Chapter 198 To Become Someone as Excellent as Him
On Olivia's side, after finishing her daytime work, she left the office on time in the evening to pick up Bianca from school.
Then, as agreed, she went to meet Rodolfo.
When they arrived at the villa courtyard, Rodolfo and Simon were already waiting, and they had prepared a whole table full of delicious food for dinner.
Simon said to Olivia with a smile, "Oh, finally you're here! Mr. McCoy has been standing at the door waiting anxiously all afternoon, been there for ages."
Caught out, Rodolfo glared at Simon and said, "Nonsense! I was just taking a stroll outside. How could I have been waiting for them all afternoon?"
"Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say." Simon didn't argue with him.
Olivia knew, of course, that Rodolfo was saying the opposite of what he meant.
But this feeling of being cared about warmed her heart.
Bianca looked curiously at the two old men in front of her.
Olivia pulled her daughter forward to introduce them, saying, "Bianca, this is the teacher who taught me medicine, and this one next to him, you can just call him Simon."
Because of Bianca's special situation, on the way here, Olivia had already given her a heads-up, telling her that the people they were meeting today cared about Olivia just like her grandparents did.
Bianca clutched Olivia's clothes, looking at the two old men in front of her.
Although they were strangers and her soft little face showed some timidity, she still greeted them in a sweet voice, "Hello, Mr. McCoy! Hello, Simon!"
Old people always loved children, especially when the little girl in front of them had rosy lips, white teeth, and delicate features, looking like she was carved from the same mold as Olivia when she was young.
Simon liked her immediately, his voice carrying laughter as he replied, "Oh my, hello sweetie! You really look just like Ms. Smith did when she was little!"
As he spoke, he walked over to Bianca, pulled out a big handful of candies from his pocket, squatted down in front of her, and said, "Bianca, I heard you like strawberry-flavored candies. I specially prepared these for you. See if you like them."
Rodolfo hadn't expected Simon to move so fast, his eyes widened.
He said, "Simon, when did you prepare these? Why didn't you tell me?"
Simon ignored him, just looking at Bianca lovingly, waiting for her to take the candies.
Bianca instinctively glanced at Olivia, her grape-like big eyes seeming to ask: Can I take them?
Olivia smiled and patted Bianca's head, saying to her, "Simon specially prepared these for Bianca, you can take them."
"Okay!" Only after hearing this did Bianca nod and take two steps closer to Simon.
Her little hand picked out one candy from Simon's big handful, and with an adorable smile, she said, "Thank you, this one is enough for me!"
The little girl wasn't greedy at all. Simon was charmed by her sensible and well-behaved manner, smiling as he said, "How is this enough? These are all for you, take them all, take them all."
Then he stuffed all the candies into her little pockets, filling them up in no time.
Rodolfo, watching this scene from the side, was sulking and almost dying of frustration!
Simon was so calculating, actually getting ahead of him to win over the child!
Afraid that Bianca wouldn't like him, he quickly walked over and pulled Simon aside.
Afraid of scaring the child, he even softened his voice a few notches, speaking gently as he asked, "Bianca, do you like toys? I've prepared lots for you. How about I take you to see them now?"
Bianca sensed Rodolfo's kindness, and this time without looking at Olivia, she obediently nodded her little head.
Seeing Bianca accept him so quickly, Rodolfo's mood finally improved, and he immediately took Bianca's hand and walked toward the villa courtyard.
Bianca's little hand was so soft, it reminded him of the first time he held Olivia's hand when she was young.
Back then, she was just as well-behaved.
Looking at the similar faces of mother and daughter, Rodolfo couldn't help but like Bianca even more.
He led her inside, and as soon as they entered, Olivia saw a whole table full of gifts.
More than a dozen pink fox plushies and figurines of various sizes, many of them limited edition collectibles that couldn't be bought even with money.
Olivia was greatly surprised and couldn't help but look at Simon beside her. "Why are there so many?"
Simon quietly told her, "These were all specially gathered by Mr. McCoy today after he found out what Bianca likes. He pulled some strings and searched the whole city for them.
It was also lucky that a patient Mr. McCoy had treated before had some connections, which is how he managed to collect so many at once.
I heard some were even rushed over from the neighboring city, which shows how much Mr. McCoy adores little Bianca."
After hearing Simon's words, Olivia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Mr. McCoy has completely won Bianca over now."
At this moment, Bianca's eyes were shining with joy as she hugged a pink fox plushie almost as tall as herself, unable to let go.
She asked Rodolfo in a sweet childlike voice, "Are all of these... for me?"
Rodolfo smiled lovingly and nodded, "Yes, they're all for you, Bianca. Do you like them?"
"I like them! I like them so much! Thank you, Mr. McCoy!"
Seeing Bianca so happy, Rodolfo's mood lifted too, and he said with a smile, "As long as you like them, take them all home later!"
"Okay!" Bianca nodded, her little face flushed with happiness, and the two little buns of hair by her ears bounced adorably.
The two old men's hearts were melting from Bianca's cuteness.
After Rodolfo finished giving gifts, Simon quickly stepped forward and said, "Let's eat first. You can continue opening gifts after dinner. Today we specially prepared Ms. Smith's favorite dishes, and desserts that all children love."
Rodolfo nodded in agreement, "Right, let's eat first, can't let you go hungry. Bianca, come on, I'll take you to wash your hands."
Bianca wasn't shy at all and took Rodolfo's hand on her own, letting him lead her to wash hands.
Olivia watched this scene with a somewhat surprised expression.
After all, Bianca wasn't like ordinary children. She had been worried that Bianca would feel uncomfortable when she came, but the speed at which they became familiar was faster than she had expected.
In the past, this would have been impossible.
Olivia thought about it carefully and understood.
Probably because the kindness shown by Rodolfo and Simon didn't have any other motives mixed in, Bianca instinctively sensed their goodness, so she didn't resist.
But what surprised Olivia even more was that Rodolfo didn't show any awkwardness at all.
At the dinner table, Rodolfo took great care of Bianca, picking up whatever she liked to eat, wiping her mouth from time to time, feeding her soup, taking very good care of her.
Bianca was also sensible, learning to pick up food for Rodolfo and greeting Simon, "Simon, eat together!"
Four-year-old Bianca had two people whose ages added up to over a hundred absolutely delighted.
After dinner, Bianca couldn't wait to open her gifts, with Simon keeping her company.
Olivia watched her daughter's happy expression and said to Rodolfo, "Thank you."
This thank you came out of nowhere, but Rodolfo understood what she wanted to express.
He didn't respond to that, but instead glanced at her and said, "Did you think that because I don't like Michael, I would also dislike Bianca?
Hmph, do you really think I'm such an old-fashioned person that if the father is wrong, the child should be punished too?"
His tone carried some dissatisfaction with Olivia's assumption.
Olivia looked helpless, "That's not what I meant."
She explained, "I just didn't expect you two to get along better than I thought."
But Rodolfo said matter-of-factly, "What's unexpected about it? She's your child, raised by you, so of course her personality is like yours. When you first came to learn medicine, you were crying at first, and I was the one who comforted you back then.
This child Bianca, I can tell she's even quieter and more well-behaved than you were. Dealing with a little kid, isn't that a piece of cake for me?"
Hearing Rodolfo's words, Olivia also recalled her childhood.
At the beginning, she was indeed rather fussy, and it was often Rodolfo who patiently coaxed and guided her.
She couldn't help but smile and said to Rodolfo, "Bianca really likes you too. Her situation is quite special. Very few people can be accepted by her so easily, and she even took your hand on her own and picked up food for you."
Hearing this, Rodolfo's mood improved.
He proudly raised his chin and said, "Of course, I'm your teacher after all!"
The two sat together chatting about the child, and of course, they couldn't avoid asking about the child's condition.
"I heard from Simon that when she was at the Johnson family before, her condition was very serious. She often shut herself off. How's the treatment going now?"
Bringing up what happened before, Olivia's eyes turned cold. "It was indeed very serious back then, because the doctor treating Bianca at that time wasn't qualified to be a doctor at all. She was someone Sophia found, a fake doctor who prescribed random medications for Bianca. Fortunately, I discovered it in time, so Bianca wasn't harmed by them any further."
She told Rodolfo all the details, including later finding Andrew and Andrew treating Bianca.
After hearing this, Rodolfo silently added another mark against the Johnson family in his heart.
He said angrily, "It's one thing to bully you, but the Johnson family even treated their own granddaughter like this. They simply have no conscience! Good thing you came to your senses in time and took Bianca away from that hellhole!"
Seeing Rodolfo getting angry, Olivia patted his shoulder and said in a soothing tone, "It's all in the past now. There's no need for you to get upset. We won't have any contact with them in the future anyway."
Rodolfo nodded, clearly agreeing with her words. "Indeed, staying away is the best thing."
Then he added, "That psychologist you mentioned is quite a good person.
Last night I could see from his bearing that he's not an ordinary person, and he even protected you. Not like that heartless Michael.
He was there too at the time. When he saw you in danger, he just stood there doing nothing.
Five years of marriage, even after divorce, shouldn't he have some reaction seeing his ex-wife in danger? Absolutely cold-blooded!"
Speaking of this, Rodolfo paused for a moment, then looked at Olivia and asked, "I can see you two are quite close. You and that young man..."
He didn't finish his question, but Olivia seemed to have guessed what he wanted to ask.
She said with a smile, "He and I are friends, it's not what you're thinking.
Mr. Hamilton is excellent, and his background and status are not ordinary either. There's no possibility between us.
Besides, right now I just want to focus on my career. I'm not thinking about other things for the time being."
She had already learned her lesson once in matters of the heart.
Now she felt that a woman shouldn't lose herself for a man.
Even if there really was such a person in the future, she should become someone equally excellent as him.
Not repeat the same mistakes, depend on someone else, and end up with nothing.
Not to mention, Andrew was so wonderful, with such high status and position.
Standing beside him was something she didn't even dare to think about.