth nodded. “Yes!”
Xander hesitated for a moment. Then, he said, “Alright, then.”
Ruth breathed a sigh of relief. “Come over as soon as you can!”
“Okay, okay. You’re so annoying!”
Xander hung up the phone.
Ruth breathed a sigh of relief. When she handed the phone to Lawrence, she said weakly, “Mr. Zimmer, I
hope you’ll keep your word. The day Xander arrives at the manor, you must send me food!”
Lawrence picked up the phone and nodded. “Of course.”
—
Justin drove to the Smiths’.
When he entered, he found Nora lying on the bed, her head rested on one hand as she watched Cherry
and Pete.
She had her phone in her hand and she glanced at it from time to time.
Seeing the three of them peaceful and happy, Justin fell silent for a while.
He walked over and sat beside Nora.
Nora glanced at him and said, “You’re here.”
“Yeah.”
Justin sat at the edge of the bed. He stared at her for a while before he suddenly chuckled and asked,
“Are you jealous?”
“No.”
Nora replied calmly, “If I have the time for that, I might as well use that time to make up for lost sleep
instead.”
Justin: “?”
He narrowed his eyes a little and then sighed. “Nora, I feel that this incident has at least proven one
thing.”
Nora looked at him. “What is it?”
“It at least proves that I am serious about you, rather than making do because of the kids.”
Justin looked at her earnestly, his gaze deep and bottomless, making them look particularly devoted and
affectionate.
Even the beauty mark at the corner of his eye looked a little more serious than usual.
Nora felt as if her heart had been coated in honey. It felt like a ray of sunlight had suddenly shone
through the skies after it had been dark for several days.
She had never known that this was what being in love felt like. A single sentence from him could make
her so happy.
Despite that, she turned away and with her cheeks burning a little, replied, “Oh.”
The man kept quiet for a while. Then, he suddenly asked, “What about you?”
Nora was taken aback.
Justin continued gazing at her. “Are you only with me because of the children?”
Nora kept quiet for a moment.
To be honest, someone with a personality like hers did not understand what being in love was.
When she first learned that Justin was Pete’s father, she had been wary of him and had feared that the
man would take the child away after he knew the truth.
After all, her first reaction was also to take the two kids and go out of the country immediately. But what
had happened later? When did that man slowly make his way into her heart without her even realizing it?
Justin looked at her seriously.
His heart slowly sank.
To be honest, he had been thinking about this problem all this time. He had always known that he was
the one who had been acting and pretending not to know the truth, and insisting that Nora was in love
with him. That was how the two of them had gradually gotten together.
It could be said that he was the one who had been putting in the effort in their relationship all this time.
If there were 100 steps between the two of them, then he had already taken 99 steps. There was only
one last step left now…
In the past, he had never dared to hope for Nora to respond.
After all, even if he had forced her into it or tricked her into it, the woman was already his. They also had
two children. It seemed like from the moment the truth was revealed, they had naturally gotten together
and were like an old married couple.
At the same time, it was also as though they were making do and living like this for the sake of the
children.
But Justin was starting to dislike such days more and more.
He’d originally thought that he wasn’t bothered about Nora’s stance, but now…
He wanted Nora to take that step.
He observed Nora’s expression seriously, but instead saw hesitation, confusion, and even puzzlement on
her face…
These were all emotions that he didn’t want to see.
The shyness and love that he had wanted to see the most were nowhere to be seen!
The smile on Justin’s face slowly disappeared, and his expression became serious.
He was still waiting, waiting for her answer.
One minute passed…
Two minutes passed…
Even after three minutes passed, the woman still did not speak. This caused a sense of loss and pain to
suddenly surge up in Justin.
She had never actually given their relationship proper thought before, right?
Justin suddenly stood up. “I get it.”
That woman didn’t have a heart at all.
Perhaps her feelings for him weren’t even of love!
Justin was extremely depressed. He restrained his anger and then looked at Cherry and Pete, only to
see the children looking at him worriedly.
He suppressed his sadness and hesitation and ruffled Cherry’s hair. Then, he got up and walked out.
The truth was so cruel.
Yet despite knowing the truth, he still didn’t want to let go.
He walked rather quickly. Soon, he came to the parking lot.
He put his hand on the car door handle. Just as he was about to open the door and enter, a delicate arm
reached over and held the door down.
Surprised, Justin’s head turned to the side abruptly to see Nora looking at him.
His heart suddenly started to pound.
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