Overprotected By My Tsundere CEO-Chapter 624 - 376:

After having lunch at Pedro Langley’s house, Nora Scott only returned to the house next door in the afternoon.

However—

As soon as she entered, she sensed something was off.

Yesterday, Ernesto Scott brought over a bunch of food, about ten boxes or so. Nora was busy recording a variety show, so she asked him to move them into the living room, then she left with Pedro.

But now, the living room was clean and tidy, with no trace of the boxes from yesterday.

"Sis!"

Oliver Scott was in the study. After hearing the sound of the door opening, he quickly stuck his head out to say hello.

Nora raised her eyebrows and asked, "Where are my snacks?"

"..."

For some reason, Oliver was choked up.

He awkwardly smiled at Nora and then stiffly turned his head to look at another person in the study.

Marcus Shaw strolled over and stood at the door, meeting Nora’s sharp gaze with an unchanged expression. He calmly said, "Eating too much isn’t good for your health."

Nora: "..."

Just as she was contemplating how to get angry, Marcus added, "I left you some of each, put them in your bedroom, and dealt with the rest."

"Threw them away?"

Nora frowned.

"No, I didn’t," Oliver coughed lightly, helping to explain. "Bro sold them to a small supermarket in the community at an eight percent discount off the wholesale price. The money is on your desk."

"..."

Nora was shocked by this bizarre operation.

With Marcus’s personality, getting rid of all the snacks wouldn’t have surprised her. Leaving her some and throwing away the rest would have seemed merciful.

She didn’t expect this guy to change his habit of "wasting" and learn to make money this way.

Impressive.

Seeing Nora remain silent and her gaze unfathomable, Oliver felt a little tense inside.

But the next moment, Nora spoke calmly, "Oh."

As if she didn’t care at all.

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief.

After changing shoes at the door, Nora shuffled in slippers to pour herself a glass of water, then asked Marcus, "Have you seen Crystal Hughes this week?"

"Yeah."

"How’s she doing?"

"Don’t know, she puts on quite a show," Marcus said in an indifferent tone, "but her manuscripts arrived, says she needs to organize them."

After pondering for a moment, Nora nodded, "That’s good, gives her something to focus on."

"What’s up with Miss Hughes?"

Unaware of Crystal’s situation, Oliver sensed something amiss in their conversation and asked unintentionally.

"Nothing."

Giving him a glance, Marcus turned back to the study.

After taking a sip of water, Nora met Oliver’s eyes filled with curiosity and smiled lightly, "Nothing."

!!!

It’s obvious something’s up, isn’t it?

Oliver felt like everyone knew but him, kept in the dark.

"Are you staying here tonight?"

"Ah, no," Oliver replied, "Tomorrow’s my grandpa’s birthday, so I’m heading to the Ferreira Family tonight."

"They won’t make things difficult for you, will they?" Nora asked.

Nora had heard bits and pieces.

When Ernesto Woods insisted on divorcing Alma Ferreira, the Ferreira Family tried to persuade Oliver, but he remained neutral, leading to tension with Alma and his grandfather.

This isn’t something that can be resolved overnight.

"Don’t know," Oliver shrugged indifferently, "I’ll play it by ear. Since it’s a birthday, they probably won’t make a scene in public."

"Hmm."

Nora nodded slightly.

*

"Knock. Knock. Knock."

The door was knocked. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Crystal Hughes, busy organizing manuscripts, turned her head upon hearing the sound and saw Peter Hughes standing at the open doorway.

Peter had a cigarette in his mouth, one hand in his pocket, retaining his casual demeanor, "Your handsome dad finally has a day off, and instead of having a drink and chat with him, you’re spending the whole morning with your manuscripts in the bedroom. Isn’t that a bit too much?"

Crystal smiled, her face bright, "Handsome dad, are you jealous of a few sheets of paper now?"

"Come on, come out and eat."

Peter tapped the door, urging her.

"Right away."

Agreeing verbally, Crystal glanced down at the manuscripts, her smile fading slightly.

After speaking, Peter left to find Andrew Hughes, who was engrossed in studying advanced math, next door.

As Crystal closed her notebook and got up, she accidentally knocked a letter off the desk, spilling the photos inside all over the floor.

They were all shocking war zone photos.

Just one look made Crystal feel as if her throat was being choked, an overwhelming sense of suffocation, leaving her unable to breathe.

"Mom, it’s time to eat."

Andrew’s crisp voice came from the living room.

Crystal immediately snapped back to reality, saying "Okay," then hurriedly crouched down to pick up the photos and put them back in the envelope.

...

At the dining table, Peter poured a glass of beer for Crystal, persistently convincing her to drink a few sips with him.

Crystal agreed.

They clinked glasses; she took a small sip, while Peter drank his in one go.

Immersed in the joy of learning, Andrew quickly finished his meal and took his bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen, then ran back to his bedroom to continue studying.

At this time, Crystal hadn’t even finished her glass of beer.

"Dad."

Taking a light sip, Crystal cradled her glass, slightly lifting her eyes, calling softly to Peter.

Picking up a piece of shredded potato with his chopsticks, Peter glanced at her sideways, casually replying, "Out of money?"

"..."

Crystal was stumped by his remark.

She said speechlessly, "I have money."

"Then why do you have that ’I need something from dad’ look?" Peter snorted lightly.

"I want to move back," Crystal lowered her eyes to avoid Peter’s gaze, saying softly, "Once summer vacation starts, I’ll take Andrew back over."

Peter glanced at her.

After pouring the last bit of beer from the bottle, Peter picked up his glass and downed it in one go.

Then, he placed the glass back on the table.

Crystal’s eyelid twitched.

"Now that you have money and financial freedom, you’re just going to leave your nearly fifty-year-old dad unattended?" Peter unfoundedly placed blame on Crystal.

Crystal was momentarily stunned.

She had expected to be scolded, not that Peter would try to persuade her this way.

Gazing at the ripples spreading in her glass of beer, Crystal’s thoughts drifted before quickly returning.

She said, "I can’t take care of him."

"Who asked you to take care of him?" Peter took out a new bottle of beer from under the table, twisted off the cap with two fingers, and casually said as he poured himself a drink, "He can do everything by himself, take care of himself, and even take care of you."

Crystal pursed her lips, "But I’m his mother."

During this time, Andrew had taken care of her more than a little.

A son that’s not like a son, a mother not like a mother.

It was as if she and Andrew’s roles had been reversed.

Peter said blandly, "Then learn properly how to be this mother."

"I..."

"My daughter can’t have things she can’t learn or do."

Peter interrupted Crystal with an extremely relaxed and easygoing tone.

Crystal’s eyes reddened.

Drinking a large gulp of beer, Peter chuckled, "What, are you moved?"

"...No."

Mumbling, Crystal drank down most of the glass of beer in one go.

Peter poured her another full glass.

He asked, "Do you feel bad?"

"Yeah."

Crystal nodded.

"And you don’t even know why?"

"Yeah."

Crystal paused and nodded again.

The prolonged repression and negative emotions had built a mental prison for her. Perhaps it began with her inability to bear the horrors of the war zone and the miserable lives of others, but now none of that mattered.

She was inexplicably downcast.

She didn’t want to do anything, losing passion and interest in everything around her.

"When you focus on doing one thing," Peter picked up his glass and gazed deeply at her, "it’s not really that unbearable."

Pausing slightly, he added, "Stay here, and take good care of the good son you’ve been neglecting, and your old father."

Crystal’s nose tingled.