Unfortunately, Tina couldn’t enter the villa anymore. Neither could she get through to Justin’s phone. It was the weekend, so he wouldn’t be going to the office, either. As such, she could only wait for him at the gates!

At the same time at the Andersons.

By the time Nora woke up, Cherry was already out playing with Melissa. She stretched and went to wash up. After that, she went downstairs leisurely.

After a simple lunch, Melissa and Cherry returned.

Someone else also came back together with them—it was actually Sheena. She hadn’t seen her in a long time. She had a sullen and hostile look on her face at the moment.

She hadn’t even taken a seat when she immediately asked Melissa, “What’s wrong with you? Why did you reject the Lowes’ real estate investment opportunity?”

Knowing that Sheena was here, Simon, who was home that day, left the study on the upper floor and went down. He was a little taken aback when he heard her question, so he asked, “What investment opportunity are you talking about?”

Sheena looked at Melissa and said with displeasure, “I’ll let her tell you about it instead!”

Melissa sighed and told Simon what had happened.

Nora took a seat on the one-seater sofa while she was recounting the events. She couldn’t help but purse her lips.

Come to think of it, it really was pretty surprising for Aunt Melissa to marry into the Andersons.

Given how she had a sister-in-law like Miranda back home and an aggressive sister-in-law like Sheena here, Nora really didn’t know how she even survived all these years.

While she was secretly dissing them, Melissa also gave them a simple summary of what had happened.

As soon as she did, Sheena, who was a career woman focused solely on making money, couldn’t help but say, “News of how the Lowes are short of funds for their real estate investment has already spread throughout the circle! A lot of people immediately rushed over to invest, but the Lowes rejected them all. It’s not like they work with just any Tom, Dick, or Harry! Since they’ve chosen the Woods, why couldn’t you just let your sister-in-law criticize you a little and suffer a little? That way, you’d have been able to help the Andersons make some money! Simon, a good opportunity has slipped away just like that. Aren’t you going to say anything about it, Simon?”

Simon had been frowning since just now. When he heard what she said, he immediately turned to Melissa and looked at her face. He said, “Miranda actually hit you right in our house? She’s too much! How is your cheek? Does it still hurt? Let me have a look…”

Sheena, “?”

Melissa, who seemed like she already knew that he would react like this, smiled and shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s already been two days.”

Despite that, Simon was still worried. He insisted that Melissa remove her makeup because he suspected that she was covering it up with foundation, causing Melissa to be caught between laughter and tears.

The two of them, who were nearly fifty years old, flirted with each other, taking Nora by surprise.

For some reason, even though she had felt just a moment ago that her aunt didn’t deserve to be treated like that, in this instant, she suddenly understood that as long as there was love, there was no such thing as whether one deserved to be treated a certain way or not.

She had always felt that Justin’s identity would bring danger to the children.

However, she had never once considered whether Cherry would be happier if she reunited with her father and gained her father’s love.

She suddenly thought of how Cherry had reacted after Justin blocked her on Facebook the day before. Even though she had only complained a little, she was actually still feeling rather down even now.

Was it a bit too much of her to prevent them from acknowledging each other?

“That’s enough, the two of you! Do you really think that love can fill your stomachs? Simon, your heart is aching so much just because someone gave your wife a slap, but do you know how much insult and humiliation I had to suffer back then for the sake of Harmonia Pharmacy?”

Sheena suddenly banged the table, causing the other three people’s attention to return to her.

Simon clenched his jaw.

To be honest, he had already realized that his second sister must have been through a lot all these years when he saw how Deputy Dean Lucas had pawed her at the conference the other time.

Simon felt even guiltier toward Sheena. He said, “It’s been tough on you, Sheena.”

Sheena’s expression mellowed a little. She replied, “I’m willing to do it for the sake of the family. Simon, do you still remember how glorious the Andersons were when we were young? Even the Hunts and the Smiths had to treat us with courtesy. But what about now?”

She took a deep breath and went on. “They even have the guts to not invite us to a medical conference now! Why is that? It’s all because we don’t have any money! Such a good opportunity has been placed in front of us now, but why isn’t any of you cherishing it?”

She looked straight at Melissa and said, “I know you’re from a scholarly family. It was indeed unfair for you to marry Siming under those circumstances back then, but Miranda is your sister-in-law. What’s the big deal about letting her hit you? If it means that it’ll allow the Andersons to expand into the real estate industry, I’ll smile and let her hit me a hundred times if that’s what she wants! You guys are really just so… How could you let go of such a great investment opportunity?!”

Melissa, however, didn’t agree with her. She straightened her back and slowly said, “Sheena, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter how much money we have. It’s fine as long as we have enough. That’s not what we should be relying on to revive the Andersons, either. Rather, it’s our own skills and expertise that we should be using! Why do we have to grovel and submit to others? We mustn’t lose our pride and backbone!”

Simon nodded. “I agree with Melissa.”

A furious Sheena stood up abruptly. As though she had expected better from him, she said, “Are you really sure you don’t care about money? Won’t you be jealous when the Sonnets strike gold? Won’t you mind?”

Both Melissa and Simon replied, “No, I won’t.”

Sheena took a deep breath and looked at Nora. “Even if you don’t care about money, don’t you care about your reputation?! Nora, how dare you hit your elders and even be so arrogant as to claim that you’re going to help your aunt make money?!

“Do you know that a lot of people have been asking me about you and your marital status after you stole the show at the dance party? But Miranda is now telling everyone about how unbearable, arrogant, and ignorant you are! Originally, quite a few decent families had their eye on you, but now they’ve all disappeared! Do all of you not care about this, either?”

Melissa wasn’t anxious about her matters, but she couldn’t help but become panic when she heard what she said. However, just as she was about to speak, she heard Nora’s cool and crisp voice. “If they are people who easily believe gossip and rumors that they hear from others, why should I care about them?”

Sheena, “??”

Melissa added, “Besides, it’s hard to say at the moment whether real estate will still be lucrative or not. Don’t worry, Sheena…”

Seeing how the three of them were all so calm, Sheena let out an angry bark of laughter. “Is there even anything I should be worried about? It’s not as if I’ll get even a single cent from the Andersons? Also, are you saying that real estate isn’t lucrative? Do you think you’ll make money by giving Nora money to invest in stocks? What nonsense! There’s a limit to how much you can pamper a child!

“Fine, since none of you want to listen to me, then you can just wait for the Sonnets to strike gold while all of you starve to death at home! It’s because all of you are content to stay like this that the Andersons have become what they are today!”

She turned and left after saying that.

—

Sunlight shone through the windows into the car as the sun gradually rose, causing Tina to become drowsy.

She had already waited here for three hours. Just when she thought that Justin wouldn’t be heading out today, the gates to the villa complex opened and Justin’s impressive motorcade came out.

Tina’s eyes lit up at once and she stopped in front of them right away.