Chapter 378 He Never Left
Olivia knew that this conversation with her parents would come sooner or later.
Despite feeling nervous, she tried her best to stay calm.
She poured her parents each a glass of water, then walked over and sat down on the sofa.
Victoria didn't beat around the bush. She got straight to the point and asked, "What's going on between you and Mr. Hamilton?"
Olivia had no intention of hiding anything.
Since Victoria asked directly, she told them honestly, "We're dating."
Getting the answer they expected, Victoria and her husband exchanged glances.
Both of them frowned.
Vaughn asked, "When did this start? In Emerald City?"
Olivia shook her head and said, "No, we only made it official after coming to Harmony City."
Vaughn and Victoria immediately fell silent.
As soon as they went quiet, Olivia couldn't help feeling anxious.
She asked tentatively, "Don't you like him?"
Without waiting for them to respond, she continued, "He's a really good person, and he treats me very well. He even treats Bianca as his own child.
Bianca has come this far thanks to him.
He's never been harsh or unfair to Bianca just because she's not his biological daughter. Instead, he's always been very patient, raising her as if she were his own!"
As Olivia said these words, her expression was extremely serious.
Victoria saw it.
She didn't know Andrew well, but she knew her daughter's temperament.
So she sighed and said, "Of course I know he's good, and we don't dislike him.
But... Olivia, it's precisely because he's too good!
Mr. Hamilton comes from a wealthy Harmony City family. With such a high-status family, we're afraid..."
She recalled her daughter's previous marriage. "When you joined the Johnson family, you suffered so much. When your dad and I went to visit you, we were mocked and ridiculed by Michael's parents several times.
They looked down on us, always thinking we had ulterior motives, and looked down on us from the bottom of their hearts.
And because of our ordinary background, they felt emboldened to trample on you again and again.
The Hamilton family is even higher in status than the Johnson family.
How could a family like that accept you, a divorced woman?
Of course, I don't think that being divorced with a child makes you cheap or unworthy of something good.
In my eyes, you've always been our priceless treasure.
But... but... I'm afraid you'll repeat the same mistakes!"
As Victoria said this, her eyes couldn't help but turn red. "Mr. Hamilton may treat you well, love you, and protect you, but what about his family? Will they be the same as him?
What if they look down on you and belittle you? What then?
And Bianca—can a family like that really treat her as their own?"
Listening to her mother's concerns, Olivia finally understood why they had been looking so worried all evening.
As parents, they were simply worried that their daughter's marriage would once again be looked down upon by the man's family because of the difference in family status.
If the other party were from a more ordinary family, they could do everything in their power to support her.
But whether it was the Johnson family or the Hamilton family, both were beyond their ability to handle.
Olivia had no way to refute any of this.
Because she herself wasn't certain either.
Although Andrew's uncle's family had all accepted her, Finnegan didn't approve.
In fact, he strongly opposed it.
Seeing that Olivia hadn't answered for a long time, Victoria and Vaughn understood.
Victoria sighed worriedly, "Olivia, we only have you as our child. We've loved and cherished you since you were little. We don't ask much of you—we just hope you can be safe, happy, and content.
You've already been tormented once by the Johnson family. Do you know how heartbroken your dad and I were during those years?
But we couldn't do anything about it.
We're useless—we couldn't give you a good family background. We watched you get bullied, but couldn't do anything.
Harmony City is even more complicated than Emerald City, and we're even more powerless there.
So I really hope you can think this through carefully, okay?"
By the end, Victoria couldn't hold back anymore, and tears fell from her reddened eyes.
Although Vaughn didn't speak, his eyes were also red.
Olivia felt both heartbroken and uncomfortable, but the strongest emotion was guilt.
She was already so grown up, yet she was still making her parents worry about her.
Olivia's eyes also turned red. She hugged her mother and tried to comfort her while holding back her emotions, "Dad, Mom, please don't be sad. I will think this through carefully.
I know you're worried about me, but being with Andrew wasn't an impulsive decision, and it's not because I'm seeking comfort from my previous heartbreak.
In fact, I've thought about the things you're worried about even more than you have.
I also thought about rejecting Andrew, and I was scared and didn't dare take that step.
But Andrew has given me a lot of confidence.
He's different from Michael!
Of course, I know that whatever I say now, you might not be able to hear it.
But Dad, Mom, please give me a chance to see how Andrew does first, okay?"
She had no way to make her parents accept Andrew right away.
She could only use a roundabout way to persuade them. "If he doesn't do well and lets me down, then it won't be too late for me to pull back.
This time, I won't lose myself again, and I won't give up everything for a relationship!"
Olivia's tone and expression showed both seriousness and determination.
Looking at her, the two of them were reluctant.
But their daughter had grown up.
They had no way to control how she should live her life.
Besides, this matter would affect Olivia's future.
As parents, how could they be persuaded to accept it with just a few words?
But they could also see clearly.
The current Olivia was indeed different from a few years ago.
She had matured. Even if she ended up with the wrong person again, she probably wouldn't end up as badly hurt as before.
They didn't want to accept it, but they could only slowly digest this matter.
After a long silence, Vaughn's sighing voice rang out, "Fine, let's talk about this later.
Anyway, you've only been together for a short time; there's still a long way to go.
But there's one thing I hope you can promise us."
Olivia nodded without hesitation and said, "Go ahead."
Vaughn's expression was unusually serious. "This time, if you're planning to get married again, you have to listen to us.
If we don't agree, you can't get married, okay?"
This was all they could do for their daughter.
Victoria also looked at Olivia intently, clearly sharing the same thought as Vaughn.
They couldn't stop her from dating, but they wanted to have a say in marriage.
If Andrew's family didn't agree to them being together, or if they treated Olivia poorly, they would definitely stop her from marrying Andrew!
Olivia understood her parents' thoughts.
Without any hesitation, she nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
None of them knew what the future held.
But right now, the fact that Olivia was willing to agree made Victoria feel very relieved.
She held Olivia's hand and said, "You can't go back on your word."
Olivia nodded seriously, "I absolutely won't!"
With that, they reluctantly put their minds at ease.
Although they had talked about this topic openly, they still couldn't let it go right away.
Olivia also knew that continuing to discuss things related to Andrew would easily upset her parents, so she wanted to change the subject.
Victoria had the same thought and took the initiative to ask about the research institute, "How's your work going? What did the research institute tell you?"
Vaughn also looked at Olivia with concern, "Before we came, we already heard from Mr. McCoy's side, but he didn't go into much detail. When can you go back to work?"
This topic was a bit lighter compared to her relationship with Andrew.
Olivia just needed to tell the truth and also share what Andrew had told her.
However, after hearing everything, the two couldn't help but frown, their worry not diminishing at all.
"There's currently no evidence pointing to someone setting you up. What if the research institute can't find anything? What will you do then? How will you handle things in the future?"
Olivia had considered this possibility too.
But she was more certain that there was no coincidence in this matter.
Whether it was Oscar or Zoey, as members of the same team who had access to the data, if there was a problem with the data, it had to be related to one of them.
"The research institute isn't a place where those two can cover everything up. Right now, I just need to wait patiently," Olivia said.
She just needed to wait for Andrew's people to recover the system traces as soon as possible.
After hearing her words, her parents felt equally helpless.
But for now, they could only wait for the investigation results.
"We just don't know when the results will come out," Victoria was still very worried.
It would be fine if it was quick.
But if it took a long time, who knew what others would say about Olivia.
They might think she was making trouble to avoid responsibility.
Or they might say she was relying on Rodolfo's presence, wasting the investigation team's resources, trying to use connections and background to clear her name.
Olivia didn't care that much and comforted her parents, saying, "The innocent will be proven innocent. I can wait."
Seeing her attitude was so good, Victoria didn't say anything more.
Since they had come in a hurry today, the two had traveled all the way and were tired by now.
So after Bianca finished washing up, they also went to take a shower.
Olivia knew her parents were still worried about her.
She couldn't comfort them herself, so she could only signal Bianca to go over.
Bianca was very smart and affectionately leaned over, saying, "Grandpa, Grandma, do you want to see my art studio? I've painted new works too!"
"Really? Bianca, you're so amazing!"
"Of course we have to see what your studio looks like!"
The two were easily coaxed by Bianca into happiness, putting aside thoughts about Olivia and Andrew.
Later in the evening, Bianca couldn't stay up any longer and started yawning.
Victoria took the child back to their side and coaxed her to sleep like before.
Olivia finally returned to her own room to wash up.
After coming out, she had just laid down on the bed when a message came in on her phone.
She glanced at it and found it was from Andrew.
Andrew: [Have your parents gone to bed?]
Olivia asked, somewhat puzzled: [How do you know?]
Andrew replied: [I'm outside.]
Olivia was very surprised and quickly got up and ran to the window to look.
Only then did she discover that Andrew's car was indeed parked not far from the villa.
Had he left and come back?
Or had he never left at all?