Miranda lifted the hem of her dress, being more cautious this time. No one made a big deal out of the small mishap, focusing instead on whether Miranda was hurt.

Silas extended his arm toward her. “Here, Miranda, borrow this. There’s muscle! I guarantee you won’t fall.”

Only Elizabeth’s gaze lingered on Miranda’s waist, as if she wanted to burn a hole right through it.

During the meal, Bryan noticed Elizabeth had barely touched her food. Worried that she might not be feeling well, he asked, “Why are you eating so little today? Is your stomach acting up again?”

Elizabeth often skipped meals or ate irregularly, so Bryan had developed the habit of nagging her.

“The dishes today are light and easy on the stomach. These are your favorites…”

“Can you stop being so annoying?” Elizabeth pushed his hand away. “I just don’t feel like eating. Do I need your permission to make my own decisions?”

Bryan’s fork froze in mid-air, his expression stiffening. “That’s not what I meant. I’m just concerned about your health…”

No one at the table intervened; they all focused on their own meals. It wasn’t that they didn’t care—they were simply used to it by now. Bryan seemed to enjoy being bossed around.

As outsiders, they knew better than to meddle. After all, sticking their noses into other people’s business might cause unnecessary drama, and no one wanted to offend anyone for no reason.

Paul glanced briefly at Bryan, but the latter was too absorbed in Elizabeth to notice his gaze.

Miranda wasn’t one to interfere or show interest in other people’s gossip. She quietly savored the food and focused on her meal.

It was no wonder this was a five-star restaurant… It was absolutely delicious!

After the dinner, Miranda finally said goodbye to Paul’s lab.

A few leisurely days passed. One quiet weekend afternoon, she suddenly received a phone call from Lionel.

“Sweetheart, I’ve got good news! Want to hear it?”

“Of course!” Miranda had a rough idea of what it might be but decided to play along. “Come on, Dad, don’t keep me in suspense!”

“Haha… hear this, the Earnest High Staff Quarters is getting demolished! And they’re compensating us based on commercial land rates. Your mom and I did the math—it’s going to be over a million!”

“That much, huh?” Miranda tried to sound as surprised as possible. “Good thing we didn’t sell the old house when we bought the new one.”

"Do you remember Mrs. Larden next door?"

Karen Larden?

Of course Miranda remembered. Karen had ruined the wisteria in the yard, which finally pushed her to convince her parents to move.

“What about her?”

Lionel explained, “Turns out she bought a place in another neighborhood and moved last month. But she didn’t hold onto her old house. She listened to a real estate agent who convinced her to sell it quickly to buy the new one at a low price."

"And the day after she completed the sale, the city planning council announced that our whole area would be demolished.”

Karen was beside herself with regret. But since she had signed it over, there was nothing she could do about it, no matter how much she hated it.

One day, while going over the sales contract, she randomly decided to check the details. That was when she realized the buyer’s name was exactly the same as the young real estate agent’s!

The agent had handled all the paperwork for her. When it came time to sign, he only flipped to the bottom right corner where she hastily signed.

Karen never thought to double-check who the buyer was; she just went along with whatever the agent said.

As it turned out, the real estate agent had bought her demolition-approved house at a low price.

She was enraged!