Once Max began to speak, everything beca clear.
It was exactly as Nora had thought.
Aaron fancied Evelyn’s creative design, so he painted a nice picture for her, deceiving her into handing over a year’s worth of drafts, only to discard them afterward. Since Evelyn and Ernesto left, they hadn’t let go of Evelyn, even starting from Max, continuously stealing Evelyn’s design ideas.
"...That’s roughly it." Max spoke passionately, with an urgent and hungry expression in his eyes. He paused for a mont before eagerly continuing, "Oh, there’s one more thing!"
"Speak."
Nora toyed with those bags of blue crystals.
"Evelyn completely broke off with Aaron because of a set of architectural drawings by her father."
Nora frowned.
"Yes, architectural drawings." Max continued on his own, "It seed to be a bridge design. Evelyn’s father and Aaron were both invited architects, but Evelyn’s father didn’t have much background, very few people gave him attention, and Aaron was the sa. Back then, Aaron had a bit of fa."
"Until Aaron accidentally saw his drawing design and beca greedy. So Aaron tricked Evelyn into stealing her father’s drawings. At that ti, Evelyn was simple-minded and didn’t think much of it; Aaron claid Evelyn’s father was stubborn and refused to cooperate with him, slandering her father, making Evelyn believe it was true, so she stole them."
"She was too naive; until her father withdrew from the project team and her father’s drawings were completely stolen by Aaron, did she realize she did sothing wrong."
"It also caused her to completely fall out with her father."
...
Max rambled on continuously.
But Nora’s eyes progressively darkened.
When she previously analyzed the situation with Pedro, because it wasn’t confird, only speculation, she didn’t feel too much. Now knowing everything from Max, all the guesses proved to be true...
That damned thing.
It’s manageable when it involves Evelyn’s issues, as it’s Evelyn’s own choices. However, once it implicates Antonio...
Tightly clutching those few bags of blue crystals, her fingers turning white at the joints as the last glimr of daylight faded behind her, casting a shadow on the ground that turned from clear to blurry.
After a while, she stood up.
Max’s throat tightened, his gaze fixated on her hand, full of greed.
She let go, throwing those bags of crystals onto the ground, Nora’s high heels echoed against the floor, resounding until disappearing into the corridor.
Rosie followed closely behind.
*
They remained silent along the way.
Nora returned to the hotel.
The mont she opened the door and saw the light spilling through the crack, for so reason, the agitation and annoyance in her heart eased a bit.
She looked inside, her eyes scanning around until they finally settled on the man seated on the sofa looking at his phone.
With a glance up, his gaze t Nora’s, Pedro chuckled, putting the phone away, "Seems I wouldn’t get a call from you."
Nora didn’t believe him, "You were waiting for my call with your phone."
"Watching drama."
"Hmm?"
"A few businessn arguing over market division in the social dia circle." Pedro put the phone away, smirking, "Battling fiercely, back and forth."
"..."
Nora’s mouth twitched.
Sotis, she would take Pedro’s phone to look at social circles, and she would see posts from business tycoons, so love showing off their kids, so frequently change girlfriends, so share health wisdom articles...
There were also those who suffered losses in business, venting or slyly ridiculing in social circles.
When Nora was in a good or bad mood, she would use Pedro’s account to like their posts, watching them guess Pedro’s stance... not sure if Pedro found out or not.
Anyway, Pedro never brought it up with her.
Pedro stood up, guessing she hadn’t eaten, wanting to ask if they should go out for a bite, but Nora ca over, threw her bag down, and actively embraced him.
Nuzzling against his neck, Nora softly said, "I kind of miss Easton."
Pedro hugged her tightly.
Feeling heartache for a second, the next mont he heard Nora gritting her teeth, "That damned Aaron, why isn’t he the one dead?"
"..."
Pedro rubbed the back of her neck, gently caressing it, and then said, "Then let’s get rid of him."
"Get rid of him."
Nora said with annoyance.
Pedro cursed along with her, "May he be dood to eternal damnation—"
Before he finished, Nora pinched his waist sharply, "Oliver Scott, my brother."
"Ernesto Woods left the Scott family, it doesn’t count." Pedro corrected himself.
Nora lightly responded with an ’mm’, "Then may he be dood to eternal damnation."
After saying that, the two exchanged glances for a second, and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Pedro lowered his head, leaning against her forehead, pinching her cheek.
He said, "Tell when you think of him, I’ll be with you."
"Join in cursing Aaron Scott?"
"Sure."
"..."
Nora Scott didn’t say anything. With Pedro Langley’s cooperation, her mood did improve a bit.
A mont later, she raised her eyelids and said, "I’m hungry."
"What do you want to eat?"
"Let’s go for a walk and see."
"Alright."
Pedro Langley put the baseball cap back on her.
*
Having stayed at the hotel for so ti, Nora Scott hadn’t gone out for a stroll yet.
To move around more easily, she changed into flat shoes, a simple T-shirt, and jeans, removed her makeup, tied her hair back and wore a hat, presenting herself in a very low-key manner as she followed Pedro Langley out the door.
It was like being a thief.
eting Pedro Langley at the designated spot, Nora Scott grabbed hold of Pedro Langley’s hand and frowned, "This is why I don’t want to reveal Zero’s true identity."
Without being careful, she would get photographed everywhere she went, seriously affecting her freedom.
It wasn’t an issue at first; getting photographed was no big deal as long as it didn’t disturb her, not to ntion she could handle it with her looks. But her boyfriend wanted to have a secret relationship and couldn’t date openly.
Pedro Langley chuckled, "Even without being exposed, with the way you’ve appeared on several shows, you’d still beco popular."
"..."
Nora Scott never thought "getting famous" was such an easy thing.
Her senior sister was right, it’s good to have many skills.
Despite her subpar acting, she eventually rose to prominence in the entertainnt industry, which was indeed a strange phenonon.
"Let’s have so barbecue." Nora Scott walked a bit, got tired of walking, and stopped upon seeing a barbecue sign, "It’s on ."
"I have enough wife’s allowance."
Nora Scott didn’t care whether he had enough or not and said straightforwardly, "I’m in a bad mood and want to spend money."
Pedro Langley: "..." Couldn’t shake off the "mooching" label.
*
Once inside the restaurant, they found a secluded spot. Nora, being a big spender, ordered a heap of at, then handed her phone to Pedro Langley and asked, "Do you want to play ’Escape Room’?"
Pedro Langley didn’t choose much. He glanced at the amount Nora ordered, and in the spirit of frugality, submitted it.
"An offline one?"
"Yeah," Nora replied, "My friend’s Escape Room venue is nearby. I helped design one of the rooms. If you’re interested, we can head over later."
"Sure."
Pedro Langley nodded without hesitation.
It was obvious Nora just didn’t want to go back and was looking for a place to pass the ti so she wouldn’t think about other things.
He naturally accompanied her.
With Pedro Langley’s agreent, Nora called her friend.
Her friend had invited her long ago but she hadn’t been interested. Now, they couldn’t wait for her to co and imdiately agreed over the phone, asking which kind of escape room she wanted to play, rapidly introducing options.
Nora chose a slightly thrilling one, asked him to prepare it in advance so they could co in an hour, and then hung up the phone.
...
Eating barbecue took so ti. When they finished eating and arrived, an hour and a half had passed, but the owner still had the room reserved for them.
"Funds are limited, so we can’t make it as elaborate as your shows, but it’s pretty challenging. You two take your ti and enjoy," the owner said with a smile, personally showing them to the escape room entrance.
The three stopped at the doorway.
Just as Nora and Pedro Langley were about to enter, they heard a door open next door, and a quick glance revealed a man and a woman coming out.
While she didn’t recognize the man, the woman was...
Rosa Sullivan.
"Boss, your escape room is a bit too simple," the youth, around twenty-five or twenty-six, who bore a resemblance to Rosa Sullivan but had a more arrogant and defiant expression, said. "I heard the online hype and thought it would be difficult."
Nora paused, raising an eyebrow.
Just then, Rosa Sullivan’s gaze swept over, and upon seeing Nora, she was montarily taken aback. She then noticed Pedro Langley standing beside Nora, a faint surprise in her eyes.
She pursed her lips.
"Mr. Langley."
Rosa Sullivan first greeted Pedro Langley, glanced at Nora, and then nodded at her, maintaining a cool deanor.
Nora curved her lips but didn’t return the nod.
Pedro Langley also remained silent.
Rosa Sullivan’s face slightly stiffened.
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