Chapter 235 How Should I Punish You?
Olivia didn't react at first. It wasn't until the man turned on the faucet and pulled her hand under the running water that she realized she had just burned herself.
At that moment, her mind had been completely focused on Andrew and Bianca, so she hadn't even noticed.
The beaker's temperature had been quite high, and in just this short time, a red patch had already appeared on the back of her hand.
Andrew frowned, looking somewhat serious, and said to Olivia, "Sorry, I seem to have startled you just now."
Olivia knew he meant well and quickly shook her head, saying, "No, I just lost my grip. It has nothing to do with you guys. I should be thanking you instead.
But, Mr. Hamilton, why did you bring Bianca to the research institute?"
"Bianca said you hadn't eaten, and she was very worried and wanted to come find you." Andrew honestly explained the situation, then continued, "Bianca has spent the most time with you since she was little. Recently, without your company, she's bound to feel a bit insecure.
Of course, worry is the bigger part, so to ease these emotions, I brought her here."
Olivia nodded, looking somewhat regretful, "I was negligent. I'll pay attention next time."
Hearing this, Andrew's tone grew slightly heavier, "You want there to be a next time? Ms. Garcia, even children know that not eating on time is bad for your health.
As a doctor, yet you don't follow the routine of eating three meals a day—isn't that rather inappropriate?"
"Ah..." Olivia instinctively wanted to explain.
But Andrew pinched her fingertip, "Bianca said children who don't listen need to be punished. How should I punish you?"
Olivia couldn't answer. The fingertip he had pinched had gone numb.
She'd been so focused on talking that she hadn't noticed Andrew had been holding her hand the whole time.
Now, their fingers were almost pressed together.
Even though she knew he was helping her cool down the burn with water, she still felt like she'd been shocked.
Olivia's breathing stalled, and her mind turned to mush, unable to speak.
Seeing her spacing out, Andrew couldn't help but curl his finger and flick some water droplets onto her face, "Still daydreaming?"
Olivia shuddered and finally snapped back to reality, quickly shaking her head and saying, "This time... how about you punish me by making me eat more?"
Hearing this answer, Andrew couldn't help but chuckle softly, "You're quite good at picking the easy way out!"
His deep, rich voice was particularly pleasant to hear.
But Olivia didn't dare think too much about it at the moment. After all, he'd caught her off guard by proposing punishment, and she had no idea how to respond.
Andrew hadn't really meant to make things difficult for her. He continued asking, "You have low blood sugar. What do you do when you don't eat?"
Olivia answered honestly, "I eat candy, or sometimes I'll have some pastries to tide me over. It's not like I eat nothing at all. I'm a normal adult—how could I let myself go hungry?"
Andrew felt her words made some sense, but still reminded her, "Your health is key to career success. Only with good condition will you have the energy to do better research.
Severe low blood sugar can lead to dangerous situations like fainting.
It's fine if someone's around when it happens.
But if there's no one there sometime, the consequences would be unthinkable.
So, I hope you can eat properly from now on, even if it's just for Bianca's sake. Don't joke around with your health—she's very worried about you."
Olivia had rarely been lectured like this in her life.
But this feeling—she didn't resist it at all. She obediently nodded and said, "I understand. I'll definitely, definitely pay attention next time!"
Seeing her so cooperative, Andrew said nothing more. The bathroom was filled only with the sound of trickling water.
After a while, seeing the color on the back of Olivia's hand fade, Andrew turned off the faucet.
Looking at the still-obvious burn mark, he said to Olivia, "You need to apply some medicine."
Olivia nodded, "I know. I have medicine in my office. I'll go apply it now."
Andrew nodded, watching her go into the office and apply the medicine.
Briar, holding Bianca, had watched the whole thing from the side.
She finally understood why Bianca called Andrew "daddy."
She'd worked for the Johnson family for so many years, and Olivia had cooked for Michael many times.
Of course, there had been times when she got burned.
But Michael had always turned a blind eye, let alone care about whether she was hurt, whether she'd eaten, or whether she'd applied medicine—such trivial matters.
A few minutes later, after Olivia finished applying the medicine, she went with them to eat.
The food was kept warm, and when they took it out, Olivia was surprised to find there were two portions.
She couldn't help but look at Andrew, "Mr. Hamilton, you haven't eaten either?"
Andrew nodded, saying, "I was waiting for you."
Olivia hadn't thought much of it at first, but hearing this answer, she felt embarrassed.
She quickly said to Andrew, "You don't need to wait for me next time. You can eat first."
Andrew chuckled softly and teased, "So you know it's not good now?"
Olivia felt a bit awkward.
She did know now!
Not daring to say anything more, she quickly took out the food and ate with Andrew.
Half an hour later, they finished eating, and Andrew drove the mother and daughter home.
When getting out of the car, Bianca reluctantly hugged Andrew's leg and asked pitifully, "Daddy, aren't you coming home to sleep tonight either?"
Andrew nodded, "Yeah, I have to work."
Bianca's little face was full of disappointment.
Olivia was about to find an excuse to comfort Bianca.
At that moment, Andrew suddenly leaned close to Bianca's ear and said something to her.
Bianca's expression instantly changed, her eyes lit up, and she immediately nodded her little head, saying, "I know! Then, daddy, be careful on the road!"
Olivia watched with amazement.
She looked at Andrew and asked curiously, "What did you say to Bianca that was so effective?"
Andrew smiled lightly, saying, "That's a secret between Bianca and me."
Bianca also nodded, "Yeah, yeah, a secret!"
Olivia looked at the two of them being so in sync and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Sweet, obedient Bianca actually had a little secret behind her back.
But she didn't press further.
After Andrew coaxed her like this, she didn't have to worry about Bianca making a fuss.
The mother and daughter said goodbye to Andrew and soon went upstairs.
That night, Olivia noticed that before bed, Bianca was noticeably excited, as if anticipating something good.
She found it both funny and puzzling.
This reaction seemed to be Andrew's doing.
What on earth did they talk about?
But Bianca refused to reveal anything.
Two more days passed like this, and it was the fifteenth.
That afternoon, Evelyn suddenly came to find Olivia, asking her to accompany her somewhere.
Olivia was quite puzzled, "Where to?"
Evelyn wouldn't say, only telling her, "You'll know when you get there. Hurry up, it's important!"
Olivia rarely heard her talk about anything major. Hearing her say this, she didn't refuse, left work early, and went out with Evelyn.
As it turned out, she was taken directly to Emerald City's largest hotel.
Before Olivia's mind could process what was happening, Evelyn pushed her to change into a formal dress and had a makeup artist come do her hair and makeup.
"Are we going to walk a red carpet or something?" She looked at Evelyn in confusion.
Although Evelyn had also changed clothes, compared to Olivia, she was just wearing an ordinary dress, not nearly as eye-catching as Olivia.
Evelyn said with a smile, "Actually, yes, and you're tonight's star!"
Olivia was baffled.
"Let's go, it's time for you to make your entrance!" Evelyn directly took her hand.
Olivia could only follow her.
Until she was brought to the banquet hall and saw the room full of familiar faces and guests, as well as the magnificent decorations, Olivia finally remembered.
Today was her birthday!
She'd been so busy lately that she'd actually forgotten!
But this scene looked way too grand.
"Mommy, surprise!" Bianca suddenly ran out and hugged her leg.
Bianca was wearing a beautiful purple dress tonight, with an elaborate and adorable hairstyle, looking incredibly cute.
Looking at the soft little bundle, Olivia's heart melted. She picked her up and kissed her little face, "Thank you, baby."
At that moment, Rodolfo, Vaughn, and Victoria also appeared.
Seeing them all there, Olivia smiled happily and asked, "Dad, Mom, when did you get here? You didn't even tell me."
Vaughn said with a smile, "We arrived last night. Your mom's been thinking about you, wanting to give you a proper birthday. We happened to hear from Mr. McCoy that he was planning something, so we waited until today."
Hearing this, Olivia was very surprised, "You arrived last night? Where did you stay?"
Evelyn laughed, "Hehe, at my place, of course!"
Victoria also said with a smile, "Evelyn even picked us up from the airport."
Olivia finally understood what was going on and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
This whole group had secretly pulled off something big behind her back!
Most importantly, there were many guests at the venue.
If Olivia wasn't mistaken, in the distance were Beatrix with her grandfather, and Nathan.
Looking further to the side, there were some famous big names in the medical field whom Olivia had met with Rodolfo before.
Looking even further, standing over there was actually a group of business tycoons.
Olivia was incredibly shocked.
Oh my God, was this really just her birthday party?
What kind of amazing setup was this?
Rodolfo then stepped forward and said to Olivia, "Olivia, why are you standing there? There are quite a few guests tonight—don't neglect them."
Only then did Olivia pull herself together and nodded, "Got it."
She now understood that this was specially arranged by Rodolfo.
Olivia was very touched and thought that tonight she must perform well and not embarrass Rodolfo.
Olivia walked in slowly with them.
Today's birthday party wasn't open to the public.
Apart from invited guests, there were only hotel staff at the venue.
However, at this moment, an unexpected live broadcast began on the internet.
The camera was focused on this birthday party.
The person who started the broadcast was a reporter.
People familiar with media circles had heard of this person.
He was quite famous in the industry, but notorious in a bad way.
This person specialized in digging up dirt on people and reporting bizarre incidents, always using extremely inflammatory language.
From celebrities to internet influencers, and various social events—he'd offended countless people.
Every day, fans from various groups would flood his comment section to curse at him.
But this person didn't care at all. On the contrary, being cursed at brought him massive traffic, which made him quite pleased with himself.
Tonight, the live broadcast he started had an even more direct and bold title: #Taking you to witness corruption among big shots live!