A Replacement Bride

Chapter 157
Jennifer saw Joaquin coming over from the threshold and made to get Xavier out of the living room. Pointing at the door down
the hall, she said, "Noah's probably drawing in her room right now. You can go straight in and look for her. It's that room over
there."
Xavier nodded since he had returned from abroad this time for Noah's sake, anyway. Without another word, he rose from the
couch and went up to the door to knock on it.
There was no response from the other side of the door. After waiting for a while, he said, "Noah, it's me, Xavier. I'm coming in."
He waited for a beat or two, then opened the door and went in.
Joaquin frowned at this. As he sat down next to Jennifer, he asked, "Are he and Noah close?"
"Yes, they are. Noah doesn't like socializing. I was sick a while back, so I couldn't take care of her. Her mother's busy as well and
we hardly see her around. Xavier stepped in to look after her, and it's all thanks to him and his background in psychology that
Noah was able to pick up drawing and live her best life. He's a good man," Jennifer said earnestly.
Joaquin did not question the accuracy of her statement.
Meanwhile, Noah was seated in front of the window when Xavier walked in. She had her back turned to the door and her
earphones plugged in, and she appeared to be drawing something.
Xavier realized that she had drawn a large field of sunflowers upon taking a closer look and there were three figures in the
background. For some reason, he could feel the emotions of these figures even though he could not see their faces.
He stood there and waited for Noah to finish the drawing. When she was done, he walked over and gently tapped her on the
shoulder.
Noah stiffened in alarm before she hesitantly turned to look over her shoulder.
Her eyes lit up when she saw Xavier. She pulled out her earphones and greeted him sweetly, "Xavier!"
"Hey, kid. I'm here to see if you've made any progress in your studies," he said, grinning as he rubbed her head affectionately.

She nodded. "I did, and I'm getting really good at them, too. I hardly use these skills because you told me I could get in trouble
for it, though."
"Good girl," he praised. "Let's put those skills to the test, shall we? I've installed thirteen Trojan viruses into this computer, and I
want you to crack all of them before lunch is served or you'll have to go hungry until dinnertime."
When she gave him a serious look in return, he nodded and pulled out a bulky black laptop from his backpack and set it down on
the desk in front of her.
Noah had a sullen look on her face as she switched on the laptop and pressed a key. At once, a dialogue window popped up on
the screen requesting her to key in the password. She thought about it for a brief moment, and the next seconds, her delicate
little fingers began flying over the keyboard. It didn't take her long to crack the password Xavier had set up.
His eyes flashed in excitement when he saw this, but his expression grew solemn.
Noah made quick work of entering one code after another after she unlocked the computer's homepage. She did not glance at
the keyboard once as she typed furiously, her fingers moving so fast that her hand movements were blurring. She went through
one dialogue window after another as though she did not see them at all. When all those windows closed, the homescreen
returned to normal.
It was only then that she stopped typing. She turned around and gave Xavier an accusatory look as she said, "You lied, Xavier. I
counted fourteen Trojan horses."
"What, did your mom help you get a breakthrough or something? Those skills are unbelievable." He had nearly bitten off his own
tongue when he watched the little girl resolve those malwares earlier, and he was looking at her like she was some alien
creature. Here I was, thinking that Katherine is already a top-tier computer whiz.
He met Katherine when she was only eighteen, and her computer skills were already far superior than his at the time. Now, her
daughter seemed to have inherited her genius, and at the age of four, too!
"No, I don't need a breakthrough to crack Trojan viruses as simple as these," Noah pointed out solemnly.
Xavier felt like he had been shot through the heart. "Well, there's nothing more I can teach you. You have mastered almost
everything. Just to reinforce your practical knowledge on this, I'll give you a few books," he suggested, seemingly gazed when he
saw the innocent look on Noah's face.
"Okay," she agreed with a serious nod.

She was a child of few words, except when she was in Xavier's presence. In fact, she was reluctant to speak in front of Jennifer
and Katherine as well.
Xavier stayed in the room with her for a while to get an understanding of how she had been feeling recently. He noticed that she
was in a significantly better place than she had been the last time they met. He could tell from her drawing earlier that she was
no longer despondent, but optimistic and somewhat enthusiastic.
"You're doing great, Noah," he said heartily after the open conversation with her, then gave her a big thumbs-up.
She beamed at him when she heard this. With her sparkling eyes curving into crescents and her cheeks dimpling, she looked
absolutely cherubic and endearing.
While this was happening, Katherine had finished making lunch in the kitchen, and she was serving it when Joaquin walked over
to the room to tell Joaquin and Noah that lunch was ready.
The first thing he saw when he opened the door was Noah beaming at Xavier happily. At that moment, she looked warm and
bright, like the spring sunshine, and there was not a trace of her usual closed-off self in sight.
Joaquin was inexplicably unsettled to see this. As far as he was concerned, Noah seemed a little too attached to Xavier for
comfort. He stood there at the door for a while before he cleared his throat and announced, "Lunch is ready."
The grin on Noah's face disappeared immediately. She glanced trepidatiously at the door, but when she saw that it was Joaquin,
she let out what seemed to be a breath of relief.
However, this escaped Joaquin's notice.
Presently, Noah rose to her feet and walked out of the room.
Xavier went out after her, and when he sensed the hostility Joaquin directed at him, he was bewildered and gave the man
several odd glances.
During lunch, Xavier and Joaquin gave each other death glares every now and then. At some point, Katherine grew uneasy,
thinking that Xavier's identity had been discovered. As a result, she ate her meal in silence and did not bother striking up a
conversation with either man.
The tension lasted until the end of lunch when Katherine stood up to clear the plates.

"Mr. Yates, what do you do for a living? Grandma told me you're well-versed with psychology," Joaquin asked as he staked a
seat on the couch, eyeing Xavier steadily.
"I only dabbled in it back in the day," Xavier answered humbly.
"Really? It'd be great if I could ask you about the subject some day," Joaquin said breezily. He poured out a cup of tea for himself
and another for Xavier. He slid the cup toward the other man and asked, "By the way, which university did you graduate from?
Perhaps I've heard of it."
Xavier took the cup and sipped his tea, then cocked a brow at Joaquin as he replied, "It's just a third-rate university. I would tell
you, but I don't think you'd know it."
Katherine had finished loading the dishwasher when she heard the conversation was taking a strange turn. She hurried out from
the kitchen and interjected, "Aren't you supposed to get going by now? You have stuff to do, right?"
If this went on, Xavier could end up blowing his own cover.