Chapter 187 Andrew Can Also Lie
"Okay." Olivia nodded, not refusing his kind offer.
By the end of the meal, the redness on her ears still hadn't faded.
Andrew found it interesting and couldn't help glancing at her several times, his eyes seeming to grow darker...
Later, he drove her back.
After Olivia got out of the car with Bianca, she was about to say goodbye to him.
Before she could speak, Andrew said, "Wait, there's one more thing we haven't finished."
Olivia looked puzzled. What else was there?
She looked at Andrew and saw him take something from the car and hand it to Bianca. "This is my gift for Bianca."
Olivia was surprised.
It appeared to be a violin too.
"Why are you giving one too?"
Hadn't Bianca's teacher already given her one today?
Andrew smiled. "I promised to give her a violin last week. I didn't expect Selene would give one too, but it's fine. Selene's can be used for lessons there, and this one can be used for practice at home."
Olivia hesitated.
She worried Andrew would give something very expensive.
He had already helped them so much. No matter how nice he was, she really didn't want to take advantage of him.
Andrew seemed to see through her thoughts and said, "Please accept it. This violin isn't as good as Selene's. It's not expensive either, just something I picked out casually for Bianca to practice with..."
At this point, his eyes met Olivia's as he said, "I'm also Bianca's teacher, right? It wouldn't make sense to only accept Selene's gift and not mine."
Hearing this, Olivia knew she wouldn't be able to leave tonight without accepting it. She could only reluctantly take the gift. "Alright then, thank you."
Without needing her mom to prompt her, Bianca thanked him in a sweet childlike voice, "Thank you, Uncle Andrew!"
"You're welcome."
Andrew rubbed her little head, then said, "It's getting late, you two should head up."
"Mm." Olivia nodded.
Bianca waved at him. "Uncle Andrew, bye-bye."
Andrew watched them go inside before having David drive him back.
When Olivia arrived home with Bianca, Evelyn was eating fruit and watching a movie.
Seeing her carrying a violin, she curiously asked, "Didn't you go out for treatment today? Where did this come from?"
"Uncle Andrew gave it to me!" Bianca answered first.
Evelyn was curious. "What's going on now?"
Olivia briefly explained about Bianca's apprenticeship and receiving two violins.
After finishing, she was still a bit worried and asked Evelyn, "Do you know about violins? Is this one really not that expensive?"
Hearing this, Evelyn said, "Let me see..."
Olivia handed her the violin.
After taking it out, Evelyn examined it for a while.
Just from the surface, the violin gleamed with an elegant luster, not to mention the exquisite craftsmanship on the body...
Evelyn didn't lie to her and told her honestly, "Actually, I don't know much either, but violins aren't ordinary instruments. You can look them up online. Let me search..."
She quickly picked up her phone and started searching.
Surprisingly, there was no information about this particular violin online.
But Evelyn did find the brand.
After reading the description, she was silent for a long time...
Seeing her not speaking, Olivia asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Evelyn swallowed and said with difficulty, "It says online that violins from this brand never go for less than five million dollars..."
Olivia's eyes widened slightly. "Five million dollars?"
Evelyn nodded and continued, "Generally, if you can't find it online, it's custom-made with an undisclosed price, but each one starts at tens of millions...
So Bianca's violin is definitely not as cheap as he said! Anyway, I couldn't identify this model!"
Hearing this, Olivia was completely stunned.
She looked at the violin in disbelief.
This was way too valuable...
Then she found it amusing. When did Andrew learn to lie?
This made her feel she owed him more and more, with a feeling that she could never repay him.
Olivia felt truly helpless.
Evelyn beside her was still teasing, "Honestly, Mr. Hamilton is way too good to our Bianca. Giving such an expensive gift just like that.
Olivia, tell me... does he really have no feelings for you?"
Hearing her start talking nonsense again, Olivia shook her head. "I don't think so. With his status, he probably isn't someone who falls for people easily."
The girl Andrew would like must be incredibly outstanding.
Olivia felt it couldn't possibly be her.
"Really?"
Evelyn's expression was quite doubtful. "He can't really just like Bianca, can he?"
"Why not?"
Olivia thought this possibility was quite likely.
"After all, from the beginning, he showed great patience with Bianca. Before I even found him, he had already started treating Bianca on his own initiative.
Perhaps this is the bond between Bianca and him!"
Seeing her analyze it so reasonably, Evelyn didn't know how to argue.
"But the problem now is, we really can't keep this violin, right? It's too expensive."
Olivia felt troubled.
She couldn't accept such an expensive gift with a clear conscience.
But Evelyn said, "I think... with Mr. Hamilton's status, this amount of money might really not be much to him.
Besides, Bianca accepted Selene's gift today for her apprenticeship. If she doesn't accept his, wouldn't that be playing favorites?
Of course, we really can't take such a big advantage. How about this—find a way to give something back later.
You can choose something they'd like, or something of equal value. Exchanging gifts maintains the friendship without causing awkwardness. Isn't that great?"
Olivia was persuaded by Evelyn.
She thought this was a good solution.
At the same time, she found it a bit amusing.
It seemed she'd have to work hard to make money from now on...
If this continued, with all these gifts, she'd probably go bankrupt, wouldn't she?
But thinking about it differently, as long as Bianca was well and could recover normally and develop her interests, as a mother, no matter how much she paid, it would be worth it!
After figuring this out, Olivia was full of energy.
This weekend was pleasant for both Olivia and Bianca.
Time flew by, and soon it was Monday.
The medical trade conference finally arrived.
Early in the morning, Olivia dropped Bianca off at school, then went to the research institute.
After lunch, she set off to attend the conference on time.
The conference venue was filled with countless industry elites...
When Olivia arrived, the first thing she did was look for Rodolfo.
She had gone to the villa for so many days without seeing him, and thought she'd finally see him today.
But after looking around, she was surprised to find that Rodolfo wasn't there.
With no other option, Olivia called Simon to ask, "Simon, isn't Mr. McCoy attending the conference? Why don't I see him here?"
Simon replied kindly, "Ms. Smith, it's like this—Mr. McCoy felt the symposium would be too long and tiring to sit through. He couldn't handle it, so he declined to attend.
However, he will attend tonight's banquet."
Only then did Olivia breathe a sigh of relief. She had thought Rodolfo was avoiding her and didn't want to see her.
"Alright then, see you tonight."
After hanging up, Olivia saw another familiar person.
Christopher from the medical bureau came to find her.
"Dr. Garcia."
Christopher's attitude was very warm. "We meet again."
Olivia also responded politely with a smile. "Yes, we meet again. Thank you for your hard work today, Mr. Taylor."
"Dr. Garcia, you're too kind. There's nothing much for me to do."
Christopher waved his hand and said, "I'm mainly here to introduce you to a few experts. Do you have time now?"
"Of course I do."
Olivia understood his kind intention and agreed immediately.
Soon, with Christopher's introductions, Olivia met many experts from various fields in the industry at the symposium.
Christopher also introduced her to everyone with an admiring tone, saying, "This is the founder of the Miracle drug and the developer of the Nexora Tech medical system.
Don't let her young age fool you—she's incredibly capable. Besides her own skills, she's also a new partner with the military."
This last statement carried significant weight.
"Excellent, excellent. Ms. Smith is truly accomplished at such a young age."
"Having such talented young people, the medical research field has successors."
"Yes, Ms. Smith is amazing..."
Everyone praised Olivia.
You could tell they weren't being perfunctory—they genuinely appreciated her.
These experts at the venue were extraordinarily skilled and rarely seen. They mostly appeared in major news reports, so Olivia naturally respected them greatly.
She smiled and said, "Thank you. I've read every paper you've published..."
"I've always admired your medical skills. During the Calivada flood that year, you led a team through a month of difficult volunteer medical work. I still remember it vividly. It's my honor to meet you today..."
Olivia greeted each person politely, her attitude neither humble nor arrogant, steady and appropriate.
What surprised Christopher was that Olivia seemed to know almost everything about each of these seniors.
Every sentence she spoke was extremely pleasing.
The experts also praised her highly. "Our industry needs fresh blood like this."
"I've heard of Dr. Garcia's reputation for a while. I didn't expect her to be so young. It seems we're really getting old."
Some were curious about where Olivia studied.
One expert, who was quite straightforward, directly asked, "To cultivate such an excellent student as Dr. Garcia, I wonder who Dr. Garcia's teacher is?"
Olivia was about to answer, but the meeting was about to start. Christopher asked everyone to take their seats, so they had to pause their conversation.