Chapter 370

Bam!

Tanya closed the door right after saying that.

Joel: “…”

Joel could faintly hear Pete ask, “Was it not Mommy at the door, God-mom? Who was it, then?”

“Oh, just an annoying fly,” replied Tanya.

Joel: “…”

Half an hour later.

The perturbed and distracted Tanya glanced at the window.

The moment she did, she found herself stunned.

Joel was standing at the door, his tall and straight figure casting a long, drawn-out shadow on the
ground.

The dazed Tanya felt as if she had gone back a few years in time. Back then, she would always see a
figure like that standing outside every time she walked out of the classroom after class.

At that time, the sight of the man had made her excited and happy.

But the figure instead seemed somewhat solitary and lonely now, making her sad.

Tanya withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, and looked at the floor. Complicated emotions churned in
the depths of her heart.



Sometime later, when Tanya looked up once more, she found that the figure at the door was gone. An
empty feeling welled up in her.

She couldn’t tell what kind of feeling it was. She forced a smile, looked at Pete, and said, “Your mommy
should be home soon.”

Pete nodded. However, he then said, “Uncle Joel looks unwell to me, though.”

Unwell?

Tanya followed his gaze and looked over to see that Joel had changed positions at some point. He was
now standing in a corner visible from the living room window.

His head was down, and he had one hand pressed against his abdomen and the other against the wall
for support.

She couldn’t tell whether it was the lighting or because he really was unwell, but he looked as pale as a
sheet. His lips were so pale that they were practically transparent, and there was cold sweat on his
forehead.

“Uncle Joel must be in pain, right? Why not let him in, God-mom?”

Pete’s words interrupted Tanya’s thoughts.

She said coldly, “It has nothing to do with me even if he’s dead.”

Yet, despite saying that, she kept looking outside.

She couldn’t help but sneer deep down.

It was the same old trick.



He always acted weak and frail back when they were still in school. Every time he made her angry, he
would always stand outside their dormitory. Even when it rained, he simply refused to leave.

He never apologized, but always stood there so stubbornly so that she would relent.

She had been so naive at that time.

When the sun was bright and glaring, she would worry that he would be sunburnt. When it rained, she
would worry that he would get drenched…

He really had her wrapped around his little finger.

Her heart was as hard as iron now, though, so how would she possibly still be deceived by his little
tricks?

Besides, it was impossible for him to leave the house without bodyguards or his personal assistant. After
all, as the head of the Smiths, his status was awfully noble and prestigious!

The thought had only just formed when she saw Joel’s legs give in and he fell onto one knee on the
ground.

Tanya subconsciously took a few steps toward him. Then, she opened the door and rushed out.

She went over to Joel. The man, who likely heard her footsteps, turned to look at her. He was very pale,
so he probably wasn’t putting up an act. His voice was also very soft, and he sounded a little aggrieved
as he said, “I knew you wouldn’t ignore me, Tanya.”

“…”

For a moment, tears almost fell from Tanya’s eyes.

However, she held them back and looked around. “Where are your assistants? And your bodyguards?”



Joel seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely said, “I don’t want to go to the
hospital.” Then, his eyes closed and he fainted.

Tanya was dumbfounded.

There was a reason why Joel said that he didn’t want to go to the hospital. He had always refused to go
even when they were still in school.

He had always toughed it out whenever he was sick, so he never went for checkups even when he had
stomach problems.

What was he up to now, though? Was he staging an accident?



Tanya was so mad that she stretched out her foot, intending to give him a hard kick.

The bodyguard hiding in the distance wanted to rush forward but was stopped by Joel’s assistant.

The assistant said, “The gesture that Mr. Joel made before he fainted was telling us not to go over!”

The bodyguard retorted, “Even so, we can’t just watch as someone hits him!”

“She won’t.”

“What?”

The bodyguards looked over to see that Tanya’s foot had stopped less than an inch from him.

Tanya looked around hesitantly. She frowned and wondered out loud, “Did he really not bring his
assistant with him?



“What incompetent bodyguards! What if he was sick elsewhere instead? What are you gonna do if that
happens?”

Even though she was complaining, she nevertheless bent over and held the man up.

Just like that, the bodyguards in the distance watched as their master was dragged into the house while
the woman stumbled and bumped him about.

The rough girl also kept on swearing as she moved…

—

Nora slept right until the next day.

After making up for all her lost sleep, she got out of bed all refreshed and stretched. Then, she looked at
her cell phone and noticed that Tanya had sent her several messages.

They seemed very urgent.

However, Tanya probably knew that she needed to make up for lost sleep, so she hadn’t called and
disturbed her rest, no matter how anxious she was.

She picked up the phone and took a look. Their chat was still at the point when she got home the day
before. At that time, when she saw the messages that Tanya had sent, she had replied: ‘I’m home now.
You can send Pete back with Joel now.’

She had fallen into a deep sleep after that.

But why wasn’t Pete by her side when she woke up?

She looked at the chat again. Tanya had been sending her the same thing:



‘Are you awake?’

‘Are you awake?’

‘Are you awake?’

She had practically asked the same thing once every hour, which made that seven or eight times in total.
It was enough to show how bad of a mental breakdown she was having.

Nora was rather hesitant. Pete was a very well-behaved boy. Surely he wasn’t that hard to take care of,
was he?

While wondering about it, she replied: ‘I’m up.’

Tanya called the very next moment.

She picked it up. She’d only just said ‘hello’ when Tanya’s loud voice reached her through the phone.
“My goodness, you slept for twelve hours again! Didn’t you wake up a little too late?!”

Nora rubbed her ears. “Yeah. What’s up?”

“Hurry up and come over to pick up your son.”

Nora uttered an ‘okay’. Then, she asked, “Is that it?”

Tanya paused and then quietly added, “And! Your! Elder! Brother! Too!”

She seemed to be gnashing her teeth in fury with every word she said, which went to show just how
angry and resentful she was.

Did she say ‘elder brother’, though?

Nora didn’t realize what she was saying for a while there. She asked, “Which brother?”



“… How many elder brothers do you have?!”

Tanya practically roared the question.

Nora answered seriously, “If you try counting, there are six boys in the Smiths, so I have five older
brothers and one younger brother. You’re talking about… Joel?”

“… Yes!!”

Nora was puzzled. “Didn’t he go over to pick up Pete for me? How did he end up staying there instead?”

“…”

The woman on the other end suppressed her anger and said, “You have half an hour. If you don’t come
over in time, then this friendship is over!! Beep… beep… beep…”

Nora glanced at the phone in horror and raised her eyebrows.

Then, she slowly brushed her teeth and washed up. After she was done, she finally went out.

As soon as she went downstairs, Lucy saw her and said excitedly, “You’re finally awake, Ms. Nora!”

“What’s the matter?” asked Nora.

Lucy replied, “Your cousin is here!!”


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