Nora shot him a glare, grabbed the army coat, and left. After taking just a couple of steps, Pedro reminded her. Nora paused for a moment but didn’t turn around, pretending not to hear, and continued walking forward. Soon, she heard a soft sigh, and the scarf was tossed over by Pedro. Nora still didn’t look back, but she reached out in time to catch the scarf, wrapping it around her neck several times. She wrapped herself in the army coat and walked out the door. In the living room, Pedro looked in the direction of the door, his gaze unclear. Just as she stepped out the door, a fierce wind swept across her face, and the surrounding warmth was utterly consumed. Nora pulled the scarf up, covering her chin and lips, and tightened the army coat around her. She actually hadn’t decided where to go. Pure frustration clouded her mind, and not wanting to stay with Pedro, she simply went out for a walk to organize her complex thoughts. "...Ward’s place, just over here..." She heard parts of two sentences. Nora disengaged from her thoughts, stood still, and turned her head to look into the distance. She saw an older woman and a young lady chatting. Nora recognized the older woman, and the young lady... had a slightly round face, big eyes, seemed quite familiar. While she observed, the older woman suddenly glanced over, saw Nora, and greeted her with a smile, "Nora’s back?" At this moment, the young lady also looked over. But after just one glance, the young lady got startled, quickly thanked the older woman, and hurriedly ran away. As if fleeing a disaster. "Hmm." Snap back to reality, Nora walked towards the older woman, squinting as she watched the young lady run off, "Who was that just now?" People who are good-looking generally attract affection wherever they go. The older woman was delighted to see her and responded with a smile, "Oh, just a young lady asking for directions, wanting to know where Ward lives." "Don’t know. Said she dropped something at Ward’s fruit store. Couldn’t find Ward there, so came asking all the way here." Went to the fruit store and came all the way asking? Vaguely, she had a guess but didn’t dwell on it. She chatted a little with the older woman, and when the older woman began probing whether she was single, Nora hurriedly found an excuse to leave. She detoured to the Quinn Family. In the afternoon, the temperature dramatically dropped. The physical education teacher took leave, and the PE class was switched to a math class. The third-class students complained but, without exception, sat honestly in the classroom for the lesson. Even Marcus, who usually skipped classes or slept, wasn’t an exception. On Monday, seats were changed randomly, and Marcus ended up sitting right in front of Oliver. The math class was going over the test papers, but Oliver, who had only lost two points, didn’t really need to pay attention. After finishing the comprehensive test papers he hadn’t completed during the break, his thoughts began to wander. From Ernesto Scott to Sophie Scott, then Alma Ferreira, and finally to Nora. And lastly, to Marcus sitting in front. Marcus wasn’t wearing an outer coat, only a long-sleeve shirt, the fabric thin, showing the outline of his back when he bent down to write. He was tall but thin. When sitting, he often slouched, his body leaning to the left, resting against the wall, with his long legs barely stretching under the desk. Occasionally, he would tap the crossbar under the desk, lazily. His hand was never idle, always twirling a pen, almost dizzyingly. On a whim, Oliver picked up a pen and poked Marcus’s back with the cap end. Marcus’s shoulder twitched. A few seconds later, Marcus finally peeled his left shoulder off the white wall, leaned back, resting his back against Oliver’s desk. Marcus spat out a single word, bluntly. Oliver asked softly, "How old are you?" His thoughts shifted; Oliver leaned slightly forward again and whispered, "Which month?" Marcus turned his head slightly, his peripheral vision slanting at Oliver, retorted, "Want to call me bro?" He had to admit, Marcus and Nora were indeed siblings. Such provocative speech. After roughly half a minute, Marcus suddenly said, "March." He was November. According to those random connections, he might really need to call Marcus "bro." Thinking this through, Oliver felt even gloomier and lay over the desk in dismay. As silence fell behind him, Marcus tapped the back of the desk with his fingers. Oliver pulled himself together slightly, thinking about the pile of issues at home, feeling conflicted, hesitating briefly before asking, "What do you think your sister is like?" Marcus answered somewhat guardedly. As expected, according to Marcus’s description, they had rarely met, with no opportunity to get to know each other. With a sigh, Oliver said, "Then describe her from your ’not familiar’ perspective." After a pause, Marcus’s tone suddenly turned serious, "She has a boyfriend." Oliver was puzzled, hearing Marcus’s abrupt words, utterly bewildered. Marcus added, "You’ve seen him." He had seen him, so what? Just about to inquire further, suddenly Oliver’s mind caught Marcus’s point, and his usually active brain completely froze. A good moment later, Oliver regained a little composure, quickly trying to explain. By this time, Marcus’s back had already distanced from Oliver’s desk, his twirling pen stopped, continuing to jot notes on the test paper. This guy totally wasn’t interested in hearing his explanation. And worse, Oliver had no idea where to start explaining. What on earth is going on! Feeling frustrated and helpless, Oliver lay flat on the desk, playing dead. Due to Pedro’s injured hand, Nora, sticking to a responsible end, drove Pedro’s car and returned to Cloudwater Haven with him. Upon reaching the door, Nora handed Pedro the curled-up scroll of the national painting. She had asked Bernardo Quinn for it during her visit to the Quinn Family. Standing quietly at the door, Pedro frowned at the painting, not reaching out to accept it. "A painting." Nora said, "Consider it a thank-you gift for today." Pedro’s expression visibly cooled. For family and friends, Nora never cared about "thank-you gifts." In her view, relationships need favors and reciprocation to establish. Just like how she openly came to freeload, never being shy, sometimes even ordering food herself. Of course, she would compensate through other means. She would never put a price tag on friendships. Unless... Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel-fire.net Her gaze chilled, Pedro stepped closer, leaning down, the distance between them reduced until they could feel the warmth of each other’s breath. Nora didn’t evade, raising her chin slightly, her expression was cold, emotionless asking, "Do you want it?" She didn’t directly answer, but that retort undoubtedly acknowledged his statement. Pedro, nearly gritting his teeth, said, "No." After standing for a couple of seconds, Nora turned to leave. But just as she drew away from Pedro, her wrist was suddenly grabbed, pulling back. She instinctively wanted to break his hold, but remembering his injured arm, she hesitated. In just a few seconds, Pedro had clearly gained the upper hand. She was backed against the wall, Pedro looming before her, lifting her eyelids, locking into his deep ink-like pupils, bottomless darkness, with unspeakable emotions swirling. Equally swirling was the hot blood in her chest. His voice, each word thoroughly pronounced, "I said I would take responsibility for you."