Chapter 108: Spaghetti
Angelo said with a smile, "I thought you weren't coming back tonight."
Joanna nervously gripped the strap of her handbag and asked, "You're standing here so late—are you looking for me? Why didn't you call first?"
"It's nothing, just wanted to see if you were coming back to sleep tonight." Angelo stepped aside, making room for her to open the door. "Since you're back, I'll head home now."
Just as he passed by Joanna, she heard the sound of hunger, and the atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.
Joanna asked, "Angelo, you haven't had dinner yet?"
Angelo looked at the expression on her face and said, "I originally wanted to invite you to have dinner together, but I wasn't sure if you'd come back, so I forgot to eat."
Having said this much, Joanna felt bad about letting Angelo go home hungry. She opened the door and took the initiative to invite him in: "Come in then, I'll cook you some noodles."
Of course Angelo wouldn't refuse.
Joanna made her specialty—spaghetti.
Without asking, Angelo took a bite directly, then praised her: "You're a great cook. What a shame I didn't get to enjoy this sooner."
"It's not too late now," Joanna said.
She quietly watched Angelo eat, his movements elegant and slow, as if he were having some grand meal.
By the time they finished eating, it was already midnight.
Angelo left on his own accord. Joanna's emotions from the nursing home had dissipated, and lying in bed, she fell asleep surprisingly quickly.
Since the company matters were resolved, all that remained was getting Henry and Chad to reveal the other people behind the fake drug sales, so Joanna returned to work at the hospital.
Seeing her in the office early in the morning, Dr. Lawson seemed a bit surprised: "Joanna, all done with your family matters?"
Joanna smiled awkwardly: "Yes, sorry for the trouble during this time. I'll treat everyone to dinner tonight."
Dr. Lawson smiled: "Why so formal? We doctors are already busy enough, and we can't ignore family matters either. Helping each other out with schedule swaps and shift coverage is normal—no need to feel so much pressure."
"I still want to treat everyone. After all, everyone's taken good care of me since I started here." Joanna really felt she should treat everyone to dinner, so before Dr. Lawson could refuse, she sent the message to the group chat first.
The location was one Lyle helped her book—a pretty nice hotel in Austin City.
Many doctors were willing to come, including several who had done surgeries with Joanna.
She sent the time and private room number as well, then playfully winked at Dr. Lawson: "Everyone's going—you're not going to skip it, are you?"
Dr. Lawson smiled helplessly: "Of course not. Can't spoil everyone's fun, right? Since you joined us, Little Jo, we haven't had a group dinner in quite a while."
Joanna breathed a sigh of relief: "Then it's settled. I'll get to work now, Dr. Lawson."
Although she had taken leave, she still hadn't finished filing and recording some previous cases, so this work kept Joanna busy for most of the day.
In the afternoon, there was a minor surgery where she assisted.
This kind of life focused on medicine hadn't been gone for long, but Joanna felt as if several years had passed.
She really loved this kind of life and hoped all the troubles would be resolved soon so things could return to normal.
At Cooper Corporation, Chris, who hadn't gotten a warm reception from Joanna, also lost his temper at the company.
The main issue was that the new project wasn't going smoothly. They had previously wanted to compete for the release of new drugs through Luke, but ended up losing to Smith Group.
Cooper Corporation could only get a tiny share of the profits through their investment status in the research institute.
Chris knew this wouldn't satisfy the shareholders, so with help from Cynthia's parents, he entered the medical aesthetics industry. However, many unexpected problems arose when introducing the technology, making him more irritable by the day.
And today, there was a major client to deal with. Matthew had already booked a private room at the hotel.
Just as Chris finished handling official business and was about to go to the appointment, he received a call from Cynthia: "Chris, which room did you book? Mom, Dad, and I are already here. It's so thoughtful of you to arrange dinner at the hotel. They keep praising you! When are you coming?"
Chris frowned and asked, "How did you know I booked a room? I'm meeting a client for dinner. I didn't know your parents were coming."
Cynthia froze. She had a friend at that hotel, so when she learned Chris had specially booked a room today, she assumed it was to welcome her parents. She never expected it wasn't.
Her parents were already there. Cynthia wasn't willing to just give up like this.
So she just bit her lip, her voice somewhat aggrieved as she asked, "What should we do then? My parents are already here, right now. We can't just send them away, can we?"
Chris irritably took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"How about this—you take your parents to eat first. I'll call the hotel manager and open another private room."
Only then was Cynthia satisfied, hanging up with a smile.
But when Chris called the hotel manager, the answer was very unsatisfactory.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cooper, but all the private rooms are booked today. When your wife came over just now, it was because there were no other available rooms that she called you."
Chris felt anxious. "Can't you get someone to free up a room? I have a very important client to talk to today, and there's no time left."
The hotel manager said, "Mr. Cooper, you're putting me in a difficult position. How about you sit with Cynthia's parents? She only brought two people, so it would be just right with you all together."
Chris wasn't very willing in his heart.
His relationship with Cynthia was at the point of discussing marriage.
If Cynthia's parents saw him being pressured by his business partner, he would lose face.
The more he thought about it, the more dissatisfied Chris became with Cynthia.
If it were Joanna here, she would definitely free up the private room and take her parents and friends home to personally cook for them.
Chris shook his head, forcing himself not to overthink.
Either way, he had to get to the hotel first and then find a solution.
Thirty minutes later, Chris arrived at the location. Since he had received a call from Cynthia asking about it on the way, although he was impatient, he still went to see Cynthia's parents out of courtesy.
"You came back so suddenly without saying anything. I could have arranged for someone to pick you up."
Cynthia's father Chase said somewhat strangely, "Didn't Cynthia tell you? You two are getting married soon, so we came back early to attend Cynthia's wedding. By the way, have you arranged accommodation?"
Cynthia had actually told Matthew about this, but Chris hadn't asked about it, so he didn't know.
When he heard this question, Chris instinctively looked at Cynthia, his eyes accusing.
Cynthia quickly smiled and explained, "Mom, Dad, don't make things difficult for Chris. He's busy with work. Nicole and I have been handling the wedding arrangements. As for accommodation, Chris has a Hillside Villa with a nice environment—you can stay there for now. Our wedding date is still far off. In a few days, we'll go get our marriage certificate first."
Counting the days, Joanna and Chris's divorce certificate should be coming through soon.