After finishing their meal, Winter received a phone call and had to leave first, while Miranda took her parents back home. Despite being tired from a whole day of walking, Lionel remained energetic as he scrolled through the photos on his phone. “Let me tell you about this golden enamel plate… and this silver coral necklace…” His voice filled the entire hallway.
Mindy, rarely seeing him so animated and childlike, couldn’t help but smile. Miranda acted as the perfect listener, only responding when necessary. The three of them laughed and chatted as they climbed to the seventh floor. Miranda pulled out her key and was about to open the door when the door across from theirs opened.
“Oh? Paul, heading out?” Lionel greeted him warmly.
Miranda instinctively turned her head and unexpectedly met the man’s smiling eyes. He wore a simple white short-sleeved shirt paired with khaki casual pants, looking fresh yet composed. It was their first encounter since that night when she had too much to drink. Remembering how her father said she had not only gotten drunk but also caused a scene with Paul, Miranda felt a wave of embarrassment and quickly looked away.
The smile on Paul’s face deepened. He nodded politely at Lionel. “Yes, I’m heading to the lab.”
“Working this late?”
“There are two sets of data I need to finish.”
“I see… Well, you carry on. Let’s play chess sometime when you’re free!”
“Sure.”
Evelyn finally managed to break free from Lucy and Franklin. To be precise, they had worn themselves out and decided to return to the hotel, giving Evelyn a moment of respite. Back at the Johnson estate, she collapsed on the couch, utterly drained, her head throbbing.
“Mom! I have great news!” Tina came running down the stairs, plopping down next to Evelyn. She had just received her admission letter from Bedford College. She would be majoring in Bioinformatics, and her supervisor would be Sophie Xander. It seemed that all those gifts of gourmet honey, specialty tea, and saffron she had sent to Sophie hadn’t gone to waste. Those were originally intended for Christine, who refused them, so Tina found another use for them.
On top of that, Tina had sent a high-end bracelet worth almost hundreds of thousands of dollars to Sophie through an intermediary.
She hadn’t delivered it personally, partly because such an expensive gift might be hard for Sophie to accept directly, and partly because Tina felt guilty. After all, she had once hired internet trolls to spread rumors about Miranda pulling strings to get close to Paul. Now that she herself was doing something similar, the fear of being caught, just like how she’d once snapped photos of Paul and Miranda, was very real. She worried someone might create a narrative around a single picture, just as she had done.
Using a middleman seemed safer, and the bracelet wasn’t technically a gift; Sophie “bought” it for 500 dollars from Tina. It left no traceable evidence.
Sophie hadn’t let her down; the admission letter had followed right after.
Evelyn, feeling completely defeated, lay back on the couch. Hearing that her daughter had received her acceptance letter didn’t stir much excitement in her. She merely muttered half-heartedly, “That’s great.”
“Mom, what’s wrong? You seem so out of it. By the way, where were you today? I didn’t see the driver either…”
Tina’s question opened the floodgates. Evelyn sat up abruptly, ready to vent. “Where did I go? I went to clean up after your brother’s mess! You have no idea, those two absolutely disgusting leeches! Standing next to them was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever experienced!” The more Tina listened, the deeper her frown grew. “Why do you let them get away with it? Don’t you know they’ll just keep pushing their luck?”
“What choice do I have? Your father and brother aren’t dealing with it. If this issue blows up, it’ll only get worse. I’m just hoping they take the money and disappear, and I never have to see them again!”