Ch. 576: Mr. Edwards’ Unraveled Life Chapter 576

Chapter 576

The food Norah arranged became a huge hit, instantly making her the talk of the school. In the eyes of all the parents, she was now that mom—generous and willing to spend big. Naturally, she stole Maleah’s spotlight, and Maleah wasn’t about to let that slide.

Since Cooper wasn’t feeling well after getting hurt during the afternoon sports events, Norah asked for leave and took him home right after lunch.

As soon as she got back, Norah received a group chat invite from Maleah, followed by a message emphasizing that it was for all the moms in the class to discuss their kids’ education in the future.

Norah ignored the invite.

She saw no point in joining a kindergarten parent group—it was just noise.

Once Cooper fell asleep, Norah went downstairs and tried to call Kevin. But all she got was a busy tone.

Thinking back to everything that had happened at the sports day, she felt increasingly frustrated. A quiet anger simmered inside her with no outlet.

Her phone buzzed again—it was a voice call request from Maleah. Norah didn’t have the slightest interest in talking to her, but curiosity got the better of her and she picked up.

“Cooper’s mom, why didn’t you join the group?”

Norah kept her tone light but impatient. “Oh, that? If I don’t want to, then I won’t. That’s all. Unless you’ve got something important to say, I’m really busy.”

Maleah seemed flustered by the reply. After a few tries, she finally got Norah to stay on the line and sighed.

“Here’s the thing. A few of us moms are meeting at the mall downtown. It’s one of those rare days when we’re free from the kids. Thought we’d treat ourselves, relax a little.”

“I’ll pass. You ladies have fun.”

“Come on, Cooper’s mom. I get it—you think there’s no point in making friends at this stage. But think ahead. Today it’s kindergarten, but next it’s elementary, then middle school. These kids are going to grow up together, and you’re going to keep seeing the same faces.”

Norah smirked. “So, it’s just a casual hangout, right? Where do I meet you? I’ll come now.”

“Awesome! Meet us at Bamboo House Café—right at the entrance to the pedestrian street downtown.”

Maleah barely finished speaking before Norah ended the call.

Norah regretted ever attending that sports day. Her son had gotten hurt, and now she was tangled up with this petty, drama-hungry woman.

At Bamboo House Café, Norah got out of her car and looked around. Not a familiar face in sight. She hesitated, then walked in.

The café was peaceful. Soothing music played in the background, setting a calm mood.

Norah had just sat down when a bearded man approached with a polite smile.

“Excuse me, ma’am. Are you Cooper’s mother?”

She nodded.

He looked visibly relieved. “Finally found you. The others already left. They asked me to wait here for you. Come on, let’s go—we’ll be late if we don’t catch up.”

“They?”

Annoyance flashed across Norah’s face. Was Maleah seriously being this childish?

“Who asked you to wait here?” she asked, wanting to be sure it really was Maleah behind this.

The man pulled out his phone and showed her a message. “My wife asked me to. She said you finally joined their group and would be upset if you missed out, so she told me to wait here for you.”

So it was Maleah.

Norah sighed. Petty as ever.

Still, she didn’t overthink it and got into the car with him. On the way, Kevin finally replied to her earlier message. He mentioned there were issues with a business deal and he’d probably be working late into the night.

Since it was work-related, Norah didn’t blame him. She arranged for their housekeeper to watch Cooper and texted Kevin that she was heading out with the moms from school.

Before she knew it, the car had left the city limits.

“Didn’t you say they were shopping downtown?” Norah asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, but you know how the parent committee chair is—changes her mind constantly. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had to wait back there. Don’t worry, we’re not far behind.”

But as they drove down a winding country road with no sign of a village—just the looming mountains—Norah grew uneasy.

Soon, the road narrowed and they reached a gas station. While the man stepped out to refuel, Norah tried calling Maleah.

No answer.

“Miss?”

She looked up to see two familiar faces—Pharaoh’s men.

She was about to greet them when the bearded man returned. Sensing something was off, Norah subtly motioned for Pharaoh’s men to back off.

They’d been sent by Pharaoh to check in on her and Cooper, but clearly hadn’t expected to run into her like this.

As the car pulled deeper into the mountains, the two men quietly followed from a distance.

Eventually, the car stopped. Two other vehicles were already parked at the base of a mountain.

“Is Maleah in one of those cars?” Norah asked, eyeing them warily.

“We were a little late. They’ve probably already gone up. There’s a temple on the mountain—they went up to pray for the kids.”

A temple? Here?

Norah narrowed her eyes. The path ahead was steep, barely a trail at all. No way there was a temple up there.

“Funny, I just texted Maleah and she said she was at Commercial Street. Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

She grabbed a thick branch and leaned against a nearby tree, staring coldly at him.

The man stopped faking it and grinned. “Too late to be suspicious now. Be smart and go up the mountain. Or I’ll kill you here and drag your body up myself.”

“That woman isn’t your wife, is she?”

The smirk on his face gave her all the confirmation she needed.

It was a setup—and she’d walked right into it.

As the man approached, Norah struck. But she’d underestimated him—he was no amateur. A few quick moves and he disarmed her, whipping her hard with the branch.

“Still want to fight? I’ve gotta admit—you’ve got some skills.”

Norah wiped blood from her lip and sneered. “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

She let out a sharp whistle—and instantly, Pharaoh’s men sprang from the shadows, attacking from both sides. Within seconds, the bearded man was pinned to the ground.

Norah squatted beside him, slapped his face lightly, and asked coldly, “How many of you are up there?”

“Five. We saw you were alone and thought we’d have a little fun. Please, ma’am—we messed up. Let me go.”

He was clearly trying to take the fall for Maleah. But Norah wasn’t about to let that slide.

She gave her men a nod. “You handle it. I’m not going up there. Just make sure no one finds out who you are.”

She had bigger things to worry about. Whatever was happening on that mountain was just another pathetic attempt by Maleah to ruin her.

Let her try. Norah was done hiding.