"Why?"
Marcus Shaw asked word by word.
Nora Scott’s eyes widened, full of things she wanted to say, she feared she might drown him with words if she opened her mouth.
Why?
She’s your half-sister and my half-sister, too!
Isn’t that logic clear enough?
Nora Scott roared internally.
On the surface, he remained calm, sighed lightly, and explained honestly, "I told you, she’s my sister."
Marcus Shaw’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
Once a broken nerve is reconnected, many clues surface naturally.
The first ti they looked for parents, Nora Scott surely didn’t know Nora’s identity, so he acted very normally then.
—That’s why Marcus Shaw never thought of the "Nora and Nora Scott being half-siblings" direction.
At so point, Nora Scott beca keen on asking him about Nora;
Nora Scott called Nora "sis" almost like it was natural, and didn’t change despite corrections;
Nora and Nora Scott got familiar really quickly, not like with a "younger brother’s classmate";
Although he didn’t know Nora Scott was in Cloudwater Haven, Nora had a gift prepared for him when she ca back;
...
Clues were as tangled as a ssy thread.
Surrounded by a low-pressure atmosphere, Nora Scott’s hair stood on end, quickly clarifying, "I told you before, you just didn’t believe ."
Heaven and earth can bear witness, he didn’t an to deliberately hide anything.
—At least, not initially, later on, he amused himself wondering when this little dimwit would finally notice.
"When?"
Marcus Shaw asked coldly, not understanding.
"The day I found out she was my sister," Nora Scott responded quickly, "Just that afternoon, I even asked about your birthday."
Marcus Shaw pressed his lips into a line, recalling that incident, his emotions cooled down bit by bit.
After a long while, he went over the events several tis in his mind, finally stating coolly, "You didn’t make it clear."
"..."
This little dimwit is blaming him now?
"Fine, let’s say I wasn’t clear," Nora Scott placed the bla on his own head, and asked sowhat gloomily, "But, during this ti, I’ve been visiting you a lot... Did you notice even a little, uh, really, even a hint of sothing off?"
Marcus Shaw listlessly lifted an eyelid, "I thought you were just naturally sociable and thick-skinned."
At most, he was puzzled by Nora’s equal treatnt of Nora Scott and him.
But he didn’t think much about it.
After all, he wasn’t particularly close to Nora.
What if Nora treated everyone similarly?
Nora Scott: "..."
Is that what you thought of ?
He’s not soone who just gets close to anyone, okay?!
Internally wanting to refute, but seeing Marcus Shaw’s furrowed brows and stern face, Nora Scott refrained from confronting him at this mont.
After a slight pause, he tentatively opened his mouth, "So, should we have a formal acknowledging dinner, or sothing tonight..."
"In your dreams."
Tossing out these chilly words, Marcus Shaw took a step back.
He glanced at Nora Scott and then reached out to Andrew Hughes.
Andrew Hughes, not knowing what they were talking about, upon seeing Marcus Shaw’s gesture, proactively extended his hand and was then pulled towards the office.
"..."
Nora Scott scratched his chin, unhappily following behind Marcus Shaw and Andrew Hughes.
This person has a peculiar temper... Could he be upset that he didn’t say it outright sooner?
*
In the office, at six o’clock, the teachers gradually packed up their things and left.
Only those particularly interested in Nora or with actual matters to handle stayed in the office.
Nora was chatting casually with Cleveland while waiting for Marcus Shaw, Nora Scott, Andrew Hughes, and the troublemaking student to arrive.
"ow~"
Rose’s owing ca from outside.
All eyes in the office turned towards the sound.
The first to appear was a cool and cute little boy and a white cat, followed by Marcus Shaw in his uniform, tall and slender with a dark expression. Trailing behind them with a sowhat gloomy expression, yet carrying a refreshing and lively air, was Nora Scott.
"You’re here," Cleveland greeted them, standing up.
Marcus Shaw shot a look over.
There was a nacing vibe.
Cleveland’s passionate heart chilled halfway instantly.
——Is Marcus Shaw blaming him for not handling things properly?
——What did he do wrong?
Mr. Cleveland didn’t show it, but inside he was already questioning himself and doubting life.
"Hello, teacher."
Oliver still greeted as usual, polite and restrained.
Seeing Oliver’s reaction, Mr. Cleveland exhaled a breath, then said, "Your sister has been waiting for a while, Leopold should be here soon; you guys co over and sit first."
"Okay."
Oliver responded.
Then his gaze shifted to Nora, his expression noticeably softer, "Sis."
Marcus Shaw also looked at Nora, but only pursed his lips lightly, not greeting her.
His grim expression did not improve.
"Nora."
Andrew Hughes coolly greeted Nora, while giving Marcus Shaw’s hand a slight tug, as if reminding Marcus to get on good terms with Nora.
However, his little gesture was ignored by Marcus.
Nora didn’t mind at all, glancing at them briefly, her gaze lingering on Andrew Hughes and Rose.
Andrew Hughes had a scratch on his small face, with a cartoon band-aid on it, which looked quite cute.
His hand holding Rose also had a scar, but it wasn’t covered with a band-aid, just treated with so ointnt.
It seed none of it was serious.
Rose, however, was perfectly fine, with no missing limbs, and her fur was quite clean; it shouldn’t be a problem to give Henry Chapman an explanation.
"I heard you sneaked in?"
With a slight smile, Nora propped her elbow on the back of the chair and asked Andrew Hughes with interest.
"Mm." Andrew Hughes nodded slightly, his peripheral vision flicking quickly to Mr. Cleveland before seriously justifying, "They weren’t guarding well."
Nora glanced teasingly at Mr. Cleveland.
Mr. Cleveland lowered his head in embarrassnt.
Being told by a child that "they weren’t guarding well"... his feelings were truly complex.
The other teachers all lifted their eyelids, peering over with their peripherals, both admiring and amused.
Isn’t it just "poorly guarded"?
If a four or five-year-old could sneak in, couldn’t anyone else just waltz right in?
Under Mr. Cleveland’s invitation, everyone took their seats one by one.
Even though Andrew Hughes looked cool, mature like a little grown-up, he was actually quite attached to Marcus Shaw, even wanting to sit right next to him.
Nora, watching this scene in silence, felt a slight pang of regret.
——Even if this child was Marcus’s illegitimate son, he could still accept him.
Not just because of the one or two resemblances in looks and aura, but even their proud, aloof, quirky nature was exactly the sa as Marcus’s.
It’s a sha he’s soone else’s child.
Marcus Shaw didn’t say much throughout, keeping a stern face, low pressure, hard to approach. Oliver, unconcerned with Marcus being upset, had no mind to lighten the atmosphere, and Andrew Hughes was naturally not a talkative child.
As for Nora, she didn’t mind the little silence or awkwardness at all.
Thus, the atmosphere slowly drifted towards awkwardness, and Mr. Cleveland threw out several topics, but nobody picked them up, he was practically crying inside.
Fortunately, at this mont, the horoom teacher from the next class brought the troublemaker, Leopold Turner, over.
"Sorry, we’re late."
The horoom teacher’s voice was like tily rain, and as soon as she finished speaking, she felt Mr. Cleveland’s eager gaze.
The horoom teacher shuddered under his gaze, feeling a little uneasy inside.
Nora slightly raised her eyes, looking at the troubleso student brought in by the horoom teacher — Leopold Turner.
In Mr. Cleveland’s words, Leopold was a troublemaker, had a big temper, not easy to handle, committed major mistakes, and had constant small blunders, with several derits recorded. At school, many students avoided him when they saw him.
Nora originally thought it might be difficult to get him to admit his mistakes.
Unexpectedly——
A glance from Marcus Shaw was all it took for Leopold to lower his head, losing all his bluster, and straightforwardly, respectfully apologized to both of them and Andrew Hughes.
The teachers didn’t notice Marcus Shaw’s glance, and were sowhat surprised by Leopold’s attitude in admitting his mistakes.
But Nora gave a slightly surprised glance at Marcus Shaw.
Marcus averted his gaze, pretending not to notice.
Hm.
Nora’s lips curled slightly.
Marcus Shaw’s peripheral vision caught this scene, and a certain point of concern eased a bit.
Almost forgot...
His initial impression of Nora was: she was much wilder than he was during her school days.
"Since everything’s been resolved, I’ll take them with now." Nora stood up, tilting her head to ask Mr. Cleveland, "Is it alright if I excuse myself from the evening self-study and take them out for a al?"
"No, no problem."
Mr. Cleveland promptly replied.
Simultaneously, he silently added in his heart: Oliver is fine, seriously attending classes and following rules, a typical top student. But Marcus often skips evening self-study, that’s no secret...
Now that Marcus’s grades have skyrocketed, the teachers all turn a blind eye, choosing to overlook it.
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