"It doesn’t make a difference, sooner or later I’ll have to marry him."
"..."
The stylist swallowed this display of affection with difficulty.
Surprisingly, the seemingly cool and handso Fairy Nora is so attentive to her boyfriend... I wonder who the man behind her truly is, to have captivated such a beauty so thoroughly.
The stylist thought for a mont, unable to suppress their curiosity, and asked, "Online rumors say you’ve been together for six years, is that true?"
"More or less."
According to Pedro Langley, it seems you could say that.
Seeing that Nora spoke so straightforwardly without any hint of concealnt, the stylist couldn’t help but gossip a bit more, savoring each answer filled with affection, even if it was a bit much, yet finding it impossible to stop.
Alas, Nora’s skin was too good, reducing the ti needed for makeup and limiting further probing.
...
They were about to reshoot the scenes for the female lead; Nora didn’t have many to redo, as many could be fixed in post-production, so her schedule was relatively relaxed.
Just two scenes in the afternoon.
Nora was in great form, getting more in tune with her role and completed the shooting smoothly.
"Nora,"
Paula Loughton, as always, handed Nora a newly prepared drink.
Nora took it, twisted open the cap, and took a sip.
Paula said, "Nora, there’s an aunt who wants to talk to you."
"Hmm?"
"Over there."
Paula pointed out a direction to Nora.
Nora looked over and saw a noblewoman standing on the outskirts of the crowd, wearing a long dress and holding an umbrella – with just one glance, Nora could guess seventy to eighty percent who she was.
She looked too much like Miguel Smith.
It was undoubtedly Mrs. Smith.
Miguel Smith was an esports player, but his fans were like those of movie stars, mostly attracted by his looks, which were undoubtedly impeccable. However, Nora always thought that although Nathan Smith was decent, Miguel Smith didn’t resemble Nathan at all; he probably took after Mrs. Smith.
Now at a glance, this thought was more confird.
Nora gestured for Paula to stay in the shade, then walked towards the noblewoman.
"You’re Nora, right?" The noblewoman smiled warmly, her gaze soft as she introduced herself to Nora, "I am Mariana Queiroz, Miguel’s mother."
Nora raised her eyebrows and greeted, "Mrs. Queiroz."
"I’ve seen your photos online, never expected you’d be even prettier in person." Mariana Queiroz praised Nora with a glance and, after a pause, asked, "Are you busy now? I was wondering if we could chat for a bit?"
Glancing down at the ti displayed on her phone, Nora said, "I have half an hour."
...
Though ti was limited, Mariana Queiroz still invited Nora to a café at the school gate, ordered two cups of coffee and so snacks, eating and chatting.
After so pleasantries, Mariana Queiroz didn’t beat around the bush and soon asked, "I saw online that you’re dating Miguel?"
Nora paused, amusedly explaining, "That’s just a rumor."
"Is that so?" Mariana Queiroz was surprised, then took a sip of coffee and smiled, "No big deal."
For so reason, Nora faintly sensed a hint of disbelief in that "no big deal."
——As if she was certain of Nora and Miguel’s relationship, yet distrusted Nora’s explanation.
Even realizing this, Nora couldn’t proactively explain anything to her.
"I’m really sorry, it’s a family matter——" Mariana Queiroz paused, glanced at Nora, and continued, "I don’t know if Miguel ntioned to you, Queiroz Gas belongs to our family. It was just a little family issue, but I didn’t expect it to involve your brother."
???
So it was really an internal dispute within the Queiroz family?
A headache set in, and Nora straightforwardly asked without further ado, "You ca to for?"
"Did Miguel ever tell you why he stayed with Nathan Smith?" Mariana Queiroz asked.
Nora shook her head.
Mariana Queiroz sighed, recalling past events with a hidden hint of anger, "When I divorced Nathan Smith, Miguel was originally awarded to . But Nathan Smith used the pretense of harming himself, slashing his wrist in front of Miguel to force him to request to stay with him."
Nora raised her eyes in surprise.
"Afterward, Nathan bound him, compelling him to live as Nathan imagined. I heard Miguel gave up esports under the pressure of Nathan’s machinations.——That man is a lunatic, self-righteous and presumptuous, with aspirations higher than the sky and a life as fragile as paper. Whenever sothing goes wrong, he becos despondent, always holding others accountable..."
It was evident Mariana Queiroz was a well-bred person, yet when ntioning Nathan Smith she beca sowhat uncontrollable, with an unabashed reveal of disgust and resentnt in her expression.
And, much of what she said, Nora agreed with.
Precisely because——
Nathan Smith truly was such a person.
His aspirations exceed the sky, his life is fragile as paper.
Perfectly described.
"...Miguel is too soft-hearted. Every ti I try to convince him to leave Nathan Smith, once Nathan senses anything, he threatens Miguel with his life or death acts."
"Moreover, Luke would rather be independent than return to the Queiroz Family. Having grown up outside, he doesn’t feel a sense of belonging with them."
"It probably has sothing to do with Nathan; Luke doesn’t really get deeply involved with people."
"So I think... you might be the only one who’s in good terms with him."
At this point, Mariana glanced at Nora Scott.
That look was very familiar to Nora—
The sa as Mrs. Chapman and Flora Loughton’s usual look at her.
Nora’s head felt like it was about to explode from being stared at.
"I feel like he listens to you; can you help persuade him?" Mariana finally revealed her intention.
Nora frowned slightly.
Mariana quickly added, "As long as Luke is willing to return to the Queiroz Family, the issue with Marcus Shaw will definitely be handled by them, ensuring he has no negative press."
"Sorry, but I can’t persuade him on this matter."
Without any hesitation, Nora succinctly responded, then stood up.
"Miss Scott!"
Mariana quickly stood up.
Nora turned her head to look at her.
Mariana, however, wasn’t angry and instead smiled peacefully, "It’s alright if you can’t persuade him. Actually, apart from that, I also wanted to et you in person. I might have been presumptuous, and I hope you don’t mind."
Her words were very amicable.
From start to finish, the "showdown" scene Nora imagined had no signs of happening.
Nora nodded, said farewell, and left.
After a long while, Mariana sighed softly, and as she left to pay the bill, she unexpectedly found that Nora had already settled it in advance.
anwhile—
At the next table over from Mariana and Nora, Mrs. Chapman, who was visiting her son, Henry Chapman, and daughter, Nora, and taking a break in a café across from the school, watched them leave one after the other with her peripheral vision.
She quickly pulled out her phone to call Flora Loughton.
"In-law!"
"In-law."
The two greeted each other politely.
The endearnt rolled off their tongues smoothly.
Flora quickly asked, "Is sothing wrong?"
"How is your son’s relationship with my daughter recently? No third party involved, right?!" Mrs. Chapman anxiously inquired.
"No," Flora said assuredly, "The online rumors are fake; their relationship is developing very well. They’ll et the parents in a few days. Their lifelong commitnt should be on the agenda soon."
"!! Just this morning, there were rumors about Nora with that esports player? He’s from the Queiroz Family! The one from Queiroz Gas."
"Hmm?"
"I just happened to stop by the school and took a break at the café across the street, where I saw Mariana eting Nora. Mariana, that shaless one, treated Nora like a future daughter-in-law. Too many people are eyeing our Nora, so besides ’son’ we have to guard against ’mom’ too. You must behave impeccably when eting with Nora."
"..."
Already worried, Flora was overwheld imdiately.
On the verge of a breakdown.
She exchanged a few consoling words with Mrs. Chapman. Normally fearless in front of the largest stages, yet Professor Loughton felt like she was under siege, nervously calling Pedro Langley for advice.
With his unwavering support for his wife, Pedro was very pleased with Loughton’s performance and cooperated by offering so encouragent.
Loughton finally felt a bit more assured.
And, having a daughter-in-law anxious about impressing her future mother-in-law, and a mother worried about displeasing her future daughter-in-law... Pedro silently took a step towards the pinnacle of life.
*
After returning to the set, Nora hesitated before giving Miguel Smith a call.
She briefly ntioned Mariana looking for her.
"I spent two hours explaining to her that I’m not dating you, yet she still ca to find you?" Miguel exclaid in disbelief.
Nora leisurely replied, "You know what?"
"What?"
"I’ve been attracting future mother-in-laws’ attention lately."
"...With your beauty, you could afford to be even more self-admiring," Miguel said sincerely.
Nora was quite satisfied with his comnt, dropping the matter of Mariana’s visit and instead asking, "What’s your plan?"
Miguel responded, "I’ll go back to the Queiroz Family tonight to check out the situation."
Nora asked with great interest, "Will we see an epic, dramatic family feud over inheritance?"
"...I don’t know."
Miguel sighed.
Besides Mariana, he hadn’t interacted with any other mbers of the Queiroz Family yet.
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