"What are we talking about?" Nora chose a single-seat sofa and sat down. Sophie quietly breathed a sigh of relief, while her aunt and Alma exchanged glances. Just moments ago, they were worried about what to do if Nora refused to speak with them. Now it seems that although at home Nora doesn’t show good grace to Alma, Sophie, or the servants, she at least has some intelligence to know she should maintain good relations with the rest of the Scott family. Otherwise, she would have no place to stand. As a matter of fact, anyone with a modicum of intelligence would avoid glaring at everyone when they first arrive. "I heard coincidentally you, like Sophie, draw manga?" her aunt inquired. "How are your results?" Reaching for an orange from the coffee table, Nora leaned back, resting her left leg across her right knee, and peeled it leisurely. She replied lazily, "Not bad." Sophie: "..." She’s always astounded by Nora’s shamelessness. Both her aunt and Alma are also taken aback. Has no one taught her what "humility" means? "What’s the name?" Ethan found Nora’s arrogant attitude quite irritating, though he maintained a facade of amicability, "We just looked at Sophie’s manga, ’First Ruins,’ it’s quite good." "Oh that," Nora threw the orange peel accurately into the trash, glanced at Sophie, and commented indifferently, "I looked at it; it’s quite average." All four present: "..." Sophie was so mad she nearly bit through her silver tooth. Alma, her aunt, and Ethan had never encountered someone so incompetent yet ostentatiously arrogant, lacking a single polite phrase, speaking as if shaking others’ beliefs. It’s a miracle she hasn’t been beaten to death living this long. Splitting the orange open, Nora suddenly added, "It’s quite similar to a story I saw before." Sophie’s hand trembled, spilling warm water on her hand, yet she was oblivious, eyes wide staring at Nora. Her breathing gradually turned labored. In stark contrast to her panic, Nora remained calm and composed. Nora stayed serene and didn’t even spare Sophie a look, as if it was just casual talk. Both Alma and her aunt were clueless, captivated by Nora’s arrogant tone. However, Ethan sensed something amiss, his thick brows knitted, his smile faded, and he stared coldly at Nora, "What do you mean by that?" "Nothing really," Nora suddenly smiled, turned to look at Sophie, "Keep drawing well." "..." This text is hosted at N()velFire.net Seeing Nora’s light-hearted smile reflected in her eyes, Sophie felt her heartbeat come to a halt, coldness enveloping her from all directions. The secret hidden deep down, known only to her, seemed to be torn open by Nora’s casual remark, threatening to spread through the crack, inducing a palpable panic that caused Sophie to tremble all over. Her face lost its color in an instant, she stared blankly at Nora as if seeing a demon. The chilling terror crept slowly from the skin, penetrating flesh, reaching marrow; she was clearly in a warm and cozy room yet felt like she stood naked in a freezing snowy land, so cold she could barely breathe. Fear, panic, palpitations. Alma’s soft call pulled Sophie briefly from her frightful emotions. Seeing Alma extending a tissue, she regained her senses and quickly lowered her head, wiping the water droplets off the back of her hand. She meticulously rubbed, inch by inch, not having the courage to meet Nora’s gaze again. Beside her, her aunt took a sip of tea, placed the cup down, and eyed Nora watchfully, "People need to weigh themselves occasionally, lest they don’t know their worth." Clearly aimed at herself, Nora remained unperturbed and responded calmly. Her aunt smirked coldly, abandoning pretenses, "What a slick talker. People like you I’ve seen plenty. No skills, full of themselves, belittling others thinking that elevates them. You think by critiquing Sophie’s work, your manga will surpass hers?" Nora raised her eyelids slightly, neither angered nor frustrated. Her calm demeanor vexing her aunt instead. How can she be so shameless?! "At least Sophie is a Capital Uni student, what about you? Just a high school diploma, daring to embarrass yourself at the Scott family?" her aunt’s face turned sullen in anger, "A woman birthed by a low-class—" The voice abruptly ceased. As her aunt uttered "low-class," Nora’s wrist trembled suddenly, Ethan, sharp-eyed, noticed something was off, but by the time he reacted, only a flash now glimmered in sight. Startled, he turned in shock towards his mother. The woman who was just so arrogant is now sitting dumbfounded as if she’s turned into a fool. Just now, a blade that could be hidden between fingers, through Nora’s action, flew straight towards the aunt, just barely grazing her left ear and embedding into the leather sofa behind her. The blade, as long as a pinky finger, was directly embedded halfway in. If that had been aimed at the aunt’s head... The four present had never seen such a scene; seeing this, a sense of post-fear panic struck their hearts. "I really don’t have any strengths, just learned a bit of self-defense skills." The orange wasn’t sweet enough. After Nora ate a segment, she tossed the rest into the trash can. She clapped her hands, stood up, and looked down at the aunt. "You figured it out, just these little skills, poorly learned, and sometimes I can’t control my hands." With a slight smile, Nora’s gaze swept over the other three one by one. Except for the relatively calm Ethan, Alma and Sophie didn’t dare to lift their heads. Alma and Sophie were both quite frightened. Another blade appeared in her hand. As Nora’s slender fingers deftly flipped it over, she spoke in a cool voice, unhurriedly saying, "I didn’t have a father to teach me or a mother to raise me, so there’s no talk of upbringing. I’m crude in mannerisms and impulsive in actions. You all have good manners; you’ll just have to tolerate me a bit." Her fingers closed in the air and opened again, and the blade, gleaming with a cold light, vanished into thin air. Nora said faintly, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave." "Nora!" Alma finally couldn’t hold back, standing up excitedly, "Everything you just did, I’ll tell Ernesto Woods every bit of it!" Nora shrugged, not even turning her head, and walked straight toward the study. Since she dared to do it, she’s not afraid of people talking. They probably did too many hurtful things with words, only knowing how to babble, forgetting that there’s a simple, direct way to deal with people in this world: violence. Well then, she’ll let this group of pampered, narrow-sighted people see and learn something new. Nora’s figure vanished from the view of the others. In the conference room, the four of them said nothing, each digesting what just happened. Completely unexpected. Dangerous in every way. Utterly unanticipated. Ethan couldn’t understand: How on earth did she do it? He had met a few skilled practitioners, but had never seen such movements. It was simply beyond his knowledge! After a long silence. Finally, the aunt, who was bewildered and stunned, spat out angrily, "What is up with her?!" Aunt’s face was pale, staring with disbelief, and her entire body was trembling slightly. Just a little bit more and she would have brushed past death! This woman nearly killed her! Only then did Ethan recover, stood up, and walked over to support her, even while she was teetering while sitting. "How can I be okay?" Aunt retorted, then slowly extended her hand, pointing towards the direction of the study, and said to Alma, "This is attempted murder! You tell Ernesto Scott, absolutely, absolutely not to let her off easily!" The fear of being close to death had truly frightened the aunt. Alma promptly responded, trying to comfort the aunt at the same time. Sophie, having been shocked twice in a row, was feeling a mix of anxiety and fear, sitting in a daze, her eyes vacant. Ethan patted his mother’s back, trying to help her calm down, when suddenly the phone rang. Not wanting to disturb the three, he got up and left the parlor, then took out his phone to answer. Ethan said, "Professor Duncan." Even in such a situation, Ethan’s tone was still very respectful. Professor Duncan was his university mentor, in the industry network, academic research, influence; even Aaron Scott had to show him respect. "Ethan, have you been in contact with Nora?" Professor Duncan got straight to the point. Hearing the word "Nora" from Professor Duncan so suddenly, Ethan was momentarily stunned. Nora, what connection does she have with Professor Duncan? Is it the same person? Due to the shock brought by the recent departure of Nora, now hearing a similar name, Ethan wondered if he was hallucinating, and so he asked in amazement, "Who?" "Nora, don’t you know?" Professor Duncan said, puzzled. "You..." His voice drifting, Ethan took a deep breath. After calming down, he asked again, "Professor Duncan, what’s your relationship with Nora?" "She was my former student. A genius level one. In her sophomore year, she insisted on taking a break from school, couldn’t keep her," Professor Duncan said. "I asked Montague and Eduardo to recommend them to you a few days ago. The mechanical table they restored was barely two-thirds of the one she designed. What, they didn’t tell you?"