Chapter 195 Do Not Want Sophia Anymore
Over these years, after everything she'd been through, if she still couldn't tell who truly cared about her, then she really deserved whatever came her way.
The old man before her had put so much effort into her—how could she bear to hurt him again?
Seeing tears welling up in her eyes, Rodolfo immediately felt helpless. He smiled wryly and said, "Alright, you're a grown woman and still crying like a baby.
Let's just let this go. No need to bring up all that old stuff anymore. It's good that you're back!"
As he said this last sentence, he patted Olivia's shoulder, his voice carrying a hint of weariness.
The tears Olivia had been trying to hold back started flowing again.
She hugged Rodolfo's arm, leaned on his shoulder, sniffled, and said in a muffled voice, "Okay, we won't talk about it anymore. But I'm happy—you've finally forgiven me. You're the one who treats me best!"
Hearing this, Rodolfo felt his nose tingle too.
But he wasn't about to cry.
Keeping his expression steady, he said, "Now that you know, remember to treat me well from now on. That way, if someone bullies you, I can still manage to back you up."
Olivia couldn't help but laugh at this. She tried to hold it in but failed, letting out a chuckle. "Okay, I'll definitely treat you well!"
She nuzzled against Rodolfo's arm, tears still streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, crying and laughing at the same time.
Looking at the head resting against him, Rodolfo seemed to see the little girl from years ago, who would cry to him about how hard studying medicine was, yet persist in memorizing medical texts, then come back to him acting cute, asking for candy as a reward.
He couldn't help himself—he ruffled her hair and said gently, "All the unhappy things are in the past. People who aren't worth it don't deserve your attachment.
You're doing well now. Keep your toes pointed forward and look ahead.
From now on, with me here, your life will be smooth sailing. No more stumbling blocks."
"Yes, okay!" Olivia agreed wholeheartedly. Her mood lifted, and she smiled again.
The two of them had finally cleared the air completely, resolving their past grievances.
Simon, who was driving in the front seat, was quite happy for them seeing this.
He said with a smile, "Mr. McCoy and Ms. Smith have finally made up. This is really worth celebrating!"
You should know that over these years, besides Olivia herself, Simon had been the one most hoping for this day.
Thinking of how Simon had deliberately shown off those gifts in front of him recently, Rodolfo also smiled and said, "Yes, now you can stop worrying."
Simon laughed heartily and said, "Mr. McCoy, what are you saying? Every family hopes for harmony and prosperity. All these years, no matter how much you tried to hide it, I could tell you had Ms. Smith in your heart."
Being called out like this, Rodolfo wasn't angry. He even agreed, "Yes, yes, yes, you know best."
Everyone was in a cheerful mood for the rest of the ride.
About ten minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance of the villa.
Olivia got out first, then went around to Rodolfo's side, opened the door for him, helped him out, and walked into the house arm in arm with him.
She didn't leave right away.
Having finally made up with Rodolfo, she still had so much she wanted to talk to him about.
Neither of them had eaten much at the banquet tonight.
Especially Rodolfo—guests had been coming to toast him all evening, so he barely touched the food on the table. After Sophia caused that scene, he had even less appetite.
After they entered the house, Simon instructed the household staff to prepare some late-night snacks.
The two of them sat down to eat together alone, something they hadn't done in a long time.
After the brief warmth in the car, Rodolfo eventually brought up work.
"That young man sitting next to you tonight—is he your business partner?"
"Yes!"
Olivia nodded and told Rodolfo, "We partnered up a few years ago, and when I was preparing for divorce, I started working with him again."
Rodolfo nodded, quite satisfied, and said, "That young man is good. He values relationships, gets along well with everyone, handles things smoothly, and stays calm no matter what. He's definitely someone worth knowing."
Olivia nodded, completely agreeing with Rodolfo's assessment, and added, "Daniel has really helped me a lot."
Rodolfo nodded, then asked, "About that information you gave me earlier, I looked at it. Your research institute has only been around for a few months—how did you manage to get such a big contract with the military?"
He'd been too angry before to ask, even though he was curious. He'd forced himself not to.
Now that they'd made up, Rodolfo couldn't hold back anymore. He was worried Olivia might have been taken advantage of.
Hearing Rodolfo bring it up, Olivia smiled and said, "So you did look at the materials I prepared? My effort wasn't wasted then."
Hearing her proud tone, Rodolfo snorted, "You made me look at materials for half an hour while you stood there—wasn't that your whole point?"
"It was my point, but I also wanted you to see my sincerity and determination."
Olivia smiled as she served Rodolfo some of his favorite dishes, then continued, "But the military cooperation really was unexpected..."
She then told Rodolfo about treating Joseph, and how that led to him connecting her with patients at the Military Base Housing, explaining the whole sequence of events.
Then her expression became more serious, and she said earnestly, "I've never forgotten your teachings, and I've never forgotten the rules of 'Medica Vitae Sect.'
The mission of 'Medica Vitae Sect' has always been to promote ancient medical techniques, to let people know how powerful our national heritage is, and to provide necessary medical assistance to those who deserve our respect."
The military patients were all heroes who protected the country.
If they needed help, Olivia was willing to develop good medicine to relieve their suffering.
Listening to Olivia speak word by word, Rodolfo was very satisfied.
He nodded and said, "Good. At least you knew to accomplish something before coming back to apologize. If you'd shown up at my door without doing anything, let's see if I would have paid you any attention!"
Though, at the time, he still hadn't let her in.
But now, Rodolfo had completely forgotten about that.
Olivia smiled and said, "You still would have. You care about me so much—how could you possibly ignore me?"
Hearing her confident tone, Rodolfo pretended to look disgusted, "Don't even start..."
Olivia's face still wore a smile. She didn't take Rodolfo's feigned disgust to heart at all and kept serving him food, urging him, "Let's not talk so much now. Eat up. I've been thinking about this stew beef for years. If you don't eat it now, it'll get cold."
"Slow down, be careful not to choke. You had alcohol tonight too—drink some soup first."
The two of them looked after each other, and Simon, standing nearby watching, looked quite pleased.
By the time they'd both eaten their fill, it was quite late.
Seeing the clock hand had reached eleven-thirty, Olivia stood up and said to Rodolfo, "You should rest well tonight. I'll head back now."
"Alright, drive carefully." Rodolfo had no objections. He knew she had a child at home to take care of, so he didn't ask her to stay.
Before leaving, Olivia asked Rodolfo carefully, "There's one more thing. Now that you're in Emerald City, are you leaving again?"
If possible, Olivia really didn't want Rodolfo to leave.
Rodolfo saw through her thoughts but didn't play hard to get.
He said directly, "I'm not leaving for now. I haven't visited your research institute yet. I need to go see what kind of operation you're running. Besides, I have some matters of my own to handle."
Hearing this answer, Olivia's expression brightened visibly. "So I can see you often from now on?"
"Yes." Rodolfo's face also showed a gentle expression. "Alright, it's getting late. Hurry home. When you have time, bring Bianca over for dinner. She's been born all this time and I still haven't met her."
Hearing this, Olivia's eyes lit up.
She'd only mentioned the child when introducing Andrew tonight, and hadn't brought it up again after that.
Because Rodolfo didn't like Michael, Olivia had always worried he wouldn't like Bianca either.
After all, she was also Michael's daughter.
But now it seemed Rodolfo didn't mind at all.
Olivia's mood lifted even more, and she immediately said, "Okay, then tomorrow after she gets out of school, I'll bring her over... Get some rest early. Good night!"
With that, Olivia left cheerfully, her steps and silhouette carrying a lightness and joy.
Rodolfo found it amusing. "She's a mother now, but she still walks like a little kid."
Simon, standing beside him, also smiled and said, "When someone cares about you, you can be a kid again. It's nice!"
Rodolfo didn't comment either way.
After leaving Rodolfo's villa, Olivia headed straight home.
When she entered, the house was quiet—Bianca was already asleep.
On the sofa, Evelyn and Yara were still waiting for her.
Hearing the door open, both of them immediately looked toward the entrance.
"Olivia, how did it go? Did everything go smoothly?" Evelyn asked eagerly.
As Olivia took off her shoes, she said happily, "Yes, pretty smoothly. Mr. McCoy even said I should bring Bianca to see him."
"That's wonderful!" Evelyn was very happy for her, and said enthusiastically, "I heard about what happened at the banquet too. Michael and Sophia got humiliated—hahaha... I'm so happy! Honey, come pour some red wine so we can celebrate!"
Seeing her even happier than herself, Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "What's there to celebrate about this?"
Evelyn said matter-of-factly, "Of course there is! Michael has been respectable for over twenty years, and tonight he got publicly humiliated. I wonder how that feels—isn't that worth celebrating?
And Sophia, that homewrecker—karma's finally caught up with her. Just thinking about it makes me so happy, okay? Come on, drink up!"
She poured Olivia half a glass of red wine.
After Olivia was forced to finish it, Evelyn was still gloating.
"The Johnson family cares so much about face. After losing face like that, I'm really curious whether they'll still want Sophia as a daughter-in-law. I bet they won't!"