A Love Rekindled

Chapter 39

Caroline did not reply.

I glanced at the time and urged her. "The party is about to begin. Go and have fun."

Caroline rolled her eyes at me. "Do you think that I'll choose a guy over my friend?"

On our way here she had told me about the standards for choosing waiters at Horton Estate. It was almost as strict as the standards held for gigolos. I could only whine at her. "Go! Remember to send photos in our group chat. I want to broaden my mind too."

Caroline did not insist.

That night at 7:00 pm, our work group chat began buzzing with content from the party. I glanced at it briefly before putting my phone aside While I was slipping in and out of sleep, I heard a knock on the door.

It was a waiter from the villa who came over to deliver food to me.

There was soup and a main dish. which was chicken with mushroom sauce.

I was rather surprised and asked, "Who sent you?"

The waiter answered politely, "It was a lady whose last name was Lane."

I lowered my eyes and said nothing.

My phone vibrated continuously on the table.

I opened the chat and saw that there were 200 new messages in our work group chat. I scrolled through them idly, and finally stopped at one of the videos.

After I enlarged it. I saw a scene of our colleagues urging Cindy and Bruce to drink together with their arms entwined In the video, Cindy lifted her glass shyly and looked adoringly at Bruce. She asked, "Bruce, can we?"

In the strobing lights, Bruce's face was hidden in shadow, and I could not see his emotions clearly.

Then, he took Cindy's glass away and whispered something in her ear.

The video was very noisy and I could not hear what the two of them were saying. However, I could tell from Cindy's coy expression that Bruce must have said something to appease her.

"Don't you like the food?" the waiter asked carefully, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I glanced twice at the food in front of me. I thought for two seconds before saying."Can you get me a bottle of red wine? The most expensive kind.” With the help of Romanee-Conti, I slept very well that night.

The next morning, I went with the rest of the team to the organic farm on the estate. We were going to try picking fruit.

There were many different kinds of fruits and vegetables, and the owner was very generous. He said that apart from being able to eat whatever we wanted, everyone was also allowed to take two baskets home.

Caroline pulled me into the strawberry garden.

I tasted one. It was plump, juicy, and tasted amazing.

I decided to bring a basket to my uncle.

Caroline leaned in and asked, “What about the other one?"

I looked at the sly gaze in her eyes and said, "What idea do you have now?"

She patted my shoulder and said, "Professor Irvin has helped us a lot. Maybe we should grab this chance and bribe him." Just as she finished speaking, my phone rang.

It was a call from Douglas.

What a coincidence

"I heard that the temperature dropped in Nalvale yesterday night. Are you all alright?" Douglas asked the moment the call was connected I explained about Horton Estate. Then I heard him ask, "Was it Bruce's idea to go to Horton Estate?”

I murmured an answer, and my eyes swept over Caroline. She pointed to the fruit basket and I immediately understood.” Oh right. We are in the strawberry garden right now, and they're pretty fresh. Should I bring some for you and Lilian?"

There was a sudden silence on the other end.

I thought of Douglas’ status and position. Perhaps he held these things in disdain, so I changed my mind and said, “If you don’t like them..." "I do like them,” he suddenly interrupted. “Thanks for that, old friend."

After the call ended, Caroline raised her eyebrows. "Professor Irvin seems oddly agitated?”

"He has a good temper."

‘I'm not so sure. about that.” Caroline pinched her-chin. She thought for a moment and said, "At the banquet;> there was-a girl who hit on him. He only said a couple of words to her before going off to look for you with dessert." te a

I hadn't noticed that. "You mean Douglas?"

"Yes." Caroline patted my shoulder. "Therefore, you should be more thoughtful when picking strawberries for the professor.” I was about to retort when I saw Bruce and Cindy standing a few steps away.

Cindy looked over with a smile and said, “Are you going to pick some strawberries for Professor Irvin, Nancy?”

They heard everything.

Caroline answered, “You have such good hearing, Ms. Lane. You heard everything from so far away.”

Cindy was not affected. She replied, "Bruce says that the strawberries here are crunchy, and he brought me here to try them. We just passed by unknowingly.”

Caroline put on a smile. "You don't have to take things so seriously, Ms. Lane. I'm just joking.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Cindy stared at the basket of fruit in my handsand sighed. "You're SOL nice to Professor Irvin, Nancy. You re thinking of him even while you're out having fun. If he knew aboutthis, he would be very happy.” Content bélongs to ~

I looked down at the fruit I had just picked and said calmly, "You're right, Ms. Lane. I should have asked Professor Irvin to come too.” After all, these were free. It would be a waste not to eat them

However, Cindy's smile froze.

Caroline spoke again. "That's a good idea. Next time we have team building, let's allow everyone to bring their family.”

Family?

What was she talking about?

That evening, we left Horton Estate loaded with things.

I went to see my uncle with the strawberries.

Uncle JacksorNooked at the fresh and delicious-strawberries. He sighed and Said, ' ‘If only your Aunt -> Tina andour darling Alex were here too. Tina is good with her hands. She Could have made strawberry jan¥for Alex." 4

I comforted him. "Yes, she would have."

He was rushing to get to the night shift for work, so I didn’t stay long. Before going into the subway, he suddenly rushed over and handed me a bag of roasted chestnuts. "Eat them while they're warm."

I didn't think much about it, but when I got onto the subway, I realized that there was something else in the package.

I opened it and saw a few neat rolls of dollar bills.

It wasn't much. It was just 500.

There was a note from Uncle Jackson too. "Nance, I have a job now. Remember to buy yourself something nice to eat.”

I felt a lump in my throat and almost sobbed

500 wouldn't even be able to buy a signature from Bruce.

That was just how unfair life was

In a daze, I missed my stop and only managed to get back to my neighborhood late at night.

However, just as I entered the stairwell, I came across Bruce. He was lighting up a cigarette.

He was only wearing a thin, round-collared sweater. The sleeves were rolled up slightly, exposing a slight section of muscled arm.

When I looked over, he was leaning against the wall and blowing out smoke rings. His brow was slightly wrinkled, and there was a lost look in his dark eyes.

There was a strange sense of decadence about him. He didn't smoke in the past.

When he saw me, his dark eyes looked me up and down. Finally he looked down at the basket of fruit I was carrying, and he said in a low voice. “Have you sent it over?”