Chapter 1044

: Feelings That She Shouldn’t Have

The reporters: “???”

The corners of their lips spasmed.

At the sight of their reaction, the other reporters immediately asked, “Come on, what on earth
happened inside? I heard that Mrs. Hunt didn’t even graduate from elementary school. Did you guys
manage to interview her?”

“… No, we didn’t.”

The two reporters answered.

!!

Disdain filled the other reporters at once. “Meh, Mrs. Hunt is probably the most easy-going one in the
party today because the rest are all big bosses… Yet you didn’t even manage to interview her… Did
you even manage to interview anyone?”

“… We interviewed Mr. Hunt.” The two reporters answered.

“…”

After a moment of silence, a huge buzz went through the other reporters.

“What?”

“Mr. Hunt agreed to the interview?”



“How can that be?! Don’t you know that Mr. Hunt is the hardest person to get an interview with?!
Besides, most of the guests today only came because of Mr. Hunt, which goes to show just how
impressive of a man he is… Why would he accept an interview request from you two…?”

Someone even directly offered the two reporters cigarettes and asked ingratiatingly, “Bro, did Mr. Hunt
say anything? Can you tell us some of it? Come on, it won’t hurt to share a little, right…?”

The reporters: “…”

One of them scratched his head and said, “Uh, actually, we are allowed to share the content of the
interview.”

Justin had tasked them with it.

He wanted them all to “clarify the rumors” for his wife—even if he was just blatantly showing off his wife
throughout the whole interview, despite using the word “clarify”.

As for the two reporters, they had been utterly stunned after learning about Nora’s true identities. They
coughed and then said, “Let’s find somewhere and have an in-depth talk about this.”

—

Though the party didn’t last long, the guests had specially made their way over from various corners of
the earth, so they didn’t leave that early.

Fortunately, the Hunts’ manor was more than spacious enough to house them.

The men gathered and chatted with one another.

The women also gathered by themselves.



Cheryl and Mia were playing with the latter’s younger brother whom Tanya and Joel had later
conceived. The five-year-old boy was especially lively and adorable and loved sticking to Cheryl. He
stared at her with rapture and said, “You’re so pretty, Cherry. Can you marry me when I grow up?”

The reporters: “???”

The corners of their lips spasmed.

At the sight of their reaction, the other reporters immediately asked, “Come on, what on earth
happened inside? I heard that Mrs. Hunt didn’t even graduate from elementary school. Did you guys
manage to interview her?”

“… No, we didn’t.”

The two reporters answered.

Disdain filled the other reporters at once. “Meh, Mrs. Hunt is probably the most easy-going one in the
party today because the rest are all big bosses… Yet you didn’t even manage to interview her… Did
you even manage to interview anyone?”

“… We interviewed Mr. Hunt.” The two reporters answered.

“…”

After a moment of silence, a huge buzz went through the other reporters.

“What?”

“Mr. Hunt agreed to the interview?”

“How can that be?! Don’t you know that Mr. Hunt is the hardest person to get an interview with?!
Besides, most of the guests today only came because of Mr. Hunt, which goes to show just how



impressive of a man he is… Why would he accept an interview request from you two…?”

Someone even directly offered the two reporters cigarettes and asked ingratiatingly, “Bro, did Mr. Hunt
say anything? Can you tell us some of it? Come on, it won’t hurt to share a little, right…?”

The reporters: “…”

One of them scratched his head and said, “Uh, actually, we are allowed to share the content of the
interview.”

Justin had tasked them with it.

He wanted them all to “clarify the rumors” for his wife—even if he was just blatantly showing off his wife
throughout the whole interview, despite using the word “clarify”.

As for the two reporters, they had been utterly stunned after learning about Nora’s true identities. They
coughed and then said, “Let’s find somewhere and have an in-depth talk about this.”

—

Though the party didn’t last long, the guests had specially made their way over from various corners of
the earth, so they didn’t leave that early.

Fortunately, the Hunts’ manor was more than spacious enough to house them.

The men gathered and chatted with one another.

The women also gathered by themselves.

Cheryl and Mia were playing with the latter’s younger brother whom Tanya and Joel had later
conceived. The five-year-old boy was especially lively and adorable and loved sticking to Cheryl. He
stared at her with rapture and said, “You’re so pretty, Cherry. Can you marry me when I grow up?”



“…Sure!” replied Cheryl.

Her reply made the little guy jump up and down in delight. Then, he looked around and asked,
“Where’s Pete?”

It wasn’t a milestone birthday for Nora today, so it wasn’t a particularly formal celebration party. As Pete
was doing research work overseas, he didn’t specially return for the party.

Come to think of it, Peter had already been away for a very long while.

Cheryl pouted and replied, “I don’t know. He seems very busy, though. I think his research is in a very
crucial phase right now, so he doesn’t even contact us now…”

Cheryl glanced at Mia carefully after she spoke. Though the latter didn’t show any particular reaction,
Cheryl noticed that there was ultimately still some disappointment in her eyes. Thus, she said, “He
didn’t even come back for my competition a while back! My club is already the champion in the country,
though, so we’ll be going overseas to compete next month. The competition happens to be in the same
city that Pete is currently living in, so I’ll visit him then! I’ll tell him to call Mia!”

Mia’s cheeks turned red immediately. “N-no, you don’t have to…”

The girl was soft-spoken, and her face was small with a pointed chin, making her the picture of a
classic beauty. She said, “Um, I suddenly recall that I still have some assignments to complete. I’ll get
going now.”

Mia got up. After notifying Tanya and Joel, she left immediately.

Cheryl was a little stunned to see her like this.

It seemed like Mia’s eyes had reddened just now?



However, ever since they grew up, the relationship between Pete and Mia had become rather strange.

She heaved a quiet sigh. When she suddenly noticed that Joel and Ian had gone to the balcony, she
followed after them. However, the moment she went near, she heard Joel say, “Dad, I’m thinking of
giving half of the Smith Corporation’s shares to Nora.”

Ian was taken aback. “Why?”

Then, he frowned and asked, “Did your parents approach you again?”

Joel kept quiet for a moment before he finally replied, “… They want Warren to inherit the family
business.”

“Fools!” Ian cursed furiously. Then, he sighed and said, “No matter what, you will always be a Smith in
my eyes, Joel!”

However, Joel hesitated for a moment and then said, “But I’m ultimately just an adopted child…”

“Hah!” Ian sneered and said, “So what even if you’re adopted? Does that make you any worse than a
child with blood ties to the family? It’s not always blood ties that make a family, a family… When they
couldn’t conceive and secretly adopted you back then, they told everyone that you were their biological
son. Yet when they finally managed to conceive their own child, they abandoned you… You don’t need
parents like them!”

Joel clenched his jaw.

Childhood memories flooded his mind.

As the eldest child of the Smiths, the family had had high hopes for him since he was little.



But he could never understand why his parents treated his younger brother so well but were always so
callous toward him, and even wished for his death at times.

It wasn’t until he heard the real reason one day that he finally understood—he was adopted.

In the fight with Ian over the inheritance of family assets, children were also a bargaining chip.
Therefore, his father had never once told outsiders about it. It could be said that there were no more
than five people who were aware of the truth.

Even his cousins and siblings among the Smiths were not aware of it.

Back then, when Ian wanted to adopt a child from among his siblings’ families, he had selected him.
Joel’s parents had gotten into a huge row with Ian because of this, and it was also during that incident
that Joel learned the truth.

—

On the way back to the Smiths’, Mia held her cell phone in the car, unable to make up her mind for the
longest time.

She missed Pete very much.

She knew that she had developed some feelings for Pete that she shouldn’t have… He must have
sensed it too, right? That was why he had distanced himself from her…

They hadn’t contacted each other for over a year.

She had been studying very hard in hopes of enrolling in Harvard, so that she could visit the school that
Pete had studied in and also go abroad after that… but she didn’t dare to tell anyone.



From Cheryl’s perspective, it seemed that Mia and Pete had fallen out, but in truth, that wasn’t the
case.

She heaved a quiet sigh and put down her cell phone in the end.

These feelings shouldn’t exist. She would just hide them deep down in her heart… and keep them from
being discovered by others.

“…Sure!” replied Cheryl.

Her reply made the little guy jump up and down in delight. Then, he looked around and asked,
“Where’s Pete?”

It wasn’t a milestone birthday for Nora today, so it wasn’t a particularly formal celebration party. As Pete
was doing research work overseas, he didn’t return for the party.

Come to think of it, Peter had already been away for a very long while.

Cheryl pouted and replied, “I don’t know. He seems very busy, though. I think his research is in a very
crucial phase right now, so he doesn’t even contact us now…”

1

Cheryl glanced at Mia carefully after she spoke. Though the latter didn’t show any particular reaction,
Cheryl noticed that there was ultimately still some disappointment in her eyes. Thus, she said, “He
didn’t even come back for my competition a while back! My club is already the champion in the country,
though, so we’ll be going overseas to compete next month. The competition happens to be in the same
city that Pete is currently living in, so I’ll visit him then! I’ll tell him to call Mia!”

Mia’s cheeks turned red immediately. “N-no, you don’t have to…”



The girl was soft-spoken, and her face was small with a pointed chin, making her the picture of a
classic beauty. She said, “Um, I suddenly recall that I still have some assignments to complete. I’ll get
going now.”

Mia got up. After notifying Tanya and Joel, she left immediately.

Cheryl was a little stunned to see her like this.

It seemed like Mia’s eyes had reddened just now?

However, ever since they grew up, the relationship between Pete and Mia had become rather strange.

She heaved a quiet sigh. When she suddenly noticed that Joel and Ian had gone to the balcony, she
followed after them. However, the moment she went near, she heard Joel say, “Dad, I’m thinking of
giving half of the Smith Corporation’s shares to Nora.”

Ian was taken aback. “Why?”

Then, he frowned and asked, “Did your parents approach you again?”

1

Joel kept quiet for a moment before he finally replied, “… They want Warren to inherit the family
business.”

“Fools!” Ian cursed furiously. Then, he sighed and said, “No matter what, you will always be a Smith in
my eyes, Joel!”

However, Joel hesitated for a moment and then said, “But I’m ultimately just an adopted child…”

“Hah!” Ian sneered and said, “So what even if you’re adopted? Does that make you any worse than a
child with blood ties to the family? It’s not always blood ties that make a family, a family… When they



couldn’t conceive and secretly adopted you back then, they told everyone that you were their biological
son. Yet when they finally managed to conceive their own child, they abandoned you… You don’t need
parents like them!”

Joel clenched his jaw.

Childhood memories flooded his mind.

As the eldest child of the Smiths, the family had had high hopes for him since he was little.

But he could never understand why his parents treated his younger brother so well but were always so
callous toward him, and even wished for his death at times.

It wasn’t until he heard the real reason one day that he finally understood—he was adopted.

In the fight with Ian over the inheritance of family assets, children were also a bargaining chip.
Therefore, his father had never once told outsiders about it. It could be said that there were no more
than five people who were aware of the truth.

Even his cousins and siblings among the Smiths were not aware of it.

Back then, when Ian wanted to adopt a child from among his siblings’ families, he had selected him.
Joel’s parents had gotten into a huge row with Ian because of this, and it was also during that incident
that Joel had learned of the truth.

—

On the way back to the Smiths’, Mia held her cell phone in the car, unable to make up her mind for the
longest time.

She missed Pete very much.



She knew that she had developed some feelings for Pete that she shouldn’t have… He must have
sensed it too, right? That was why he had distanced himself from her…

They hadn’t contacted each other for over a year.

She had been studying very hard in hopes of enrolling in Harvard, so that she could visit the school that
Pete had studied in and also go abroad after that… but she didn’t dare to tell anyone.

1

From Cheryl’s perspective, it seemed that Mia and Pete had fallen out, but in truth, that wasn’t the
case.

She heaved a quiet sigh and put down her cell phone in the end.

These feelings shouldn’t exist. She would just hide them deep down in her heart… and keep them from
being discovered by others.


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