Chapter 62 Not long, just waited for more than an hour
Dean hurriedly pushed up his glasses and fumbled to hand Mia tissues to wipe her tears.
"It's my fault, Mia, don't be upset. You deserve it, you deserve all of it. Don't worry, Mia, as long as I'm here, Ava won't get that director position. I'll go talk to my father-in-law right now."
Mia finally heard what she wanted to hear. Her eyes lit up. If it weren't for the fact that he was the deputy director's son-in-law, she wouldn't have put in so much effort to seduce him.
"Will that work?" Mia took the tissue he handed her and asked while wiping her tears.
"Mia, trust me one more time. I'll take care of this." Dean patted his chest confidently.
A flash of hesitation and reluctance crossed Mia's eyes. "But won't this be too much trouble for you..."
"How could your matters be trouble? I'm happy to do these things for you."
Mia still bit her lip with difficulty. "I'm not targeting Dr. Davis personally, and she really doesn't have the ability for this position. She's always relied on connections to climb up. I just don't want to let this kind of atmosphere continue."
Mia continued to maintain her kind and innocent image—everything she did came from good intentions.
The key to this clumsy manipulation was that someone persistently believed it. Lyra standing nearby couldn't help but sneer.
What kind and innocent? She was clearly just a woman mad with jealousy.
"I know, Mia, you're kind-hearted and innocent. What bad intentions could you have? You don't need to explain, I understand everything. Wait for my good news."
"Thank you, Dr. Palmer."
As Dean left, Lyra's expression instantly changed back to one of admiration for Mia. She stepped forward eagerly, "Mia, you're the best. We absolutely can't let that bitch Ava succeed this time."
Mia elegantly played with her delicate manicure, a cold smile forming at the corner of her mouth. "If Ava really has a relationship with Mr. Miller, Dean won't be much use. Give me your phone."
"Mia, do you have another plan?"
"The higher Ava wants to climb, the harder I'll make her fall—preferably so she never gets back up." Mia's face showed cruelty as she dialed a number. While waiting for the call to connect, she had already prepared her emotions. As soon as it connected, her voice was full of tears. "Mr. Myers..."
"Mia, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
"I... could I trouble you to come to the hospital..."
Mia hung up the phone, a triumphant smile forming at the corner of her mouth.
Ava, however you climbed up to that director position, I'll make you roll back down the same way.
And she wouldn't just pull Ava down—she was determined to get that director position herself.
Mia continued giving instructions. "Also, that video from the forum a couple days ago—have someone post it again. We need to make it stick that Ava has bad character. Even if it's fake, make it real for me."
"Mia, you're so smart. I'll do it right away."
Mia curled her lips in a disdainful cold laugh. With so many "capable assistants" around her, she naturally didn't need to get her hands dirty.
Mia closed her eyes and leaned back, a smile unconsciously forming at the corner of her mouth. This time, she could rest easy.
Ava had been seeing patients all morning, staying busy until twelve-thirty. She had originally planned to delay going to the cafeteria for lunch when she suddenly remembered she had promised to have lunch with Joshua today.
Ava glanced at the clock nearby, casually tied her hair in a ponytail, and drove to Savory Elegance, arriving close to one o'clock.
Because she was late, Ava quickened her pace, but she also noticed that Savory Elegance wasn't packed today. Instead, it was completely empty. Although it was a weekday, it shouldn't be this empty—not a single customer.
The manager in a crisp suit stood anxiously waiting at the entrance. Seeing Ava arrive, he took one look at her, confirmed her identity, and immediately came forward. "Ms. Davis, Mr. Thomas is in a private room on the second floor. Please follow me."
Ava nodded briefly and followed the manager upstairs. Her eyes swept over the still quiet and deserted second floor, and she couldn't help but feel suspicious. If she hadn't seen how lively and bustling this place usually was, she would have thought it was going out of business.
"Why don't you have any customers today?"
The manager led the way while answering her question. "Well, the owner said we're not open to the public today."
As he spoke, the manager stopped and pushed open the door to the private room ahead.
Ava glanced over and saw Joshua in a dark suit sitting on the sofa by the window. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, silently outlining his perfectly sculpted features.
His eyes were lowered, and a laptop sat on the solid wood table in front of him. His long, slender fingers moved across the keyboard—he looked like he'd been waiting for quite some time.
The sound of the manager opening the door wasn't quiet, but Joshua seemed not to hear it, not even lifting his head.
Ava walked closer and pulled out a chair to sit across from Joshua. Only then did Joshua unhurriedly lift his eyes.
Ava was also looking up at him, and for a moment, their gazes unexpectedly met.
His eyes were deep, pupils fixed intently on her.
Ava froze, thinking he might be angry from waiting so long. She opened her mouth and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, I had a few patients that delayed me."
Being over an hour late really was inexcusable. Ava felt somewhat guilty.
Joshua didn't respond. He just lowered his eyes, organized the laptop in front of him, and set it aside. Ava's gaze followed his hand's movement and landed on his water glass, which was about one-third empty.
Ava's brow twitched as she asked tentatively, "Have you been waiting long?"
Joshua raised one eyebrow and unhurriedly poured her a glass of water. His thin lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile.
His low, pleasant voice sounded, "Not long."
Ava breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Then that's..." good...
"Just over an hour."
His voice was calm, so calm that Ava detected a hint of sarcasm in it.
"..."
Joshua raised his long fingers and waved lightly at the manager, who immediately understood and went out to serve the food.
Savory Elegance's service was very fast. The dozen or so dishes ordered were all served in just over ten minutes.
The servers left, and the private room was empty again with just Ava and Joshua sitting across from each other.
Joshua picked up his utensils unhurriedly, his gaze moving to Ava.
Ava didn't know what she was thinking about. Her gaze was somewhat unfocused as memories flashed through her mind.