Chapter 21

Alexander surprised Lily as the car turned, causing her to stumble into his arms. Olivia, stunned, pretended not to notice, shielding her face with one hand while clutching the door handle with the other.

Lily’s face flushed, and she gently pushed Alexander to sit upright. He seized the opportunity to hold her waist, pulling her close. He then smoothly changed the subject.

“Is the new product a success?” he asked calmly.

This successfully diverted Lily’s attention. “Yes! It’s exactly how I wanted it—even better than I expected! It’s perfect!”

“That calls for a celebration,” Alexander added.

“Yes! We need to celebrate!” Lily exclaimed. Turning to Olivia, she said, “Liv, let’s arrange a dinner. How about that Cantonese restaurant we went to last time? You liked it, right?”

“Okay! Then let’s go to…” Olivia started, but sensed a shift in the atmosphere. Alexander’s gaze made her shiver. She hastily changed her words. “I—it’s okay! I don’t care, really. Hehe.”

Being the third wheel wasn't easy. “You don’t care? I remember you raving about that place! We should also invite Jenny—she’s worked incredibly hard lately,” Lily said, already planning their celebration.

“Haha, it’s alright. Whatever you want,” Olivia replied, looking out the window, her cheek in her hand. Even so, she saw Alexander’s icy reflection.

Sigh. I didn’t expect Mr. Russell to be jealous of me. I’m a woman—why would he be jealous?!

Olivia felt increasingly uncomfortable but couldn’t ask Edward to stop. She could only endure it, hoping he'd drive faster. From her perspective, Edward drove attentively, his expression resolute—though perhaps less fierce than she thought due to the lighting.

“Are you okay? You don’t seem very excited,” Lily frowned, noticing Olivia’s subdued response.

“I think she’s quite excited,” Alexander said, pulling Lily closer. He leaned down, looking at her. “Tell me, who else do you want to celebrate with?”

“Who else? Well, Liv and I were the main developers, and Jenny contributed a lot, so we should invite her. As for others…” Lily started, intending to say she couldn't think of anyone else, but Alexander’s pointed look made her understand his question.

“B-But…” she offered a strained smile, “You can’t!”

Alexander’s face darkened further when he heard Edward cough discreetly from the driver’s seat. Olivia covered her face, pretending to yawn, stifling her laughter.

Lily, realizing her ambiguity, quickly clarified, “N-No, I mean, it’s inappropriate to invite you because it would be inconvenient for you to appear publicly.”

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Changes Made:

• Improved sentence structure and flow: Many sentences were broken down or combined for better readability.
• Corrected grammar: Errors in word choice ("liaappened," "liis") and verb tense were fixed.
• Enhanced punctuation: Commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks were used correctly.
• Removed unnecessary words and phrases: The writing was made more concise and impactful.
• Added paragraph breaks: Improved readability by separating thoughts and actions.
• Corrected formatting: Made chapter heading consistent.
• Improved dialogue: Made the dialogue sound more natural.
• Clarified ambiguous phrasing: Some passages were rewritten to be clearer.
• Added italics for Olivia's internal thoughts: This distinguished her thoughts from the narrative.

The revised passage is more polished and engaging.