Chapter 158 Is the Most Powerful Heir of Empire City on a Date
Dennis glanced at Eric's phone - it was indeed a message from Lily.
He suddenly felt irritated.
He couldn't help checking his own phone. His conversation with Lily had stopped at the time he was discharged from the hospital.
He sensed that Lily wanted to keep her distance from him.
Seeing that Lily had become much stronger now, he went along with her wishes and didn't contact her again.
Dennis knew this was the right thing to do, but he knew something had changed.
Dennis's brow showed fatigue. "What do you think?"
"Of course I'm going! Lily's my friend - what's wrong with having a meal together!" Eric replied naturally.
Dennis tapped his fingers on the desk. "Go to The Velvet Vine, put it on my tab."
Eric drew out his words. "Lily's treating me to dinner - what does it mean to put it on your tab? Can't I afford to pay?"
"Just do as I say!"
"You're not going?"
Dennis felt a bit gloomy. "No, she invited you, not me."
Eric stood up and put on his jacket, standing in front of the mirror, checking himself over and over.
Dennis couldn't stand watching. "Are you leaving or not? Stop looking in the mirror!"
Dennis held the documents in his hand, but couldn't read a single word.
Eric coughed. "Really not going? We're all friends - having a meal together is no big deal. Just say you happened to be nearby!"
"Fine, we'll do it your way."
Dennis immediately put down the documents and grabbed his jacket, then also stood in front of the mirror.
Eric was pushed aside and rolled his eyes. "Seriously, what happened back then was the driver's fault - it had nothing to do with you. Just explain it clearly to Lily when the time comes."
Eric had only recently heard Dennis mention the details of that car accident years ago.
Turns out it had nothing to do with Dennis at all.
Dennis straightened his clothes. "You guys, standing in my shoes, think it has nothing to do with me. But what about Lily? She lost her parents!"
Eric fell silent. "That's true!"
The biggest victim of that car accident was Lily!
The Velvet Vine.
Lily got out of the car and walked to the entrance, finding the decor very low-key - it didn't really look like a restaurant.
A server came out. "Ms. Roberts?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Please follow me."
Lily followed the server inside and found the interior decoration quite unique and pretty nice.
Lily arrived at a private room on the second floor. The server brought over some fruit and small pastries.
She had originally said she'd treat them to dinner, but since she wasn't familiar with the area, Eric had recommended this place.
The environment was quite nice.
Lily took out her phone and stood by the window to take a photo.
"Lily, what are you taking a picture of?" Dennis asked.
Lily turned around and saw Dennis walking in as well.
She paused. "The view's nice. When our team does a team-building event, we can come here to eat too."
"Team-building? Sure, just use my name!"
Eric instinctively glanced at Dennis - after all, someone had his back!
The Velvet Vine wasn't a place just anyone could come to.
But with Dennis around, wasn't this basically Lily's backyard?
Lily glanced at Dennis. He was wearing casual clothes, his handsome features carrying a hint of distance.
She took the initiative to explain. "I thought you'd gone back, so I didn't call you."
"It's nothing, Dennis won't mind. I happened to be with him, so we came together. You don't mind, right?"
Lily shook her head. "We're all friends - of course I don't mind."
At that moment, The Velvet Vine's manager came over and stood respectfully beside Dennis. "Mr. Gonzalez, the usual menu?"
Dennis looked at Lily. "What do you want to eat?"
"Just get your usual - I'm sure it'll be good."
Dennis handed the menu back. "Do as she says."
The Velvet Vine manager looked at Lily with surprise. This girl looked unfamiliar - what was her relationship with Dennis?
The manager quickly looked away. "The usual wine as well?"
Dennis refused directly. "No alcohol, bring some juice and soft drinks."
The Velvet Vine manager nodded and carefully left the private room with the menu.
Dennis looked at Lily. "Why did you want to see Eric?"
He understood Lily - she wouldn't invite Eric to dinner for no reason!
Lily paused before saying, "I'm now the captain of the Empire City team."
"Congratulations, Lily! That's great news - definitely worth celebrating with a meal."
Lily nodded. "Right."
Dennis looked at her. "Just that? Nothing else?"
"No, just having a meal. You two are my only friends right now." Lily instinctively didn't mention the investment matter.
Halfway through the meal, Eric took a phone call and went out.
Lily ate the food in her bowl. She sneaked a glance at Dennis and got caught red-handed.
Dennis looked at her calmly. "You wanted to see Eric about something else, right?"
"You saw through me. I actually wanted to talk to Eric about the AI thing. After all, my brother David will probably make a move against Maple Leaf Corporation, so we need to discuss countermeasures in advance."
"Don't worry about that - Eric's not an idiot," Dennis said confidently.
Lily felt a bit guilty and could only lower her head to drink water to cover it up.
"How are you adjusting at school?"
"Pretty good. I've made new friends and have a new life. Just like you said before, college life really is more exciting and rich!"
When talking about school, Lily's face showed a smile.
Dennis suddenly didn't want to hear her talk about these things. He stood up. "I saw you were quite interested in the courtyard earlier - want to take a look around?"
"Sure." Lily couldn't wait to find something to do.
She and Dennis walked down to the small courtyard together, walking side by side but with some distance between them.
Not too far, not too close - just right.
Lily quickened her pace, deliberately putting more distance between them.
Looking at the courtyard, she said, "The environment here is really unique - feels like any random photo would have good composition."
Dennis stood a few steps behind her, slowly introducing the scenery.
Lily walked to the edge of an arched bridge and saw red goldfish swimming back and forth in the small pond below.
"There's moss here; be careful where you step."
Lily had just nodded when her foot slipped.
Dennis reached out and grabbed her wrist. Only then did Lily steady herself, her face flushing. "Thanks."
Dennis quickly let go. "No need to thank me - I was just worried that if you fell in, you'd scare the little goldfish."
"Thanks for the insult!" Lily rubbed her wrist, still feeling that the sharp-tongued Dennis from before was easier to get along with.
The two walked around the courtyard like this and returned to where they started.
Someone came from the corridor, walking straight toward Dennis. "Bro, what are you doing here?"
Lily looked up and saw the young man approaching - he looked very familiar.
She instinctively spoke up. "Are you Mark, the captain of Bubble Buddies Team?"
But why was he calling Dennis "bro"?
When Mark saw Lily, he covered his mouth in surprise. "You-you're that [SweetLemon] streamer?"
But why was she having dinner with Dennis at The Velvet Vine?
Could these two be on a date?
So basically, were these two about to get married?
Lily was very surprised. "You know me?"
"Hard not to!" Mark said. After all, she was his future sister-in-law!