Moreover, Ernesto Scott was already worried about Nora Scott’s situation. Knowing he’s here, he’d be more supportive than anything.
"Want to eat sothing together?"
Glancing at the full table of dishes, Nora asked the two.
"Sure!"
Oliver Scott nodded without hesitation.
Marcus Shaw hesitated for a mont but was forced into agreent by Oliver who held his head down.
"..."
Marcus went to heat the dishes in silence.
Oliver offered to help him out.
But—
With a burst of noise from the kitchen, three minutes later, Oliver was thrown out by Marcus.
"Step into the kitchen one more ti, and I’ll break your legs."
Marcus, with a dark expression, tossed out this remark and slamd the kitchen door shut.
"..."
Oliver, thrown to the doorway and struck by the sound of the door, stood there awkwardly. He unintentionally caught a glimpse of Nora’s fleeting smile, lightly cleared his throat, and scratched his head.
Nora casually picked up an orange from the coffee table, tossed it into the air and caught it again, then raised an eyebrow at him, "Co over and sit."
"Hey."
Oliver walked over.
Peeling the orange, Nora tilted her head and asked, "Did Marcus buy the fruit again?"
"Yep." Oliver sat down, looked at the few fruits on the coffee table, and asked, "Why?"
"Nothing, just tired of the sa ones forever."
Glancing at the kitchen, Oliver leaned forward slightly and asked softly, "Should I talk to him about it?"
"Sure."
That was exactly what Nora was waiting for.
"But—" Oliver paused and then said, "He seems to always buy fruit from a single store, right outside our school."
Nora: "..."
Seems like he might have a fixed arrangent with so fruit shop.
"I go with him after school," Oliver ntioned casually, "There’s a kid in the store, about four or five, they’re really close."
"A girl?"
"A boy."
For so reason, Oliver noticed a hint of regret in Nora’s eyes after he answered.
Considering that his relationship with Marcus had been pretty good lately, Oliver worried Marcus might be perceived by Nora as "unpopular with girls" or "unable to get a girlfriend," so he decided to defend Marcus’ honor.
"Since the end of last sester’s exams, Marcus’ popularity at school has skyrocketed. From seniors to freshn, everyone knows him. During the first week of this sester, his desk was flooded with cards, snacks, and love letters."
Nora broke the orange in half and tossed one to him, asking with interest, "From the girls at school?"
"...So boys, too."
ntioning this, Oliver felt a bit sheepish.
"..."
Nora froze with a piece of orange halfway to her lips.
Noticing Nora’s increasingly odd expression, Oliver was puzzled for a few seconds before suddenly realizing and explained with a wry smile, "No, it’s because you attended the parent eting last ti...you already gained quite a fanbase. They wanted Marcus to give those to you, they’re usually just snacks."
"So where are my snacks?"
It’s been over a month since school started, and Marcus hadn’t brought any snacks back ho.
Not to ntion a "full desk," he hadn’t even seen a single bag of chips.
Oliver: "He threw them out."
Nora: "..."
The two of them looked at each other silently for a mont, and eventually, they simultaneously started to complain about Marcus.
Three minutes later, the label of "wasteful" was unanimously stuck on Marcus, who was heating the dishes in blissful ignorance.
As a result, when Marcus finished heating the dishes and ca out to see the aningful looks in their eyes, he couldn’t help but feel a chill.
?
Both of them gossiping about him behind his back?
*
The whole weekend, Oliver stayed at Cloudwater Haven.
Marcus and Oliver ca and went in the house, and sotis they would bicker over small issues. Their playful banter added a lot of life to the household.
Before they knew it, Monday arrived.
Marcus and Oliver took the subway as usual. After waking Nora up for breakfast, they left.
After breakfast, Nora took a nap until she was woken up by a phone call just before noon.
The call was from Laura Collins.
"Nora."
"Hmm?"
The calm voice from Laura made Nora wake up a bit more.
"Still sleeping?" Laura’s voice carried a hint of amusent.
"Yeah."
Turning over, Nora ruffled her ssy hair and burrowed back into the blankets.
"I’m planning to leave, I’m at the airport now. I wanted to say goodbye."
From her tone, she sounded carefree and relieved.
"Where to?"
"I don’t know..." Laura paused slightly, "I don’t know where he is, so I just picked a random place."
"You want to find him?"
Nora opened her eyes.
"To be honest, I’m not sure. I just feel empty, nothing to do," Laura said. "Lately, things have been a bit overwhelming, so I thought I’d take a break to relax."
She didn’t have many friends, and her family was basically non-existent. Staying at ho alone felt like being a walking corpse.
Might as well go out and experience life, find sothing to do.
"Hmm."
Nora didn’t persuade her otherwise.
With a sudden smile, Laura added, "Oh right, do you rember the travel list I made after our first outing together? I’ve been planning it for a long ti, always saying I’d go, but I still haven’t. Maybe I’ll just follow that list and travel all over, maybe...one day I’ll bump into him."
The list...
In her mind, a phrase suddenly flashed by—
"Stole a list and planned to follow the addresses."
Squinting her eyes, Nora then opened them wide, and as she moved slightly, she glanced at the bright sunlight outside the floor-to-ceiling window and suddenly called her, "Laura."
"Hmm?"
"Just follow the list, you might really run into him."
Nora didn’t say it too directly.
Seeming to sense sothing, Laura was slightly taken aback, then she let out a breath, "Alright."
"Good luck."
"Sa to you, enjoy the mont and all the best." Laura paused briefly, and the sound of an announcent ca through the phone, "I’m boarding now."
"Hmm."
The call ended.
Three minutes later, catching onto sothing, Nora suddenly got out of bed.
Finding her tossed-away slippers, Nora slipped them on, holding her phone in one hand and grabbing a jacket from the coat rack with the other. She quickly draped it over herself and went to freshen up.
While she washed her face and brushed her teeth, she called Pedro Langley twice, but Pedro didn’t pick up either ti.
Was he at work?
Realizing it was Monday, Nora’s mood took a turn for the worse. She tossed her phone into her pocket, left herself unkept, and walked straight into the living room.
Shuffling in her slippers, she stood in the living room for a while, looking left and right. There was nothing new or interesting to do, and besides...feeling irritated because Pedro didn’t answer, Nora frowned, her face darkening slightly as she headed towards the entranceway.
Without changing her shoes, she went straight out, slipping over to the door of the neighboring house.
Letting her eyes fall, Nora stared at the keypad lock for a mont. Trying to figure it out, she finally rembered Pedro’s birthday and carefully entered the code.
The sound of the lock opening was a relief, and the door opened smoothly.
If Pedro didn’t answer his phone, she’s hardly to bla for letting herself in.
Reassuring herself with this thought, Nora decisively pulled the door open and walked inside.
Since Marcus cooked at ho, Nora had three regular als, so Jack Carter and Butler Loxley were usually gone from Friday to Monday. And Pedro usually had to work on weekdays, unless sothing special ca up, he’d be out.
But—
Upon entering, Nora distinctly heard the sound of the shower in the bathroom.
?
Pedro’s at ho?
That didn’t make sense. Pedro should be showering in the master bathroom.
The shower stopped, and soon, with the sound of slippers hitting the floor, the bathroom door opened, and a slender figure walked out.
"Master Pedro? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t co back till noon—"
The sweet, pleasant voice halted abruptly upon seeing Nora.
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