The man in front of her was gentle and mild-mannered. His eyes were slightly upturned and he looked rather polite. However, the way he was speaking sounded a little strange.

Nora found his question rather ridiculous.

This was only the second time they were meeting, yet he was already starting to take note of her private life?

Even though she found him rather likable, she nevertheless couldn't be bothered to talk to him about such things. She raised her brows slightly and said coldly, "It seems like you're minding more than just your own business, Mr. Smith?"

She'd had a pretty good impression of him when she first met him back then.

However, when she realized that his wife was the one who was bullying Tanya, Nora couldn't be bothered to be civil with him anymore.

She left straightaway.

Joel broke into a frown as he stared at her from the back. He couldn't help but go after her and say, "Ms. Smith, allow me to remind you that Mr. Hunt already has a child!"

Nora, "?"

She looked back and raised an eyebrow. "So?"

After a long silence, Joel finally smiled bitterly and said, "As far as I understand, Mr. Hunt intends to marry the child's mother. It doesn't seem like a good idea for you to get in between them like that."

"The child's mother?"

"Yes, that's right. The child ultimately still needs a mother..." said Joel with some difficulty.

Back then, it was exactly because he felt that Mia needed a mother—as well as the fact that he didn't intend to remarry—that he had allowed Hillary to move in.

Now that he thought about it again though, that wasn't true at all.

At the sight of Joel in such an internal struggle, something seemed to click in Nora's mind. The corners of her lips curled upward as she raised her eyebrows and asked, "Is the child's mother whom you're referring to, Tanya?"

From the look of it, Nora also knew of Tanya's existence.

Joel nodded. "Yes, that's right."

If Nora became close to Justin, going by Tanya's character, she would definitely be sad, right? Or perhaps she would compromise for the child's sake?

Therefore, the best solution was to have Nora take the initiative to withdraw from the relationship.

This way, he would also be fulfilling Tanya's wishes somewhat, right?

A wave of irritability surged up within Joel. Going by his character, he'd rather drag Tanya back with him and keep her by his side.

Just like what he had done back then...

But he knew Tanya too well. That woman would never allow herself to be controlled by him.

He looked at Nora and said, "As long as you're willing to leave Justin Hunt, I can fulfill one of your wishes for you."

Nora, "?"

She suddenly smiled and said, "You're going to make me misunderstand something if you do that, Mr. Smith."

Joel's heart sank.

If she found out that Tanya used to be involved with him and told Justin about it, Tanya would probably have a hard time in the future.

Joel's expression turned a little cold. Just as he was deep in thought, he heard the girl's cool and crisp voice.

"Are you interested in Mr. Hunt, Mr. Smith?"

Joel, "???"

"If so, I'm willing to pull out from the relationship and fulfill the two of you."

"..."

Nora's bright and clear eyes were full of mirth as she took in Joel's facial expression, which looked as if it was about to crack. Then, she walked around him and headed to the car park.

That guy must have misunderstood Tanya, right?

Yet, in spite of that, he was still willing to go to that extent for her. Not bad.

After Nora took a few steps forward, the man at the back came after her again. After seemingly letting out a sigh, he said in resignation, "Even though you didn't agree to my request, I can still fulfill one of your wishes for you, Ms. Smith."

Nora was a little taken aback. "Why?"

Since he hadn't allowed her to treat Ian's illness, then that meant they must still harbor resentment toward the Andersons. What was Joel suddenly approaching her for?

Joel, however, stared at her for a while before he slowly replied, "It's because you've done me a favor."

Nora was puzzled. "What favor did I do for you?"

However, Joel didn't explain any further. He took a step back and said, "I'm a man of my word. Goodbye."

Nora was rendered speechless.

Joel went upstairs after that. As he hadn't slept a wink the previous night, he rested sleepily on the sofa in Ian's ward and closed his eyes.

His executive assistant-cum-bodyguard, who had been with Joel the whole time, couldn't stop himself from asking, "Has Ms. Smith helped you out in some way, Mr. Smith?"

Joel opened his eyes. The deep look in his eyes made people unable to guess what he was thinking.

He glanced at Ian on the bed and slowly replied, "Of course. She saved Uncle Ian's life."

The executive assistant, "??"

He was confused by Joel's reply. Wasn't Tina York the one who saved Mr. Ian? Why did it suddenly become Ms. Smith instead? However, Joel clearly didn't have any intentions of explaining any further, so he simply shut up.

After resting for a while, Joel finally instructed, "Find Anti."

The assistant nodded. "We've already started investigating Anti's whereabouts last night, but we couldn't find anything so far. We've also put up a reward for his whereabouts in international forums. So far, what we've found out is that Anti once treated the elderly Mrs. Hunt in the past. It seemed like Justin Hunt was the one who found him that time."

At the mention of Justin, a competitive look appeared in Joel's eyes and he said coldly, "Do you think I can't find someone that Justin Hunt could?"

All the warmth and mildness around Joel disappeared in this instant, and his entire self seemed to be dyed with a layer of black, making him look like a demon from hell itself.

At this point, they heard slight movement at the bed.

Joel, who had sensed it right away, hurried over. Sure enough, he saw Ian slowly opening his eyes.

An anxious Joel said, "Uncle Ian."

Ian glanced at him. When he saw the shadows under his eyes—obviously, he hadn't slept all night—he said, "It must have been tough on you."

Joel shook his head. "Don't worry, Uncle Ian, I will definitely find Anti. I'll drag him here and make him treat your illness even if he's unwilling to!"

Ian sighed and said, "If I'm gone, then so be it. What's the use of doing all this?"

Determination filled Joel's eyes as he held Ian's shoulders. He said, "No, Uncle Ian, you have to live on..."

He paused for a moment before he went on and said, "You're my only kin now."

His only kin...

Should outsiders hear what he said, they would definitely find his words very strange because there were still so many members of the Smiths. By right, based on blood relations, he still had a lot of relatives.

However, Ian seemed to understand what he meant. His jaw tensed up as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't. He merely heaved a deep sigh instead.

—

On the way back to the Andersons, Nora gave Tanya a call after thinking about it a little.

Tanya answered very quickly. She sounded very anxious as she asked, "How is Cherry? Why did they ask you to go over in the middle of the night? Is it serious?"

Nora looked ahead and replied concisely, "It's not gonna kill her."

'Not gonna kill her'...

Tanya panicked. "That means it's very serious, right? Is she at Hospital Finest? Which ward is she in? I'm going over now!"

Nora lazily told her the ward number and hung up.

Joel had obviously misunderstood. In that case, she would let Tanya resolve the misunderstanding herself.

Nora hated misunderstandings the most.

After resolving the misunderstanding, if it was still possible between the two of them, then they could just get together. If not, then they could break up properly...

Upon receiving the news, Tanya hailed a cab and rushed to the hospital. As soon as she went upstairs, she immediately saw Joel walking out of Ian's ward...