Joel deliberately paused.
It was only after Nora raised her eyes that he finally said, "Q said he won't leave the Hacker Alliance
because there's someone in there he loves deeply—he can't live without Y."
Nora:"!!"
Joel leaned into her ear and said, "So, the reason why you still haven't accepted Mr.Hunt, as well as
why you don't take much initiative in this relationship is that...you have someone else you like?"
Nora:"???"
Joel sighed.
"Out of everyone you could like, why do you have to like Y, though? Don't you know that Y is the Hunt
Corporation's exclusive hacker and that he is on very good terms with Justin? They all say that he may
be Justin's secret brother.Nora, you'd better not make the two brothers turn against each other"
Nora couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to Joel's teasing.She asked, "Is the groom that free
today?"
Joel laughed and said, "Alright, I'm just checking if Mia has woken up yet.I'm going."
After he left, Nora shook her head.Then, she went to Tanya's dressing room and watched Tanya put on
her wedding gown.Nora also wore a white bridesmaid’s dress.She didn't put on any makeup.Her eyes
and brows were light and simple, and her almond-shaped eyes docile.
At first glance, everyone would be attracted by Tanya next to her—after all, she was the bride.
But once one looked over, even though Nora didn ‘t put on any makeup, she was still an existence
impossible to ignore.
At 8:28 in the morning, Tanya was picked up by the bridal car.
At about ten o'clock, she entered the hotel.
The hotel was jam-packed with people.
Nora accompanied Tanya to the lounge, where the latter would touch up her makeup depending on the
situation.
Once it was twelve o'clock, the wedding would begin! When Nora entered the lounge, she looked
around and found several undercover officers that the special department had dispatched.She broke
into a frown.
In this instant, she actually hoped that Karl would not come.
But when she looked at the strained smile on Tanya's face, she couldn't help but sigh.
Tanya sat at the vanity table and stared at the woman with exquisite makeup on in the mirror.
In her eyes, however, was deep sorrow.The day before, when Jill...no, Margot, the fake Jill, was taken
away, it finally sank in that her mother had already passed away back then.
And her father...after being wronged for so many years, left with no other choice, had finally embarked
on the path of crime.
Amid the silence, soft whispers suddenly drifted over from the door.
"Have you heard? Karl has escaped from prison! He has escaped again I"
"Sigh, if he hadn't escaped back then, maybe Jill wouldn't have died, and Tanya wouldn't have led such
a miserable life when she was a child."
"Yeah.Besides, his crime isn't that serious in the first place this time.Breaking out of prison like that,
he'll probably never return to the States again, right? Why would he do that?"
"Why wouldn't he? The way I see it, it's a good idea! He has been living in Switzerland all this time and
has never come back all these years anyway.I reckon he has a lot of money all saved up.If he is
imprisoned, how is he going to squander all that money?"
"...That's true, but he is too selfish if he does that."
"He probably doesn't want his daughter anymore, right? I heard that he gave his daughter a huge sum
of money?"
"What's the use of having so much money? Are people like us short of money? Tanya is really pitiful,
though.She really doesn't have even a single person from her own family anymore"
The voices gradually faded into the distance and the room became quiet.
Tanya suddenly said, "Say, Nora, how nice would it have been if he hadn ‘t escaped back then?"
Nora clenched her jaw.She knew that Tanya was a little resentful toward Karl at this instant.
If one thought about it carefully, Karl had indeed let Jill down.
He was obviously in a relationship with Jill, yet he had just upped and left without taking any
responsibility.
Neither had he told Jill about his whereabouts, which led to Jill approaching Margot and losing her life.If
he hadn't killed anyone, he should have trusted the police.
Tanya lowered her head.
"He had even persuaded Margot to surrender, so why did he refuse to trust the law himself? He was a
coward!"
She covered her face with her hands.
Nora sighed and put her hand on Tanya's shoulder.
Tanya raised her head again.
"He had already made a mistake once back then, yet he still ran away again this time…”
Nora sighed silently.
To be honest, if Karl had obediently gone to jail, Tanya might not have been so angry.
However, Karl's second escape made her very uncomfortable.He was being a coward again! Nora
said, "Perhaps he has his own difficulties."
Tanya scoffed, "I don't understand, what kind of difficulties could have made him abandon my mother
back then? And what about now? What kind of difficulty could he be facing?"
Nora did not say anything.Someone knocked on the door at this point, and then a middle-aged couple
walked in.
At the sight of them, Tanya hurriedly got up and dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her head down.
Nora looked at the couple.
The woman was pretty and delicate while the man was calm and steady.
He looked a little like lan.
After the two entered, the woman spoke first.
She said, "Hello, I am Joel's mother.Tanya hurriedly greeted her respectfully.
"Hello, auntie."
The woman nodded in a distant manner.
As for Nora, enlightenment suddenly dawned upon her.
They were Joel's parents! So, that made them her uncle and aunt? After lan inherited the Smiths,
everyone in the same generation as lan had moved out one after another, leaving only the young ones
in the manor.Joel had grown up under lan's care and was not close to his parents.
Joel's mother said indifferently, "Today is your wedding with Joel, so we've come.Well, some things are
hard to say at the wedding, so I can only come over to speak with you in private"
Tanya was very respectful.
"Please, go ahead’ Joel’s mother lowered her head and a look of disdain appeared in her eyes.
She said, "We all know your background..."
Tanya bit her lip.Joel's mother went on.
"We will not fault you for having an ordinary person as your mother and a criminal as your father, but I
hope you can let us take Mia and bring her up."
As soon as she said that, Tanya's eyes widened and she said, "No, you can't!"
The moment she said that, Joel's father snorted and sneered, "Why not ? Can someone like you bring
up a child well? We won't allow you to groom the third generation of the Smiths into good-for-nothings!"
Joel's mother was surprisingly gentle as she said, "Don't get us wrong, Tanya, he doesn't mean
anything wrong.It's just that your father is ultimately a very unsavory man.Now that he has even
escaped from prison and become the talk of the town, we are just worried that Mia will be negatively
impacted..."
Tanya clenched her fists.
A sense of shame surged up in her.
She stared at the two people in front of her, never expecting that her in-laws would say such things.
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