"Sorry, I’m Oliver Scott’s sister, I was caught in traffic and arrived late."
Sophie Scott paused at the door, catching her breath.
She was fair and lovely, with delicate features, adorned with light makeup. Her dimples showed when she smiled, giving her an innocent and amiable appearance, one might even mistake her for a high school student.
"Oliver..." As Sophie began to speak, her gaze froze on someone, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Nora?"
Oliver’s right eyelid couldn’t help but twitch, casting a peculiar look at Nora.
The woman he unexpectedly met at the library, who was Marcus Shaw’s guardian... her surname was also Scott?
Amidst his confusion, Nora’s gaze suddenly swept over, their eyes met for a second, but before Oliver could feel any guilt, Nora had already looked away.
Nora casually glanced at Sophie, "It’s you."
Her eyes flickered for a few seconds, and Sophie steadied herself, suspiciously asking, "You’re here because—"
"Oh." Sophie bit her lip, nodding mindlessly, "I see."
At this moment, Anastasia finally joined in, adjusting her glasses, and greeted Sophie warmly, "So, you are Oliver Scott’s sister?"
"Hello, Teacher," Sophie nodded politely, with a well-behaved demeanor and a soft voice, "I’m Sophie Scott. Apologies for the trouble my brother has caused you."
Two students, two guardians, it was clear whose attitude prevailed.
In Anastasia’s heart, her disdain and scorn for Marcus Shaw and Nora grew even stronger.
With deceased parents, Marcus had average grades and was a constant worry. Surely, he won’t have much success in the future. As for his sister... she may have looks, but she’s probably just a facade, likely keeping unsavory company with that air of arrogance and roughness.
Sophie and Oliver Scott were different.
The Scott family was well-known in Fenton City, involved in the antiques business. Their father had even started his own business from scratch at a young age, now a notable entrepreneur, holding his ground in Fenton City.
Coming from such a family, their upbringing was extraordinary, and Anastasia took an instant liking to Sophie upon first meeting.
Oliver not only excelled academically, but also in sports and hobbies. He was humble, respected teachers and elders, and got along well with classmates, never causing concern.
If it weren’t for Marcus Shaw dragging him into trouble this time, he probably wouldn’t have had any "summoning of parents" experience.
Thinking of this, Anastasia became even more biased in favor of Oliver and Sophie Scott.
"This matter really wasn’t Oliver’s fault," Anastasia quickly made her stance clear, then gestured, "Come in and have a seat first."
She took the initiative to move a chair, letting Sophie sit next to Oliver, while Anastasia naturally joined in.
Anastasia’s friendliness and eagerness did not concern Sophie.
Since seeing Nora, Sophie felt as if she had thorns in her back, restless and distracted. Her mind was filled with thoughts of the script incident, avoiding any eye contact with Nora, and pondering how to resolve it quickly.
"Teacher Anastasia, I’ve heard about the situation from Oliver," Sophie accepted the water handed by Anastasia, not drinking it, just pursed her lips lightly, and directly said, "It’s not a big deal, Oliver didn’t lose much, and both of them got hurt, so why don’t we just let it go—"
As soon as Sophie wanted to mediate, Oliver frowned.
But before Sophie could finish speaking, Nora calmly interrupted, "Is the signature badly damaged?"
Anastasia shot a cold glance at Nora, full of blame and dissatisfaction, but Nora didn’t mind.
Marcus sat slouched, expressionless in his seat, occasionally glancing at Nora with an unclear intent.
After a moment, Oliver said in a calm tone, "It’s been cleaned up."
"Oh," Nora replied slowly. "Right or wrong, if it started with Marcus’s mistake, he should be the one to take responsibility."
Marcus frowned unpleasantly.
Not knowing why Nora suddenly became so ’understanding,’ Anastasia let out a mocking laugh, chiming in, "Indeed, Marcus should take responsibility."
Nora shifted her tone: "Forcing an apology won’t work from him, and you probably wouldn’t accept a forced one anyway. Here’s my suggestion: let Marcus fix the broken box and return it to you, within a week."
Her attitude wasn’t exactly friendly, yet oddly, such a ’matter-of-fact’ solution wasn’t all that hard to accept.
Oliver considered it for a moment and then asked, "What if he can’t fix it?"
Tilting her head, Nora looked at Marcus and asked, "You’ve caused trouble and can’t handle it, what do you think?"
His eyes held a faint chill, and with a glimmer in his eyes, Marcus’s voice was indifferent, "I can fix it."
"That would be the best outcome."
Sophie sighed in relief.
However, including Anastasia and several teachers, it was their first time seeing Marcus agreeing to follow a resolution, making them quite surprised.
Although Anastasia was not satisfied with how easily Nora and Marcus handled the situation, considering the Mechanical Box seemed to require skill to repair, which Marcus might find challenging, she temporarily agreed to this resolution, planning to settle accounts later.
Inside the classroom.
Since it was past dismissal time, the monitor students had left, leaving the room empty and deserted.
"Sis, this is for you." Oliver handed a stack of books to Sophie, "I quite like his signature, so I kept it for myself."
Seeing the "Zero" signature on the book spine, Sophie’s eyelashes trembled slightly. After a moment, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, "You also read his comics, huh?"
After picking a few books to put in his backpack, Oliver replied casually, "Wasn’t your room full of comic books before? I flipped through them. His works are pretty good, so I occasionally follow them."
After a pause, Oliver shrugged again, "Didn’t expect to get lucky."
Holding the complete set of books in her arms, Sophie freed one hand and poked Oliver’s forehead.
"You won and didn’t tell me sooner."
Her words were both helpless and joyful.
Oliver chuckled softly, his laughter like a gentle breeze.
He slung his backpack over one shoulder and turned slightly, lowering his voice a few decibels, "Sis, are you secretly drawing comics?"
Sophie was taken aback and hurriedly said, "What comics? Don’t make wild guesses."
"Don’t worry, even if you are drawing, I won’t tell Mom."
Thinking of their strict mother, Sophie felt a shiver run through her. She said nothing.
The joy and light in her eyes gradually dimmed.
"By the way, Marcus Shaw’s sister..." Oliver cleared his throat, changing the topic, "Do you know her?"
"Yeah, I’ve met her twice. She’s a celebrity, but she hasn’t acted in a long time." Sophie answered truthfully, then asked curiously, "Why?"
Oliver deflected the topic nonchalantly, "Let’s head back. You cover for the wound on my face."
Sophie responded helplessly, holding the books and following his pace.
As Oliver walked out of the classroom door, a depth flashed through his clear pupils when looking down.
The surname is Scott...
Hopefully, he’s overthinking it.
At the bottom of the teaching building.
Nora Scott stood by the car, ending a call with Butler Loxley, just as Marcus Shaw walked over.
With a straight posture, a backpack slung over one shoulder, his school uniform nowhere to be seen, wearing a down jacket, the coat unzipped, one hand buried in his pocket, the dim light of the street lamp cast a shadowy glow on him.
Nora took out the car key and said in a flat tone, "Today, I’ll show you the way. In the future, come to my place on weekends."
Her words were declarative, not a discussion, but an announcement.
A gentle breeze lifted the fringe of hair on Marcus’s forehead as he paused, his light brown eyes reflecting her figure.
Having met a few times, she’s a stranger. Yet, he could find familiar traces in her.
After a momentary pause, he responded, "Oh."
Nora said, "Get in the car."
With a nonchalant glance at her, Marcus said nothing and obediently got into the car, opening the back seat door.
Driving all the way home, Nora didn’t initiate any further conversation.
This was the first time Nora had come to school for Marcus.
Marcus had thought Nora would put on a seniority act, maybe get angry or lecture him...
But there was nothing.
Nora didn’t say a word to him.
Marcus sat in the back seat, with the car lights off. As light and shadow flickered, his thoughts drifted, occasionally landing on the side profile of the person driving, not knowing what he was pondering.
"Our family members aren’t necessarily successful, but they won’t go astray."
She said this with confidence and arrogance.
Like she truly understood him.
Nora stood in front of the door, ignoring the password lock, and pressed the doorbell.
Marcus, who had been silent all along, finally couldn’t help but speak at this peculiar scene, "Your house?"
"My house is next door, this is the neighbor’s place."
Marcus looked at her in surprise, somewhat incredulous.
You’ve reached your doorstep, and instead of going home first, you’re visiting the neighbor?