Chapter 111: Golden Bones
Mireille and Cynthia exchanged glances and sighed helplessly.
"Fine, we'll do as you say. By the way, Martin was introduced through a friend of mine, so tell Chris he has to seal this deal, otherwise I won't be able to face my friend when I get back."
Cynthia nodded and urged them to go rest.
Thinking about running into Joanna again today, she was in a bad mood.
Because Cynthia suddenly realized that after leaving Chris, Joanna had actually hooked up with an even better man!
Why did she deserve to have two excellent men fall for her?
Joanna should have been crushed under her feet!
What charm did she have that attracted such an impressive person?
The more Cynthia thought about it, the angrier she got. Her expression turned vicious, scaring the servants away.
And her original plan quietly began to change.
In the hotel private room, the earlier argument had affected everyone's good mood at the gathering. Now with Angelo present, the colleagues all became a bit reserved.
Joanna tried to ease the atmosphere and ordered some drinks.
"I still want to thank everyone for coming today. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll be colleagues for a long time to come. I'm grateful for everyone's care, and when organizing today's gathering, I also prepared gifts for everyone."
As she spoke, she took out several small boxes from her bag and distributed them to her colleagues.
They were gold badges shaped like bones—not particularly expensive, just keepsakes.
"We're all orthopedic doctors, so you should be familiar with this bone. That's right, it's the one below our shoulder blade, right next to the heart. This is also the first bone position to be named and operated on academically. I believe everyone here as orthopedic doctors understands the commemorative significance of this bone."
It must be said, Joanna's gift really touched everyone's hearts.
Everyone actually had collected this particular bone in some form.
Some had teaching models, others had taken special photos, and some had used plaster to simulate bone material and created a clay bone replica.
This bone was something everyone in their department had—a symbol of their unity.
So no one refused the gold bone.
Everyone even thanked Joanna profusely and said many kind words.
After a few drinks, everyone loosened up and chatted happily.
Angelo sat beside Joanna, and when no one was paying attention, he leaned close to her ear and asked, "Everyone got gifts, but it seems I didn't?"
Joanna smiled awkwardly, "I thought Angelo wouldn't come today. The gift I prepared for you is at home. I'll give it to you when we get back."
Angelo smiled, "Okay, then let's go back together later."
Getting a gift and being able to eat together and go home together—Angelo thought his luck was really good today.
Everyone enjoyed the meal, and when it ended, the hotel even arranged drivers to take everyone home.
Both Joanna and Angelo had driven there, so the hotel manager found designated drivers to take them home.
Angelo naturally followed Joanna through her front door, his expression calm even when facing her puzzled look.
Joanna had no choice but to go to her room to get the gift. When she came out, she saw Angelo sitting properly, though his eyes were eager.
She felt a bit embarrassed as she handed him the gift.
Without guessing, Angelo knew what was inside, "Golf club? My mom told you, right? Why didn't you prepare a gold bone for me?"
"You're not an orthopedic doctor, so you don't quite understand the significance of that bone. Another day I can have a gold golf badge custom-made for you." Joanna explained, "I compared options for a long time before getting this golf club from a collector. I hope Angelo likes it."
Angelo solemnly placed the golf club on his lap and said with a smile, "I really like it. But what makes me happier today is that right after getting one gift, there's already a second one on the way."
"I'm glad Angelo likes it."
Before giving it, Joanna had worried that Angelo might not like this gift because he had better clubs.
Now it seemed she had overthought it.
Angelo really liked the gift she gave—was it because of the gift itself, or because she was the one giving it?
"By the way, I actually had something else to tell you when I saw you today. The police have contacted Peter, saying they found the person who scammed Chad out of his money." Angelo's expression became serious.
Joanna was a bit happy and asked, "So has the money been recovered?"
But Angelo shook his head, "That person had worked with your father many times. After losing contact with your father, he realized something was wrong. But like your father, he spent money like water, so he desperately needed money to flee abroad. Because Henry had mentioned Chad to him before, he targeted your brother. According to police questioning, this person originally had two backup plans. If Chad didn't work out, he would extort you. He just didn't expect Chad to have the guts to take the compensation money and trust what he said so much."
"He's already spent a lot of that money, with a large portion used to evade police investigation. So the compensation that can ultimately be recovered is only one-fifth of the original amount."
Though not much, at least there was something left.
Joanna's internal pressure increased dramatically. She had thought that once the compensation was recovered, she could repay Angelo, but it turned out it still wasn't enough.
She sighed and said, "I'll figure something out. Ms. Stone's charity design competition is coming up soon. If things go smoothly this time, I'll try to bring Smith Group in for a win-win cooperation. Consider it my thanks for all your help, Angelo."
Angelo was a bit surprised, "Charity project? Designing clothes?"
Joanna briefly explained, "It's actually about environmental protection. The clothes designed this time will be worn by the spokesperson. If selected, this environmental charity project will be promoted worldwide. I think it could increase Smith Group's visibility and bring you more project collaborations."
This was the best possibility she could think of.
After all, Smith Group spent quite a bit on publicity every year. With Joanna's charity work helping out, they could indeed save a lot of expenses.
After considering the pros and cons, Angelo joked, "Looking at it this way, it seems like I'll soon be the one owing favors."
Joanna smiled embarrassedly, "Don't tease me, Angelo. I owe you so much, sometimes I don't even know how to repay you. It feels scarier than loan sharks. No wonder there's a saying online that personal debts are the hardest to repay!"
Angelo couldn't help but laugh.
His Joanna was still so adorable, with such genuine and sincere thoughts, making his dark schemes seem rather shameful by comparison.