The living room was now empty, save for Stanley, who appeared to be somewhat depressed and lonely.Leaning back against the couch, Stanley sat in silence, as if contemplating something. It was only after fifteen minutes that he stood, as if he had made a decision, and returned to his room.Meanwhile, Nicole and Jared were watching Nolan, who was playing his game. Jared was also holding Lana, who was leaning against his shoulder, her eyes heavy with sleep."Daddy, I want to go to bed." Lana rested on Jared's shoulder with her eyes closed, unable to stay awake anymore.After shooting Nicole a glance, Jared said, "I'll take Lana back to sleep.""Okay." Nicole agreed, her attention returning to the computer screen.Nolan's gameplay seemed ordinary, much like a typical level-based game. However, Nicole could tell that something was off about it."Yay!" Nolan cheered loudly, snapping Nicole out of it.Seeing that Nolan had completed the level, she reminded him, "It's getting late, an
"What?" Jared squinted when he saw the look of unease on her face."This game seems to have been deliberately made for Nolan to discover," Nicole realized.It was not something Nolan accidentally stumbled upon, but rather something that was sent to him, giving him a false sense of coincidence."Who is behind this, and why would they do that?" Jared's expression darkened.Nicole then shared her analysis with Jared, and the more he thought about it, the more furious he became. If her assumptions were correct, it was evident that this game was deliberately designed for a nefarious reason."I need you to log into Nolan's computer tomorrow to investigate," Jared ordered."Okay," Nicole nodded.For now, they could only keep their suspicions under wraps, as a discreet investigation would only be possible later on.Jared then patted her on the shoulder to comfort her. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."If there was an ulterior motive on the part of the developers, it would most l
"Nicole, I've come to deliver good news," Ellar said with a cheerful smile."Wow, that's quick!" Nicole was surprised.They had discussed the matter in passing last night, and yet, the results were already in."Yes, I got the news, so I came over to tell you right away." Ellar proudly handed the documents to Nicole. "Please, take a look!"Nicole rolled her eyes and grabbed the documents.After flipping through them, she nodded in approval. "Excellent. Keep up the good work. I believe you'll be able to secure the project.""Although we've only passed the bidding phase this time, I will work hard for the project," Ellar said.He had invested a great deal of effort into this project, so it was natural for him to hope for a positive outcome."You know, for something like this, you could have just faxed it to me. Why bother coming over in person?" Nicole asked after placing the documents down."Well, it's quite a big deal for me, so I had to come and inform you in person. Besides,
Dusk arrived in the blink of an eye, and just like that, it was time for them to clock out.With that, Nicole and Lulu left the company together, while Patricia drove them to the location where they had agreed to meet up with the rest.Upon arrival, Nicole saw Tia waiting at the restaurant's entrance, waving happily as she spotted them."Hi, Nicole," Tia greeted Nicole with joy.The feeling of loneliness within her was gone in an instant."You're remarkably punctual," Lulu teased after they approached Tia."I didn't want everyone to wait for me," Tia explained softly.Lulu then glanced at Nicole and said, "Let's go inside. I think everyone else should be here by now.""Sure," Nicole agreed.But just as they were about to enter, someone called out to her. "Hey Nicole! Wait for me!"Nicole turned around and was surprised to see Ellar rushing over to her, causing a smirk to play on her face.She suddenly understood why Ellar was not reluctant to leave this morning. He had proba
Lulu smiled when she saw how reserved and introverted Tia was. "Tia, don't isolate yourself. Come play with us.""Why don't we eat first?" Stanley suggested as soon as Lulu had spoken.Lulu was taken aback as she thought to herself, 'It's already strange enough that Stanley is here today, and now, his behavior is even more unusual.'"Sure, let's have the waiter serve the dishes." Don got up to call the waiter over.Soon after, everyone got seated and dug into their meal.The bridesmaids had already met the scions of the Riddle family, so they were not very reserved during the meal. After chatting for a while, the men found common topics they could discuss and became even friendlier with each other.In contrast, Nicole appeared to be a little detached. There was a faint smile on her face as she watched the group of people chatting and laughing among themselves. Patricia, who was sitting next to Nicole, wanted to just remain quiet as well, but unfortunately, she could not.Ellar h
However, June seemed to have also realized what was going on; she seemed to have finally understood why Stanley would be here. Still, she was a little puzzled because she knew he was supposed to be preparing for his engagement with Cherry.As these thoughts raced through her mind, she could not help but shift her gaze to Nicole, who saw the frown of disapproval on her face. This gave Nicole a hunch that June was probably thinking that Stanley was cheating on Cherry.Upon realizing that, Nicole shook her head, signaling June not to worry and that they should let Stanley deal with his personal issues himself.Both June and Lulu approached Nicole after sensing that there was more hot gossip around the corner. "What's going on? Do you know something that we don't?""I can only tell you that Stanley and Cherry's engagement is all just smoke and mirror. Still, I must ask that you keep it a secret for now. Nobody should know about this, not even Samuel and Spencer," Nicole said to them.
"Tia?" Stanley frowned, feeling somewhat uneasy."Let's go inside. There's going to be a lot of misunderstandings if we linger," Tia said, and returned to the room.Stanley's arm froze mid-air as he reached out to grab her. All he could do was sigh and watch as Tia's figure disappeared into the room.He felt completely defeated and helpless, and had no choice but to return to the private room. However, his gaze darkened when he saw that Don had already pulled him a chair to get her to sit next to him."You're back. Come, have a seat right here." Samuel waved to Stanley, beckoning him to the seat beside."Stanley, why did you go outside just now?" Samuel asked, curious."It's nothing," Stanley coldly replied before lowering his head to eat what was left of the dishes.Having seen how Stanley had reacted to Samuel's question, Lulu and June lifted their brows at Nicole, and darted their eyes toward Stanley for a brief second as if to say, "Hey, it seems as if it's working."Nicole
He felt as if everyone was trying to bring Tia and Stanley together. However, he was puzzled as to why, as Stanley was already in a relationship with Cherry.June held Samuel's hand and beamed. "It's not a problem at all. Oh, I'm getting tired. I'm going home to get some sleep.""Oh, alright. Let's go home," Samuel replied once June had caught his attention.Smirking, Lulu turned to Nicole. "We'll get going first.""Okay, I'm going home too," Nicole echoed, and looked at Patricia. "Let's go.""Sure thing," Patricia said, and headed to the car.As for Ellar, he remained silent as he tailed her to the parking lot.However, his act had invited nothing but scorn from Patricia, who then stopped to roll her eyes and ask. "Aren't you going home?""Em," Ellar fumbled. "Are you mad at me?""Why would I be mad at you?" Patricia said, driven to the point of speechlessness.Ellar scratched his head and mumbled, "But you haven't talked to me the entire night."He did not dare to say anyt