Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 706

He sat down in the chair next to Nora, his gaze settling on her face as if he were looking through her to see someone else.

"You look so much like her..."

Nora's fingers paused slightly against her teacup.

She was reminded of the extraordinary woman she had heard so much about—Felix Vaughn.

Did she really look that much like her mother?

She turned to look at Henry. From this angle, she could see the clean lines of his profile and the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, she finally asked, "My mom..."

She hesitated. The word still felt unfamiliar on her tongue. "What kind of person was she?"

Henry's eyes shifted, as if a soft, distant memory had been gently stirred.

He remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "She was brilliant. Incredibly brilliant. It felt like there was nothing in the world she didn't know, nothing she couldn't do."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted to a random spot in the air, as if he were watching scenes from a very distant past. "Whenever she walked into a room, everyone's eyes naturally gravitated toward her, like they were magnetically pulled. You couldn't look away... She had this light about her, the kind of light that made you want to look up in awe."

Nora listened quietly, not interrupting him.

"You look exactly like her." Henry brought his focus back to her face, a small smile touching his lips. "Especially your eyes. They're identical."

Nora pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. After a long pause, she asked softly, "Dad, what exactly happened back then? Why did my mom and I disappear so suddenly?"

"Back then..." Henry's voice dropped. "I still don't know exactly what happened."

He hesitated, carefully choosing his words. "One day, she just left with you. At first, I thought she was angry with me and that she'd come back after a few days. But when I went looking for her, I realized I couldn't find either of you anywhere. It was like you had vanished from the face of the earth. That was when I realized something terrible might have happened..."

Nora's fingers curled inward.

Vanished suddenly?

How could two living people just disappear into thin air?

Had her mother really taken her and left?

If so, why didn't the Fairchilds start searching immediately?

Why wait days before trying to find them?

"It's all my fault. I didn't protect you two..." Henry's voice was low, thick with heavy remorse. "Sometimes I think, if I had gone looking the moment I realized you were gone, maybe none of this would have happened..."

"But enough about that."

Sensing he had said too much, he quickly reeled the conversation back in and forced a warm smile. "You're back now, and that's what matters most."

Nora looked at him, wanting to say something, but found her throat tight.

He cleared his throat, smoothly steering the conversation toward business. "Hudson, since we're all family now, regarding the Vanguard TBM Chip development project..."

Hudson didn't let him beat around the bush. "Not a problem."

Henry froze, clearly not expecting him to agree so readily.

He had prepared an entire arsenal of arguments, ranging from mutual family benefits to technical synergy, and even had emotional appeals ready in case of rejection.

But Hudson's three words completely shut down all his preparations.

"The Fairchilds can assign their people to the R&D team. Just have Finnian coordinate the specific plans with me."

Henry agreed profusely, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "Wonderful, wonderful. I'll let Finnian handle the details with you. You young people communicate better anyway."

He patted Hudson's shoulder, cast a fond look at Nora, and happily walked away.

Nora watched Henry leave, then turned her head to look at Hudson, lowering her voice. "I thought you hated when people used connections. Why were you so quick to agree today?"

Hudson sat down beside her, reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His movements were natural and intimate. "Because he's my father-in-law."

"..."

Was his mouth coated in sugar today?

It made a person want to taste it and see if it was really that sweet...