Nora’s little speech was confidence incarnate.
Every frown and smile, every move she made, was dripping with "beyond all doubt."
If anyone else had said this, it’d just be borrowing a tiger’s might to play the big bad wolf, pure posturing—but coming from her, that natural poise and confidence made it sound like she was narrating so trivial daily errand, leaving you montarily unable to pinpoint where exactly she was "pretending to be badass."
That aura of hers was completely innate.
"..."
Everyone was stunned into silence.
Not a single tough guy dared stand up to her.
Even the well‑traveled Butler Fong, who hadn’t seen such arrogance in decades, was so shocked he froze on the spot.
"..."
"..."
Butler Loxley lowered his eyes, fighting a laugh.
Pedro Langley’s mouth twitched speechlessly.
To brag this outrageously and still make people subconsciously want to believe it... Nora Scott really was sothing else.
When the madam steps in, she’s worth two n.
Pedro, having picked up his "overprotective husband" persona, cradled his tea and took a light sip, settling in to watch the show.
"Nora Scott, don’t get too cocky!" Butler Fong’s face darkened to a livid blue as he glanced back and yanked out a young man who was shivering from the cold. "Him! When you stole the Ford Family heirloom, he saw you with his own eyes! How are you going to talk your way out of this?!"
The young man wasn’t actually so timid pushover, but after being chilled in the rain all morning, plus the fact that he had never seen the thief’s face—only the silhouette—and felt that person was completely different from the one Johan Ford had described, so he wasn’t sure it was Nora, his guilt was through the roof. When Nora shot him a look, he didn’t dare et her eyes and hurriedly dropped his head.
"Heh."
Nora found it hilarious.
She asked, "You ’saw it with your own eyes’ and only now you’re speaking up?"
"I..."
The young man opened his mouth and choked on his words.
He honestly had zero experience lying and didn’t want to stir up trouble. Precisely because he wanted to stay out of it, even though he’d always found Johan Ford’s description of the thief weird all these years, he never dared call it out—he’d only privately ntioned it to one or two reliable online friends.
He already had no confidence; now he was completely stumped by a single question from Nora.
"He was pressured by Johan Ford into keeping quiet." Afraid the kid would misspeak, Butler Fong rushed to answer for him.
Nora chuckled softly.
She didn’t respond. Instead, she twirled the bamboo flute in her fingers, turned around, and sauntered over to the eaves, stopping next to Pedro’s wicker chair. She perched on the armrest and leaned lightly against him.
Pedro nudged the charcoal brazier in her direction.
At the sa ti, he took Nora’s hand to warm it up.
Her cold seed to be gone, but her body was still strangely chilly, and she wasn’t dressed warmly. Her fingers were like ice cubes, that cold soaking clear through her.
Butler Fong didn’t know what she was planning, waiting for her next line of defense—but what he got instead was a slow, drifting question from outside the courtyard—
"So what you an, Butler Fong, is that I’ve deliberately been helping the thief hide their identity?"
That highly recognizable voice floated in—it was clearly Johan Ford’s.
Everyone in the front yard turned around.
The door had been open the whole ti. At this mont, Johan Ford stepped in at an unhurried pace, his expression dark and vicious, his features sharp and deep‑set. His overwhelming aura could seize everyone’s throat in an instant. Behind him trailed a squad of professional Ford Family enforcers, all in black suits—obviously a different league from this bunch of scruffy, unofficial hired muscle.
The thugs Butler Fong had brought were completely crushed by that presence. They swallowed hard, then lowered their heads one after another.
"Young Master Lucas."
Butler Fong was cursing up a storm in his head, but his face still had to wear a polite greeting.
He and Ivan Ford had specifically chosen today to pick a fight because Johan Ford was supposed to be out on business and wouldn’t be back for a while. With Johan gone and Ryan Ford not bothering with household affairs, he and Ivan had far fewer constraints on what they did.
Who could’ve guessed...
That Johan Ford would actually co back?
...
"You contacted him?"
Pedro asked, a bit displeased.
"Yesterday I had soone from Biel Hall let him know, told him to swing by if he had ti, I had sothing to talk about," Nora explained softly. "And to tell him the location of the heirloom stash while I was at it."
Filtering out everything else, Pedro zeroed in on one point and asked, "You contacted him privately and didn’t tell ?"
"..." She honestly hadn’t thought it was a big deal and forgot about it right after, but Nora’s survival instincts kicked in and she fumbled for an excuse. "I wanted to tell you, but then I caught a cold."
Pedro pinched the bridge of his nose, hesitated for a beat, then still ruthlessly exposed her: "You do realize you’re not a good actress, right?"
"..."
For a mont, Nora didn’t know whether she should be comforting him or getting mad at him for that timing.
The two of them were a bit of a distance away from everyone else, speaking in lowered voices; only Butler Loxley could catch fragnts. So in everyone else’s eyes, the two looked like a couple whispering sweet nothings, not taking either faction present seriously in the slightest.
Johan Ford swept his gaze over the whole scene, but his eyes stopped on the two of them.
The atmosphere was quiet and harmonious.
In Johan Ford’s mory, whenever he interacted with Nora Scott, their auras were incompatible—you either submitted or resisted. He’d never seen her get along so seamlessly with anyone.
This was a woman covered in thorns. For years her edges were all exposed; now the poison barbs were hidden.
Retracting his gaze, Johan walked toward the young man Butler Fong had pushed out. With just one glance, the young man felt the crushing pressure and started trembling.
Johan enunciated each word, "You. Speak."
"Young Master Lucas..."
The young man’s knees buckled; he almost dropped to his knees in front of him.
Expression indifferent, Johan continued, "You saw the person with your own eyes?"
"I..."
The young man opened his mouth, his voice shaking.
"Why didn’t you say anything back then?" Johan frowned and asked. He paused briefly, then threw out another doubt. "And after so many years, can you guarantee your mory is accurate?"
"..."
None of that was sothing he could refute.
Scared into a cold sweat by him, the young man really couldn’t hold it together; his legs went soft and he dropped straight to his knees.
He hurriedly confessed, "Young Master Lucas, I was wrong! I didn’t see the person, I don’t know if it was her! I only saw a back, looked like a woman, I just ntioned it casually to soone, I didn’t expect Butler Fong to find out—"
Before he could finish, Butler Fong kicked him. In the instant he kicked him to the ground, he quickly strode forward.
"Young Master Lucas, I was muddleheaded. He made up lies to fool , I let my guard down and took it as truth..."
"Enough."
Having no patience to listen to Butler Fong’s explanations, Johan frowned and cut him off.
Butler Fong froze.
"You and Ivan Ford know perfectly well what you were trying to use this for." Johan’s voice was cold.
Butler Fong’s heart turned cold.
Recently, Butler Fong and Ivan Ford had been close—Johan had seen it all. It was just that, considering Butler Fong had served the Ford Family for many years, and Johan currently didn’t have ironclad evidence that could smash both Butler Fong and Ivan with one blow, he’d chosen to pretend he didn’t know and let the two of them dig their own graves.
Butler Fong and Ivan finding out that the thief was different from Johan’s description and wanting to make a fuss over it was completely within reason.
"What does Young Master Lucas an? I’ve been loyal to the Ford Family for decades, always putting the family’s interests first. If nothing else, I’ve at least worked hard. Besides, I was only thinking for the Ford Family. The heirloom has been missing for years—no matter how tiny the clue, it’s my duty to track it down—"
Butler Fong’s expression suddenly shifted; he wanted to paint himself as a "wronged but loyal" minister.
Even listening from the side, Nora was annoyed.
Would it kill him to be more straightforward?
Even if he openly showed he wanted Johan dead, without evidence Johan couldn’t really do anything to him. No matter how loyal and honest he pretended to be, Johan didn’t believe him in his bones. No matter how hard he put on a show, it was useless.
Putting in all that surface work was just a waste of ti.
"The heirloom has been in the Ford Family all along."
Johan cut him off.
"..."
Butler Fong’s voice stopped dead.
He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
"The heirloom was under the eaves in the main hall. It was found just two hours ago. From the traces, it’s been there the whole ti," Johan said coolly. "So when it cos to the heirloom, there’s no need for Butler Fong to worry about it anymore."
"..."
Butler Fong was stunned.
If the heirloom was never stolen, then there was no such thing as ’holding the thief accountable.’ And Johan covering for the thief... even less of an issue—who would care?!
In other words, the little sche he and Ivan cooked up was completely wasted.
—Might as well have hired soone to break in at midnight and sack Nora Scott and Pedro Langley; that would’ve been more satisfying!
"So you two have a misunderstanding, and you co to my place just to randomly stir up trouble?" Nora spoke with extre disdain. She tilted her head and said to Butler Loxley, "Call the cops."
"You!"
Butler Fong was livid.
Johan didn’t know where Nora got the nerve to say that, but it wasn’t convenient to tear her down on the spot, so he could only stop her. "Perhaps we can settle this privately and discuss compensation."
"Sure."
Pedro cut in lazily before Nora could speak.
He put on the full posture of the male head of the household.
Johan really didn’t want to bother with Pedro. The two of them found each other equally unbearable; even without Nora they were naturally at odds. But since Pedro had spoken, Johan had no choice but to continue.
"Here?" Johan asked.
Butler Loxley chid in right on cue, "Young Master Ford, please co inside."
Butler Fong: "..." He kept feeling sothing was off, but couldn’t put his finger on it.
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