Chapter 297 Any New Developments
Olivia immediately perked up, her steps toward the table carrying a cheerful bounce.
When she reached the table, she saw a very beautiful watch inside the box.
Last time on her birthday, Andrew had also given her a watch.
However, unlike the three-dimensional starry sky pattern from before, this watch was bolder.
Above the pattern was a cursive English letter—A.
Olivia barely needed to think to know what this letter represented.
It was the first letter of his name.
Next to the box was a greeting card.
Olivia opened it and saw Andrew's strong, powerful handwriting: [A gift to celebrate you joining the research institute. The lab is closed off, and you can't bring your phone, so let this keep you company. This gift is about the sentiment, not the price!]
That last sentence seemed to anticipate that she would refuse it because it was too expensive, so he declared it upfront.
After reading it, Olivia felt like laughing. Her already unsettled heart felt like a stone had been dropped into it.
Ripples spread outward, uncontrollably expanding in circles.
She put down the card and couldn't help bending down to smell the gorgeous, vibrant flowers.
The flowers were beautiful and fragrant. Olivia was in a particularly good mood.
She took out her phone, snapped a photo of the flowers, and sent it to Andrew, saying: [Bianca is playing a treasure hunt game, so I tried looking around my room too.
Surprisingly, there really was treasure.
Thank you, I really like it.]
At that moment, Andrew was sitting in his office at Skyward Corporation. When he saw this message, his eyes lit up with a smile.
He set aside his work and replied: [I'm glad you like it.]
Looking at this sentence, Olivia couldn't help smiling again.
She looked up at the night sky outside. The moon hung high, the sky was cloudless, and stars twinkled on the horizon. Everything felt pleasant.
She thought to herself that coming to Harmony City was really good.
That night, Olivia slept very well, even her dreams had a sweet flavor.
The next day when she got up, Yara had already prepared breakfast.
After Olivia and Bianca finished eating, she took Bianca to the research institute.
Rodolfo was off today, so Olivia thought she'd bring Bianca over to keep him company.
Not having seen each other for a while, Rodolfo really missed Bianca and wouldn't let her go once he held her. "Bianca, I missed you so much! Did you miss me?"
Bianca coaxed him with her sweet little voice, saying, "Of course I missed you too, so much that I couldn't even eat!"
Rodolfo was delighted, saying excitedly, "Really?"
"Really!" Bianca nodded her little head and told Rodolfo, "Now that I've seen you, I'm so happy, I'll definitely be able to eat more today!"
Rodolfo's heart melted from her coaxing. "Well, sweetie, you didn't love me for nothing. Come on, let's go see the gifts I prepared for you!"
"You prepared gifts for me?" Bianca's eyes lit up.
Rodolfo said happily, "Of course! And not just one gift either!"
"Wow! That's great! Let's go look at the gifts now!" Bianca pulled his hand, unable to contain her excitement.
Olivia watched from the side with amusement.
But she didn't join in the fun. Instead, she said to Rodolfo, "Mr. McCoy, I'll leave Bianca with you. I'm going to handle the onboarding procedures."
Rodolfo waved her away, urging, "Go on. I'll take Bianca for a walk in the courtyard later and show those old folks how adorable Bianca is!"
When Bianca was still in Emerald City, Rodolfo couldn't help bragging about her to people every day.
In his spare time, he'd take out his phone and show everyone pictures of Bianca.
Now that Bianca had finally arrived, with such a beautiful child, he naturally had to take her out to show them.
Olivia found it amusing.
With Bianca here, she had completely fallen out of favor with Rodolfo!
However, Olivia didn't delay and soon left.
When she arrived at the research institute and verified her identity, someone was assigned to show her the way.
This place was closed off and heavily secured. Even handling onboarding required multiple layers of verification.
During the process, when everyone heard she was Rodolfo's student, they couldn't help but look at her several more times.
However, everyone's attitude was quite friendly.
After finishing the procedures, Olivia returned to Rodolfo's place.
But when she entered, she didn't see anyone.
Just as Olivia was about to call out, Simon came in from the courtyard, greeting Olivia with a smile, "Ms. Smith, all done with the paperwork?"
Olivia nodded, "Yes, all done. Where are Mr. McCoy and Bianca?"
Simon said with a smile, "Mr. McCoy and Bianca haven't come back yet."
"Looks like they won't be back anytime soon." Olivia was amused again.
She figured Rodolfo probably wouldn't even come back for lunch today, because he could eat out with Bianca and show her off some more.
This was absolutely something Rodolfo would do!
When she was little, he often did this with her.
Since he was so happy, Olivia let them be.
Taking advantage of the free time, she called Evelyn to ask about her situation.
Evelyn had gone to the company to handle onboarding today but hadn't officially taken over yet, just did a tour.
"As for actually starting work, I'll wait a couple more days. I need to take it easy first."
Since it was the family company, Alfonso understood Evelyn's personality. Now that she was there, he wouldn't rush her to start.
Then Evelyn also asked Olivia, "Did your onboarding go smoothly today? Did anyone give you trouble?"
Olivia said with a smile, "With Mr. McCoy here, who would dare give me trouble? Of course it went very smoothly. I'm having lunch at Mr. McCoy's place today. What about you? Want to come over?"
"Never mind." Evelyn shook her head and declined. "You guys finally get to spend time together, I won't intrude. But tonight could work...
Wait, is Mr. Hamilton taking you out tonight?"
Olivia remembered the man said he'd be busy yesterday, so she instinctively replied, "I don't know if he's free."
Evelyn teased with a laugh, "Tell me, did you two make any progress last night?"
Olivia hesitated, but didn't want to hide it from her.
After several seconds, she said, "Sort of?"
Evelyn was a bit confused, "What do you mean 'sort of'? With that atmosphere, that situation, when you met up, shouldn't he have confessed, and then this and that happened?"
Olivia's face burned red and her scalp tingled, "Don't be so dramatic! We didn't get to that point at all!"
After Evelyn had her laugh, she restrained herself a bit and asked, "So what point did you two get to?"
Afraid that if she didn't explain clearly, Evelyn would keep asking, Olivia had to honestly confess and tell her about yesterday's situation.
After hearing it, Evelyn was stunned, "That's it? You call this progress? Just a hug?
No confession, no kiss? What kind of progress is that?"
Olivia replied hesitantly, "Isn't that enough? I think it's pretty good!
Even though there was no confession, it doesn't seem much different from spelling it out!"
Evelyn immediately objected, "There's a huge difference, okay? Without a confession, without clearly saying he likes you, it can only be considered an ambiguous period!
What does Mr. Hamilton mean by this? Is he playing with you?
You've already come to Harmony City, and he's still taking it so slow. Is he bullying you?"
Olivia felt speechless. What was this person going on about?
"Don't talk nonsense! Besides, what he said already made his meaning pretty clear."
Evelyn couldn't help but sigh, "Olivia, that's not how you date. You met that jerk Michael before and never experienced what real dating is like.
Let me tell you clearly now, mutual pursuit isn't like this.
At the very least, he should ease the anxiety in your heart and give you enough confidence.
And making the feelings and relationship clear is necessary!
I know you've always felt uncertain inside. This confidence must come from him. Otherwise, getting together in a confused state—what kind of relationship is that?"
Hearing Evelyn analyze it this way, Olivia thought it made a lot of sense.
She was silent for a long time. Her heart, which had been comforted last night, became unsettled again.
It was then that she suddenly remembered something.
Andrew had a marriage arrangement!
During this time, her days had been too smooth, everything too wonderful, so she'd been too happy and forgotten.
Now, suddenly awakened by Evelyn's words, she remembered the difficulties she currently faced.
That marriage arrangement—she didn't know how Andrew was handling it.
He hadn't told her clearly either.
Had he rejected it? Or not?
Or did he have other plans?
Were his family members making things difficult for him?
Where would he place her in all this?
With so many questions, Olivia's head suddenly became muddled.
She worried that Andrew might not be in a position to tell her all this.
What if it still hadn't been resolved? Then what did it mean for her to move into the house he arranged?
Would she become a homewrecker?
She didn't want that.
"Evelyn, can you help me find out the current status of their marriage arrangement?"
Evelyn was also a bit hesitant about this, "Olivia, you know I just came to Harmony City and have limited connections..."
After all, Harmony City wasn't her territory.
Olivia thought that made sense too.
They knew very few people in Harmony City.
The only one they were familiar with was Benjamin.
But given Benjamin's situation, it was better not to disturb him.
However, Evelyn quickly said, "But don't worry too much. The night after tomorrow, my brother arranged for me to attend a party, and quite a few people from Harmony City's upper circles will be there.
If you want to know, why don't you come with me?
You can keep me company and save me from being nervous!
Before coming here, I heard that the heirs in Harmony City aren't easy to deal with, and they're exclusive too! I'm a bit anxious about it!"
Hearing this, Olivia didn't hesitate too long before agreeing, "Okay, I'll go with you then."