"In the future, unless it’s something important, don’t call me back home." His food was untouched. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI(F)ire.net As soon as he left, Ernesto Scott’s face suddenly darkened, but since Nora was present, he held back from snapping. Sophie hurriedly stood up. However, Alma Ferreira promptly stopped her, "Sophie, sit down." Sophie was so anxious, and when Alma called her, her eyes immediately reddened. She held back her tears, took a deep breath, and finally bit her lip and sat back down. Alma asked Lisa to serve Sophie a bowl of soup and then added several pieces of vegetables to her plate. At the same time, she said to Nora, "Nora, don’t mind it." "I don’t mind, it’s quite normal." Nora casually responded and put a piece of deboned fish into her mouth. Is this how a normal person should respond? All these years, Nora hasn’t learned how to speak, has she? If this situation involved Sophie or Oliver, Ernesto Scott would have kicked them off the dinner table to write reflection essays. Yet, Ernesto, who is so strict with Sophie and Oliver, completely ignored Nora’s attitude, even telling Lisa to remind the kitchen to clean the fish bones in the future to avoid the trouble of picking them out. Remembering that Nora didn’t attend college and is transparent in the entertainment circle, Alma comforted herself not to fuss with Nora, then asked deliberately, "By the way, Nora should be working now, right? What are you doing?" Nora raised her eyelids and abruptly glanced at Sophie. Sophie was drinking soup, head down, scooping it spoon by spoon, appearing focused, but her hand holding the spoon trembled slightly, creating ripples in the soup. With a slight smile, Nora said word by word, "Comic artist." Three words, surprising the three present, with six eyes turning towards her. "Comics? The kind for kids?" Alma inquired, but her tone carried a hint of disdain and contempt. Deep down, she looked down on the profession. Vulgar, childish, boring. Today’s youth don’t even know their own limitations. Just because they can draw a few pictures, can they really call themselves "comic artists"? "Drawing comics is great, high-end and classy," Ernesto held the opposite view, looking excited and full of approval, "Our family just lacks someone in artistic creation!" Alma, who once stopped Sophie from touching comics: "..." Sophie, secretly drawing comics at home: "..." Her fingers gripping the chopsticks tightened, then slowly relaxed, Alma’s smile froze, "Does Nora have any works now?" Nora casually dropped the word, glanced at Sophie again, and continued to eat her food. For some reason, Sophie’s heart turned cold under that glance, and she couldn’t help but feel anxious: could it be that Nora knows she’s secretly drawing comics at home? Alma smirked inwardly, assuming she must not have any works, or nothing worth showing, hence all the secrecy. If she really had any big successful works, she would be eager to flaunt them. Since Nora didn’t want to discuss her works, although Ernesto was curious, he refrained from asking, still showing concern and warmth. Alma and Sophie ate their meal tastelessly, every second extremely hard to endure, until they put down their cutlery and saw Nora and Ernesto going to the study on the fourth floor, finally breathing a sigh of relief. "Mom, what should we do?" Sitting next to Alma, Sophie held her arm, feeling despondent. Thinking of Ernesto’s differential treatment made Sophie feel aggrieved and uncomfortable, a sourness she couldn’t suppress. Without comparison, she felt Ernesto treated her well. The feeling was unbearable for anyone. "Sophie, your dad is just out of his mind," Alma gently patted Sophie’s hand, comforting her, "He feels guilty for many years and is eager to make amends. You’re so excellent, something Nora can never measure up to, after some time, once your dad calms down, he’ll see your worth." Then she advised, "Don’t act impulsively or confront him. The more so in times , the more carefully you need to act, understand?" This was Alma’s analysis, also her hope. She put all her efforts into nurturing her children, not allowing them to stray even slightly, hoping they would strive for excellence so that Ernesto couldn’t bear to cut them off, to keep thinking about home, about her. A daughter who grew up outside, aside from her looks, has nothing else to offer, naturally incomparable to Sophie and Oliver. Sophie nodded anxiously. Pausing slightly, thinking about Ernesto’s reaction to comics at the dinner table, an idea came to her mind, and she cautiously looked at Alma. "Mom, if I can draw comics better than Nora, could I—" "What nonsense are you talking?" Alma stopped her before she could finish her sentence, her brows furrowing, "Sophie, you’re a student at Capital Uni, don’t talk about such ambitionless things!" Sophie pursed her lips. Perhaps realizing her tone was too stern, Alma softened, "Of course, I’d be happy if you could draw better than Nora, but think about it, you’re starting halfway, how long will it take to stand out? You haven’t graduated yet, and if you get distracted, can you guarantee it won’t affect your studies?" The corners of Sophie’s mouth twitched slightly; she wanted to say she was already better than Nora, but seeing Alma’s dissatisfaction and worry, she thought better of it, eventually swallowing the words back. Sophie dragged her weary body back to her bedroom. Her phone was on the desk, and as soon as she entered, it wouldn’t stop ringing. She walked over to pick it up, and in less than half a minute, her hand was numb from the vibrations. WeChat friends, groups, as well as Weibo, text messages, and phone calls, countless messages popped up; after a few minutes, Sophie finally found the cause— At eight o’clock in the evening, two Weibo posts successfully stirred up a public frenzy. [Zero]: This Friday night, at eight o’clock, the new work "Base No. 9" will be released on CC Comics. @CC Comics Official Weibo [CC Comics Official Weibo-V]: This Friday night, at eight o’clock, it will be our moment of glory. @Zero [Image] The image posted on the official Weibo was a preview of the comic for "Base No. 9." The preview is what truly sparked the heated discussions. Even though the relationship between Zero, Laura Collins, and Nora Scott hadn’t been clarified by Sophie, she still acknowledged Zero’s work. She eagerly opened the image. A few seconds later, the expectation and smile on her face gradually faded away. Zero’s new work, "Base No. 9," is a post-apocalyptic theme.