"Mr. Ellison is waiting in the reception room," Nicole's assistant replied.Nicole entered the reception room and saw Harvey leaning on the couch leisurely, eyeing everything inside.Sensing a presence, Harvey turned and saw Nicole. He put on a fake smile, stood up, and acted like a gentleman. "We meet again, Ms. Riddle.""Nice to meet you," Nicole said indifferently, keeping a strictly professional demeanor.KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.The assistant brought coffee into the room."Mr. Ellison, have some coffee," said Nicole, gesturing in that direction. Then, she sat down and invited Harvey to do the same. "Since Mr. Ellison is present here, shall we talk about the joint venture factory?""Well, there's no rush in that," said Harvey. His purpose here had nothing to do with discussing the joint venture. Compared to losing a factory, he felt it was more important to build a closer relationship with Nicole.Shocked, Nicole raised her brows and asked, "Well, I have no idea what else there
Harvey leaned into his seat, his gaze gloomy as he looked out the car window. 'Nicole didn't seem affected by the matter. Why? She wanted to purchase the electronic component factory, but I tampered with the contract secretly. Shouldn't she be angry and frustrated now that it turned into a joint venture? Why am I the one feeling the angry now?'"If it were you, wouldn't you be angry?" Harvey questioned his assistant abruptly.His assistant froze for a moment before cautiously asking, "What should I be angry about?"Harvey said displeased, "Wouldn't you be angry about the contract?""Well," his assistant said, looking at Harvey in the rearview mirror. He pondered for a moment before answering, "I guess I would. Maybe Nicole is pretending to show you her anger. It's like admitting defeat if she showed her frustration."The atmosphere in the car fell into silence for a moment before Harvey's chuckle sounded. "You're right. That made sense."If Nicole got mad in front of him, it woul
"Yeah."Meanwhile, Nolan and Lana said to the driver, "Let's go to Sarley on Timeston Road.""Didn't you guys want to get ice cream?" asked Tia, finding it strange."Oh, my classmate said that the ice cream there is better," Nolan replied calmly.Tia knew that they loved ice cream, so she did not think much of it and brought them to Sorley.Sarley was a commercial district, where there were a lot of offices and business clubs. There were also some mini restaurants that sold food and beverages, as well as some small supermarkets."Nolan, where's the ice cream shop that we're going to?" Lana asked Nolan while glancing around.They were not familiar with this place at all, and everything Nolan knew about Sarley was from the internet. The buildings around them all shared similar designs and it was very confusing.Nolan was also looking around, but he was not searching for the ice cream shop. Instead, he was looking for a club because he had heard that Stanley would go there alone t
"Okay then," Tia agreed as it seemed like Nolan and Lana were planning to finish their ice cream here before leaving.Besides, Nicole had also told her that she would be coming, and they would have to wait for her anyway.Once upstairs, Nolan and Lana searched through several private rooms upstairs but still could not see Stanley anywhere."Kids, all the rooms ahead are occupied," one of the staff told them as there were no empty rooms left."Miss," Lana suddenly grabbed the staff and spoke in a hushed tone, "Is Stanley Riddle here today?"Seeing the staff's hesitation, Lana added, "He's actually my uncle."The staff widened her gaze in surprise upon hearing that. Then she nodded. "Ah, I see. I was just wondering why you two looked so familiar."Although no outsiders were invited to Nolan and Lana's party, the staff happened to have a close friend working at that hotel. Coincidentally, she had a day off and visited her friend there when the party was being held. So, she saw Nola
Stanley's lip twitched as he immediately thought to himself again, 'This can't be just a mere coincidence, right?'He believed their story about coming here to have ice cream, but the fact that they were aware of his room's location and that the staff entered with four portions of ice cream made the situation seem highly unlikely.Then, Stanley remembered how Nolan and Lana had pestered him with questions about where he was going after work. He called to tell them that he needed a quiet place to think, so he would come to Serenity.Stanley could not help but frown at Nolan and Lana as if he had realized something."Uncle Stanley, you should have a taste." Lana had yet to notice the change in Stanley's expression as she spoke. "Ms. Rose, have a seat," she added.However, Nolan had already noticed Stanley's suspicions, so he quickly changed the subject, "Uncle Stanley, let's try the ice cream first. Mom and Dad will be here soon.""They're coming?!" Stanley was shocked as he subcon
Lana smiled, giggling. "It's delicious."KNOCK, KNOCK.Hearing someone knocking on the door, Nolan immediately stood up and said, "It's Mom and Dad! I'll go open the door."He ran to the door, opened it, and saw Nicole and Jared standing outside."Daddy, Mommy!" Nolan looked at them, feeling joyful.Nicole and Jared entered the room. Then, Stanley and Tia both stood up."You're here too." Stanley glanced at Nicole with an indescribable look on his face.Nicole shrugged helplessly. "Maybe the kids like you a little too much."She was implying that it had nothing to do with her, and it was entirely the kids' idea.Stanley understood the implication of Nicole's words. However, what he said was, "Would you guys like to have some ice cream too?""I think I should probably take Nolan and Lana away," said Nicole, looking at her kids."Where are we going?" Nolan and Lana asked expectantly.They had been thinking of an excuse to run away and leave Tia in the room. So, they were glad
Tia sat quietly in one corner. She was even breathing softly for fear of disturbing Stanley.But the more Tia acted like this, the harder it was for Stanley to calm down and think. In the end, he gave up."Do you still want to eat?" Stanley asked."What?" Tia was stunned for a moment before she came back to her senses. She shook her head and said, "I don't want to eat anymore. You don't have to care about me. Just act as if I'm invisible.""Let's go." Seeing that Tia did not want to eat, Stanley stood up."Are we going home?" Tia was shocked. 'We're leaving so soon? Me being here must've distracted him.'Stanley glanced at Tia and all of a sudden, he changed his mind, "No, we're going to eat."Initially, he wanted to go home. But looking at how careful Tia was acting, Stanley felt that it would be a lot more stressful to Tia if they were to return home immediately. She would feel that she's disturbing him.Since they had not eaten yet, they could go for a meal and use that time
Seeing that Stanley had turned around and walked toward the car, Tia froze again. She only came back to her senses when Stanley called out to her again. Then, Tia gritted her teeth and chased after him.As Stanley was driving along the streets, he noticed that Tia seemed to be curious about the roadside stalls. So, he stopped the car and asked, "Do you want to go to the night market?"Tia bit her lip and quickly closed her hands. 'I've never been to any night markets before, but they're very plain. I'm not sure if someone like Stanley would want to go..."Without waiting for Tia's reply, Stanley had already opened the door and got down from the car. Then, he called out to Tia, "Get down, we'll have a look."After they got out of the car, Stanley brought Tia into the night market. At almost every stall that they walked past, Stanley would get something for Tia. Soon, Tia's hands were full."Sir, that's enough. We have too much, and I can't finish them all..."Along the way, Tia ke