The air suddenly erupted with these three words.
Nora Scott paused, the phone she had just raised was now resting flat on her lap.
Leaning back in the rocking chair, Nora crossed her arms, squinted slightly, and then smiled.
She wasn’t angry or upset, just a bit surprised, a bit curious, but all within the normal range.
Without answering, Pedro Langley turned and closed the slightly open window, then looked down at Nora, who was most conspicuous among the varying heights of the potted plants, and said, "Lily Turner’s incident was controlled by Biel Hall, and you’re connected to Biel Hall."
He had Nathan Salt investigate the mastermind behind it. Just as they traced the source and were about to target Lily Turner, photos of her were already spreading everywhere.
It’s easy to investigate matters within the circle, and his connections in the industry are sufficient, but in the end, he only found three words—Biel Hall.
As for the connection between "Biel Hall and Nora Scott," it was purely something he threw in to bluff Nora, without any evidence.
Nora’s composed and calm demeanor also confirmed his suspicions.
Nora clicked her tongue, "You’ve got quite a few sources."
"Your public relations tactics are bad."
Pedro’s mocking was quite honest.
Nora elongated an ’oh’, nodded instantly, and laughed freely, "Our hall hasn’t ventured into the entertainment industry yet; we’ll learn from this."
"Your hall?" Pedro squinted his eyes and asked seriously, "Are the procedures legitimate?"
"It’s a civilian organization, completely aboveboard, legal, and entirely legitimate."
Otherwise, it would’ve been dismantled as a typical ’clique’ long ago.
Finished speaking leisurely, Nora toyed with her phone, raising an eyebrow, asked, "Satisfied your curiosity?"
"Is that it?" Pedro retorted.
"Martial world rumors need some mystery; revealing too much makes it boring."
Anyway, it’s your mouth, feel free to make up stories.
Pausing for a moment, Pedro temporarily set this topic aside and said, "I need a set of high-resolution photos."
Nora was taken aback, laughing with intrigue, "That’s your hobby?"
Pedro didn’t speak, just looked at her quietly, but his deep and inscrutable eyes clearly showed an emotional undercurrent, steadily darkening.
Not teasing him further, Nora nodded straightforwardly, "Alright, what do you want to do?"
Pedro said lightly, "Send them to Jesse Johnson."
Nora’s eyes widened slightly, and she clicked her tongue, quite intrigued, "You as an older brother——"
The unsentimental Pedro firmly distanced himself from that relationship.
Nora paused, then laughed out loud.
After a sumptuous dinner, Nora took Marcus Shaw back home.
"You’ll stay in the side room."
Standing in the living room, Nora pointed Marcus toward the side room.
Glancing over, Marcus, still in the hallway, bent down to change his shoes.
Dragging his slippers to the sofa, Nora grabbed an orange from the coffee table and said, "The side room is next to the study, and there’s some materials and tools in the cabinet to the right of the desk you can use."
Just having put his coat away, Marcus frowned, looked over, and asked in some confusion, "What materials?"
Nora silently glanced at him.
As she slowly recalled the broken mechanical box in her bag, Marcus realized, and replied blandly, "Got it."
"Where’s the mechanical box?"
Leisurely asking, Nora sat on the sofa, tossing the bright orange in her hand.
Marcus didn’t respond, coldly asking, "Do you know how?"
Crossing his right leg over his left knee, Nora tilted her head to think for two seconds, then laughed, "A bit better than your mother."
The confidence and disdain in her words weren’t concealed at all.
Having some slight understanding of the Easton Family’s ’ancestral skills’, Marcus hadn’t encountered it before, and given Nora’s hostility towards Evelyn Easton, made no comments. He grabbed his bag and walked over.
Unzipping it, the backpack opened wide, revealing a laptop with no book in sight.
He reached inside, found the broken mechanical box, took it out, and placed it on the coffee table.
Although it was a rushed work by Shaw, it wasn’t sloppy or careless, and the craftsmanship was reasonably fine, within normal standards.
The box shattering into pieces was something Nora hadn’t anticipated.
The small rectangular box had only six sides in total, with the mechanism adding two extra wooden panels, yet it broke into five pieces, leaving the mechanism entirely unusable.
Just with a glance, Nora estimated: this thing was over seventy percent ruined.
"Did you guys use this as a weapon in a fight?" Nora asked peculiarly.
Marcus was choked up by her ridiculing tone.
He’s seen people with bad attitudes while speaking.
But every sentence enveloped in sarcasm... did this woman grow up eating firecrackers?
"Good luck, you can come to me if you have any issues."
Switching her tone, Nora stood up with the orange, as she lifted her foot, she suddenly glanced at his wounded forehead and said, "There’s a medical kit on the bookshelf."
A whack, then a date.
Marcus exhaled, silent and staring at her, not too eager to speak.
"Also," Nora lazily reminded, giving him a sidelong glance, "people in our family, typically can take on one or two fights unscathed."
This tone, this posture... a feeling of ’this person was even more unruly than me during school’ hit him right in the heart.
Swinging her hand, Nora tossed the orange, and walked into the bedroom.
Marcus stood there, watching Nora’s back, his thoughts complex.
Moments later, his phone vibrated.
He took it out to see, it was [SJY] asking if he’d finished eating.
After a moment’s hesitation, Marcus replied.
[XN]: My sister might be schizophrenic.
Soon, a message came back.
[SJY]: Buddy, stay safe, okay?
[SJY]: Contact me any time if there’s a life-threatening situation.
This person has a good nature, it’s just that their thought process is a bit off.
Evening, nine o’clock.
In a certain residential area.
Jesse Johnson drove his sports car, speeding all the way after entering the gate, lights flashing wildly, provoking angry shouts from residents out for a stroll.
The sports car didn’t enter the underground garage, instead, it spun to a stop right in front of a certain building.
As soon as the car stopped, he hurriedly flung the door open and rushed into the building.
He returned home that night, intending to say something good for Lily Turner, but unexpectedly Lily called him in tears, telling him about the news online...
He rushed over, believing Lily had been set up, and now feared that she might do something foolish in her despair.
Reaching the elevator, Jesse pressed the button repeatedly, anxiously waiting for the floor number to descend.
His phone’s notification tone sounded continuously.
He cursed in his heart, taking out his phone to look. But as soon as he opened the message’s image, he stood frozen in place.