The issue with Marshall had just wrapped up, and Oliver Scott and Marcus Shaw were off to participate in the latest recording of "ch Battle."
Nora Scott was busy with filming and couldn’t be there in person, but they sent her the results right after recording—
Two words: Nailed it.
"ch Battle" has aired two episodes so far, though more have been taped. This ti, the recording involved a "challenge match," where their Golden Lightning would compete against a cha sent by the guest team. If they won, they could replace the guest’s cha and beco part of the guest’s team.
After the match, Nora asked them to co over to school, inviting them to dinner at Peter Hughes’ house in the evening—which she was indeed "inviting" them to because Peter had planned to treat her to dinner, and so she casually invited along Oliver and Marcus.
As soon as work was over, Nora let Rosie Sullivan head ho first while she made her way to the lab.
"Sis, you’re here." Oliver greeted her imdiately, with a screw in his mouth, making his words a bit garbled, "We’ll be done soon."
Nora leaned against the doorway and said, "No rush, we’re waiting for soone else."
Taking the screw out, Oliver raised his head in confusion, "Who are we waiting for?"
"Your brother-in-law."
"Oh." Oliver nodded, then asked, "Aren’t you guys playing underground romance? Isn’t he afraid of being found out when he cos to the set every now and then?"
"He’s supposedly there to find Katherine, and it’s led to rumors on set that Katherine is having an affair with him..." Nora muttered helplessly before asking with equal curiosity, "How do you know we’re playing underground romance?"
"Brother-in-law said so. He said it’s you who wants it this way, and that it’s your kink."
Nora: "..." Damn, this jerk always blas .
Marcus, standing aside without a word, pulled a cold drink from the mini-fridge Glenn Flynn had secretly bought for the lab, and handed it to Nora, "Drink it up quickly before your brother-in-law sees."
"Okay."
Nora raised an eyebrow, throwing him a look of approval.
"You’re spoiling her again," Oliver pulled Marcus aside and whispered in his ear, "Brother-in-law asked her to cut down on cold drinks; they’re bad for her health."
"It’s no use. With her skills, unlocking the lab takes less than a minute, she can grab one anyti." Marcus said with a flat expression, "Brother-in-law secretly gives her snacks behind my back, I give her two cold drinks, an eye for an eye."
Oliver: ???
I suspect you resent brother-in-law secretly giving her snacks, doing it on purpose!
After finishing half a bottle of the cold drink, Nora raised an eyebrow, "Where’s Mr. Flynn? Haven’t seen him around recently."
Marcus looked back at her, "He resigned."
Nora was taken aback.
Oliver chid in, "He intended to stay until after we won the cha competition before resigning, but since we... didn’t get to participate, he resigned right away."
With a light laugh, Nora slightly nodded, "He had high expectations for you."
"Yeah. He even warned us beforehand to stay away from Camilo Nogueira and not ntion knowing him. Still, Marshall slipped through... Really, it’s Mr. Flynn who’s the most disappointed. He truly loves cha. We let him down. When we gave up, we didn’t consider his feelings, didn’t even ask him once."
Feeling guilty, Oliver scratched his head, then turned to Marcus and asked, "By the way, didn’t we ntion in the group chat that we won the match today? Did he reply?"
Checking his phone, Marcus shook his head, "No."
Oliver looked deflated, his face drooping.
Resting against the door while playing Sudoku, Nora noticed Oliver’s expression and casually asked, "What’s wrong?"
"It’s just that we haven’t been able to get in touch with Mr. Flynn lately," Oliver sighed, "The last ti we chatted, it was about ’ch Battle.’ He was quite happy about it, a chance to showcase the Golden Lightning, encouraging us to go for it. But he seed absent-minded and regretfully said he couldn’t play cha with us anymore."
Nora asked, "Did he ntion any plans after quitting?"
Oliver said, "He didn’t. Just said he’d play around for now, and decide about teaching later."
Because of Glenn Flynn’s relationship with Matt Leung and Ethan Scott, Nora had always kept an eye on him, but it never reached the point of investigating his privacy. Now, slightly concerned, she thought it over but since they had only t a few tis, she didn’t dwell on it. The idea of investigating Glenn Flynn’s privacy flashed and quickly faded.
After finishing her drink, Nora received a call from Pedro Langley, saying he successfully avoided the crowd and was waiting for her downstairs, making it all sound like a secret agent etup.
Right then, Marcus and Oliver had nearly finished their work, so Nora waved them over, and in less than two minutes, they packed up and left the lab with her.
Walking ahead with her head buried in a Sudoku ga, Nora almost missed a step down the stairs, but Marcus pulled her back.
"Sis, watch the road," Oliver reminded her.
"Oh," Nora replied vaguely, raising her hand to grab the corner of Oliver’s shirt, "You walk a little ahead."
Oliver: "..."
Taking two more steps down, Oliver took Nora’s wrist to guide her, asking helplessly, "Sis, why are you, like brother, suddenly obsessed with Sudoku gas lately?"
"In the middle of a ga..." Nora Scott said, then furrowed her brows and suddenly looked at Marcus Shaw, "Are you cheating?"
Marcus Shaw: "..."
Nora Scott analyzed, "Like programming your phone to play by itself."
This frustrating ga has over two thousand levels, and in just a few days, Marcus Shaw was close to two thousand levels, about to finish. anwhile, Nora Scott hadn’t even reached level two hundred—mainly because she didn’t have much ti to play.
"...No."
Marcus Shaw replied speechlessly.
"So you can use cheats?"
"Yes."
"...Oh."
Nora Scott seed to be lost in thought.
Marcus Shaw saw through Nora Scott’s intentions in an instant and broke her idea, "If you’re thinking of asking your brother-in-law for help, just forget it."
With a slight raise of her eyebrows, Nora Scott exhaled and put away her phone.
Tch.
She won’t play anymore.
Oliver Scott pulled on Marcus Shaw from behind and whispered to him, "It’s just a ga, you should let her win."
Marcus Shaw: "..."
He just casually ntioned it to Miguel Smith, who knew Nora Scott would take it seriously.
*
The four of them t downstairs, then slipped away from the crowd like thieves as they left school.
In truth, it was so dark no one really noticed them. Besides, not everyone knew Pedro Langley. Since the two of them weren’t behaving intimately, even walking together wouldn’t easily reveal their relationship.
The main thing was the guilt of sneaking around.
Once they left the school gates, the air felt lighter.
However, just as they were beginning to relax, they caught a glimpse of a figure wandering on the road outside the school. Pedro Langley wasn’t familiar with the person, but Nora Scott, Marcus Shaw, and Oliver Scott all looked over simultaneously.
The little girl who previously ca to the lab looking for Marcus Shaw, Paula Loughton.
This girl was very unusual; just like last ti, she was wearing long sleeves in the scorching heat, carrying a pink backpack. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and she was mindlessly kicking the stones on the ground.
Almost sensing sothing, she suddenly looked up in the direction of the school gate.
Upon seeing Marcus Shaw, a glimr of excitent flashed in her eyes, her eyebrows slightly lifted in delight, but upon spotting the other three, she beca sowhat reserved.
She blinked, pursed her lips slightly, then raised them into a small smile before lifting her right hand to wave at them.
She was wearing a loose white T-shirt. As the evening breeze blew, her slender figure faintly outlined under the oversized shirt, making her appear even more thin and fragile.
This girl exuded an odd sense of incongruity, yet it was hard to pinpoint what exactly felt off.
"Go on."
Nora Scott spoke softly, directing her words to Marcus Shaw.
Marcus Shaw paused, hesitated for a mont, then told Nora Scott, "I’m not going to Mr. Hughes’ house."
Nora Scott just responded with an "um," without saying anything like "bring Paula Loughton to Peter Hughes’ house for dinner."
It was rumored that Peter Hughes asked Marcus Shaw to look after Paula Loughton, but Paula may not necessarily want to see Peter Hughes. The details of this, Nora Scott did not know and chose not to inquire further.
Marcus Shaw nodded towards Nora Scott, then glanced at Oliver Scott and Pedro Langley before heading straight towards the girl nad Paula Loughton.
Upon reaching Paula Loughton, Marcus Shaw leaned down and exchanged a few words with her, then left together with her.
"Sis."
After the two walked away, Oliver Scott suddenly called out to Nora Scott, frowning slightly, "I suspect that that girl is being dostically abused."
Nora Scott didn’t react much, directly asking, "What did Marcus Shaw tell you?"
"He didn’t say," Oliver Scott replied. "But once, when that girl ca to the lab to do her howork, I saw a bruise on her hand. Also, every ti we see her, she’s wearing long sleeves and pants."
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