Chapter 281: Unsuitable

Chapter 281: Unsuitable

Lily pushed open the apartment door, and the warm yellow light from the entryway spilled out to greet her first, followed by the smell of food.

"You're back?" Olivia's voice came from the kitchen, with a light, cheerful lilt. "Go wash your hands. The soup's just heated up, and I made that lamb dish you love."

Lily changed her shoes and walked over. Dinner was already laid out on the table — nothing fancy, but every dish was steaming, giving off that simple, comforting feeling of a home-cooked meal.

"You've been at this all afternoon?" Lily pulled out her chair and sat down, eyeing the spread with a slight frown. "Didn't we say we'd cook together when I got back?"

Olivia sat down across from her and smiled. "I had nothing else to do. Needed to keep myself busy." She ladled a bowl of chicken soup and passed it over. "Drink this first. The chicken turned out really tender today — the bones practically melted."

Lily took the bowl. The aroma of the soup hit her right away. She took a sip, and the warm broth slid down her throat, spreading a gentle heat through her stomach. She glanced up at Olivia, who clearly had no appetite.

Lily didn't say anything right away. She set down the soup bowl, picked up her fork, and slowly chewed a piece of lamb.

After a short silence, she spoke. "About Zola..."

Olivia paused and looked up. There was something complicated in that glance — like a quiet sigh, like the kind of unspoken understanding that passes between people who already know.

"She probably won't stay in that hospital long, will she?" Olivia said, keeping her voice low. "I was thinking about going to see her, but just from the photos I could tell she wasn't doing well. She'd lost so much weight, and her eyes were swollen like walnuts. Didn't you see what people were saying online? Her husband was there with her the whole time, trying not to cry in front of her, sneaking off to the hallway to let it out."

Lily listened in silence, her hand on the table slowly tightening into a fist.

"She'd just given birth, and now all this." Olivia shook her head. "Losing the baby hit her so hard. She'll probably shut everyone out for a while — just lie there in the hospital bed, not eating anything they bring her..."

"She was a sweet little girl," Lily said quietly.

"It's just so heartbreaking..." Olivia's eyelashes trembled.

"When I was there, Zola kept saying she never even got to see what her baby looked like. She kept saying she was sorry, that she felt like she never should have come to Sunrise Hospital."

Lily lifted the bowl and took another sip. The broth was rich and savory, but something bitter crept onto the tip of her tongue.

She set the bowl down and said softly, "Of course she feels that way. She lost her child."

She paused, as if she was carefully choosing her next words.

"Honestly, if it weren't for you and Mrs. Smith..." Lily looked up, her eyes steady and sincere. "Olivia, I might have ended up just like Zola."

The words came out of nowhere. Olivia blinked, then furrowed her brow. She looked at Lily like she wanted to say something back, but in the end she just let out a breath and reached across the table to give Lily's hand a gentle pat.

"Don't say that," Olivia said. Her tone had a hint of mild reproach, but underneath it was the kind of quiet certainty that only comes with years of real friendship. "We're friends. None of that 'what if' stuff. Anyone would've done the same in that situation — and you've been there for me too, haven't you?"

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but Olivia had already pulled her hand back and picked up her utensils again, her voice returning to its usual lightness.

"Alright, alright, stop overthinking things." Olivia said. "And don't worry about Chase — David's taking great care of him. I called him today, and he said Chase has been eating well and sleeping like a log. The little guy's even put on some weight around his belly."

At the mention of Chase, a soft smile finally made its way onto Lily's face.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You know what David's like. He does everything by the book. He's literally writing down what time Chase goes to the bathroom — more punctual than me clocking in at work. Now you two can finally make up!"

Lily couldn't help curving her lips into a smile. That was so David.

The man was almost absurdly meticulous about everything he did, but somehow that very quality made you feel strangely at ease.

Though... Lily had noticed something. She'd noticed it a while ago, especially when it came to Olivia.

They'd known each other for so many years. They could read each other's habits and moods from a single look, a single movement.

Olivia wasn't a big eater on a normal day, but tonight she wasn't really eating — she was just going through the motions.

Lily set down her utensils and looked at Olivia carefully.

"Why are you eating so little?" Lily asked, her voice full of concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

The question caught Olivia off guard. Her fork clinked against the edge of her bowl. She looked up and gave Lily an "it's nothing serious" kind of look. "I think I might be coming down with a cold. My body's been off, so I haven't had much of an appetite."

"Coming down with a cold?" Lily frowned. "What kind of cold gives you a warning?"

Olivia blinked, then laughed. "Not a warning, exactly. It just feels off — my throat's a little tight, and I've got no energy. This always happens to me before I get sick. I start feeling bad about a week before, and then by the time the cold actually hits, it's not even that bad."

She put another piece of meat in her mouth, chewed a couple of times. "Don't make such a big deal out of it. I'll be fine in a couple of days."

Lily watched her, but the crease between her brows only deepened.

Olivia made it sound like nothing. But something had clicked in Lily's mind.

Tight throat. No energy. No appetite.

Lily's gaze drifted down slowly, settling on Olivia's stomach.

A thought leapt into her head — sudden and sharp, so fast it startled even her.

She set down her spoon and leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping without her even realizing it, carrying a kind of quiet seriousness.

"Olivia," Lily said.

"What?" Olivia answered.

"Have you been to the doctor recently?"

"For what?" Olivia asked, a note of confusion in her voice — but the hand that had been idly pushing rice around her bowl went completely still.

Lily didn't answer. She just looked at her steadily, her gaze moving slowly from Olivia's face down to her still-flat stomach, then back up to her eyes.

"I think you might be pregnant."