Chapter 56
After dinner, Darren mentioned needing to pick up smaterials from the academic building. and that’s when
we split from Hogan and Cecilia.
Strolling through N University’s campus, | suddenly felt like those once intimidating places weren't so scary after
all.
What caughtoff guard, though, was that Darren didn’t actually taketo the academic building; instead, he
walkedall the way to the back gate of the school.
| genuinely thanked him, “Darren, thank you so much.”
“It’s no sweat,” Darren replied briskly before asking. “So, that stir-fried pork, you really dig it?”
| nodded, saying, “Even though it’s a bit spicy, it’s pretty addictive.”
I never used to touch that stuff.
Darren’s lips curled into a smile, his eyes twinkling, “See, Xaviera, trying a new flavor can bring a whole new
experience.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
Thanks to him, | discovered the deliciousness of stir-fried pork.
The next day at work, | immediately suggested to Wallis that she should give this dish a go.
Wallis frowned upon hearing it and said with a pinched voice, “Pigs are so cute, how could your eat their meat?”
Right after she finished speaking, Cecilia cover with her laptop.
“Xaviera, | wrote a bit of code last night, but it's not passing the tests. Could you helptake a look?”
| nodded and took the laptop from her.
It was a simple piece of backend code for a game, the kind you'd find in textbooks. After a quick glance, |
pointed out the problem.
Cecilia laughed in relief, ran the tests in front of me, but then didn’t immediately grab the laptop back.
| casually glanced at the screen saver and saw a cozy photo of Hogan and Cecilia.
Cecilia was leaning in front of Hogan, flashing a peace sign at the camera, while Hogan stood behind her with a
gentle smile.
“Xaviera,” Cecilia caught my eye and said with a grin, “You think this pic is quite atmospheric too, right?”
Cecilia's bragging was plain as day, even a bit provocative.
She was still so young, unable to hide her feelings.
Looking closely at the photo, | saw that it was obviously taken at N University’s campus, meaning yesterday,
after splitting up with us. Hogan took Cecilia for a spin around their almal
mater.
All out in the open.
Not like back when | had to coax Hogan for ages to change his phone’s wallpaper to our hand-holding pic, only
to be coldly rejected.
| didn’t even dare dream of a couple’s photo.
Cecilia had the goods to show off.
“They go well together,” | said nonchalantly. “A filter could give it more texture.”
“Really?” Cecilia stumbled over her words, barely managing a smile, “I'll give it a try later.”
After that, she left with her laptop.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
Out of the blue, Hilary calledin the afternoon.
“Xaviera, I've got a gathering this weekend, could you helppick out a couple of nice dresses?”
| knew Hilary's tastes well; her biggest hobby was shopping, and thanks to her, I'd been dragged to the mall
more times than | could count, so saying | was always on call wasn’t an exaggeration.
But times had changed.
| gently excused myself. “I've still got work on my hands, maybe you could take Ms. Irwin with
you.”
A mother-in-law and taughter-in-law shopping together would surely be more fitting than me.
“I don’t want to,” Hilary was always straightforward, “Just getting a headache thinking about her timid ways.”
| was a bit at a loss for words and then heard Hilary’s tic complaints from the other end, “Xaviera, be
honest with me, do you findtoo naggy?”
As if she was the most aggrieved party.
| pinched the bridge of my nose and compromised, “How about after work then?”