When everyone saw Eugene’s expression. soften, they all smiled along with him, and the atmosphere was lightened once more. Nicole took a mouthful of the food before. complimenting it. “Did you prepare all of this, Mrs. Nolan? It tastes so good.” “Jewel was the one who made this!” Ellen said. Only then did Nicole notice Jewel. “Oh. This is…”
Ellen was excited to introduce Jewel. “This is my goddaughter, Jewel. Jewel beamed at Ellen. Alex was surprised to hear this, and he signed a few words to Jewel. ‘What does that mean? How did you end up as Mrs. Nolan’s goddaughter?’
‘We just happened to get along well, so Mrs. Nolan took me as her granddaughter: Jewel signed. Alex was glad to hear that. Since Jewel’s biological mother wasn’t around, at least Jewel had someone who cared about her. Jewel could really use some love in her life. “Congratulations!” he uttered.
Jewel beamed at him. Nicole noticed how odd. Alex and Jewel’s interactions seemed, so she gave Hayden a puzzled stare. Hayden gave her a subtle shake of his head to indicate that he didn’t know what was going on. However, Nicole didn’t think about this for long, and she stood up with her wine glass before she turned to Olivia. “This is to you, Olivia. Thank you for helping my aunt treat her illness. You’re truly a genius doctor.”
“No worries. It’s all part of my job,” Olivia replied. “Sean told me that you donated the fees to the orphanage. So, that’s how you do charity! I’m. really impressed,” Nicole said.
Olivia curled her lips into a smile. “Some people like it while others don’t. It doesn’t matter to me -I’m just doing whatever I think is right.” Nicole felt awkward for a moment. “Yeah. I seem to know you a little better now after hearing about this. I hope that we can be friends.”
Olivia smiled. Does she know how high my standards are when selecting friends? Does she want to be my friend? She’s just someone who puts on an act in front of me and says something else behind my back. Olivia raised her glass to finish the alcohol in it. She didn’t agree with Nicole’s words, but she finished her drinks.
It was clear that Olivia didn’t want Nicole as a friend, but that she also didn’t want to create an awkward atmosphere at the table. Most of them didn’t realize any tension between the two women, but Eugene knitted his brows together slightly. “What is it? Is she causing trouble?” Eugene asked. “No.” Olivia shook her head as she whispered.
“But you don’t like her, do you?” he asked.
“How did you conclude that?”
“You didn’t agree to be her friend,” he explained. “I drank with her, didn’t I?” Olivia asked. “But you didn’t agree to be her friend,” he stated. “This is different from making friends,” he pointed out.
Olivia let out a giggle before giving him a sweet smile. “I’ll tell you about it later.” Both of them were extremely close-their heads were practically stuck together. Alex teased them for this. “That’s about enough for today. How could you guys do this when there are so many single people here?”
Nicole gave them a gentle smile as she spoke up. “Yeah. You guys should tell us about your secret,” she added. Olivia looked into Nicole’s eyes, which seemed threatening despite her gentle gaze.
Olivia quickly gave an excuse. “We’re a couple, so we can’t share all our secrets. I’m afraid you guys would have an overload of information if we did tell you,’ she uttered. All the rest of the people began to laugh.
Although both Eugene and Olivia were trying their best to maintain the atmosphere at the table, it still felt rather odd! After their dinner, Nicole announced that she was returning to the hotel. “You can stay wherever you want to.
There are rooms here too,” Eugene offered. “It’s fine, Nicole said. “Penny’s the only one in the hotel, so I should go spend time with her.. She’s rather unstable, so I’m worried that something might happen.”
