Oliver dallied under Maureen's dormitory, and had missed the time to pick up Bianca.
Bianca tried calling, but wasn't able to get through, she had no idea what her older brother was busy with.
She had waited by the school gate for a long time, and the girls from her class who were eager to meet her handsome brother had also dispersed.
Bianca wasn't too pleased inside but didn't show it.
She called their chauffeur at home to come and pick her up.
When Bianca arrived home, she saw Chris going upstairs.
Remembering that Chris had bought her a gift, she decided to take the initiative to ease the somewhat strained relationship between the two in recent days.
"Chris, when did you get back?"
Chris turned his head heavily with worries as he climbed the stairs.
He did not pay any attention to what Bianca was asking and simply replied "Oh" before heading back to his room.
Maureen was not home, and he had absolutely no appetite for dinner. Bianca:
" Bianca frowned; she did not like this feeling of being ignored at all.
She changed her shoes and came in.
The nanny walked in from the yard, carrying a package as tall as a person with great difficulty, and asked,
"Miss, this parcel was sent from the store, did you order it?
" Bianca looked back, her gaze falling on the box, her face brightened instantly.
Tiptoeing in her slippers, she went over and smiled,
"It should be Chris's birthday present for me."
"You're getting presents so early?"
The nanny replied in shock, placing the package on the ground gingerly as she was afraid it might contain breakable items. Bianca chuckled.
Considering Chris's absent-minded and dismissive attitude just now, he was probably trying to surprise her.
"Could you help me open this?"
"Sure."
The nanny went to fetch scissors.
The package was opened quickly. Upon seeing a fluffy tip peeking out from the package, Bianca couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
It was soft, she liked it. However, before the nanny could finish opening the package, she paused and commented,
"Miss, it seems like the recipient isn't you."
Bianca frowned, she pulled the package slip over to take a look
. The moment her eyes fell onto the name "Maureen," she stiffened.
Chris also heard the commotion downstairs from the second floor and hurriedly came down in his slippers.
Seeing that the gift wrapped by the department store had been opened by the nanny, he suddenly lost his temper:
"Who allowed you to rummage through my things?"
The nanny awkwardly shifted to one side.
Only then did Bianca realize that she had made a huge blunder.
She stood up, her face very unpleasant, not knowing whether to feel embarrassed or to be angry.
She steadied herself, and asked:
"It's Maureen's things, how did it end up being delivered to our house?
Shouldn't it have been delivered to the school?"
Chris, who usually didn't pay much attention to details, didn't notice the expression on Bianca's face. He said:
"Isn't Maureen still angry? So I bought it for her."
Before Bianca could react, Chris hurriedly dragged the gift upstairs.
Both Bianca and the nanny found it unbelievable that Chris had bought a gift for Maureen.
The nanny wanted to say something but hesitated.
She glanced at Bianca, dared not say that it was Bianca who had asked her to open it, so she took the blame.
She wiped her hands, lowered her head, and quickly walked into the kitchen.
There was the sound of car brakes outside.
Bianca steadied herself, looked out toward the villa gate, and saw Oliver, getting out of the car.
Bianca plopped down onto the sofa and didn't go out to greet him.
Her eyes were already slightly red.
Oliver, came in from the door, changed shoes at the entrance, and saw Bianca sitting on the sofa with her back facing him, hugging a pillow without saying a word.
If it had been any other day, he would have surely noticed that Bianca was angry, or felt wronged, and he would have approached her with caring inquiries.
However, today, on one hand, Oliver was in turmoil, not knowing how to resolve the situation with Maureen.
On the other hand, he couldn't help but ponder over more details on his way back - they were all trivial matters, such as when Bianca and Maureen both tripped over at the same time, he always rushed to aid Bianca first.
His devotion to Bianca was noted by everyone, and he thought nothing of it. …
Yet, for Maureen, would this perhaps be the straw that breaks the camel's back, leading her to lose complete faith in the Smith family?
Should his favoritism go unnoticed it would be bearable, but once revealed, it would make things awkward.
Maureen, who had already decided to sever ties with her family, seemed to sit across the couch, watching him.
Moreover, Oliver presumed that nothing significant had happened to Bianca and it was probably just him forgetting to pick her up that upset her slightly.
However, the currently drained Oliver didn't have the energy to comfort her.
He hesitated for a moment, unfastened his tie, and headed straight upstairs.
Bianca, sitting on the couch, waited for quite a while, until she heard steps behind her.
Her eyes were even redder.
However, to her surprise, the footsteps turned and went straight upstairs.
She turned around in shock, only to see half of Oliver's retreating figure as he ascended the stairs.
Bianca immediately stood up, unable to comprehend the scene before her eyes.