Olivia glanced with displeasure at the streamers and other influencers visiting the shop, snorting coldly, “If you keep bothering Miss Andrews, be careful, you might get banned!”
These small-time influencers were easy to deal with. They would do anything for money, even filming random passersby. A little digging would easily uncover their scandals.
It was effortless to stand up for Sylvia and Alex.
After giving them a cold look, Olivia went upstairs.
The three women sat down at their table. Alex was still in Carley’s arms. Carley gently handed him children’s utensils, “Baby, what do you want to eat? I’ll grill it for you. Pork belly or beef?”
“I want pork belly.” Alex glanced at the plates filled with various marinated pork belly, beef, and seafood in front of him.
His appetite was piqued.
He was never a picky eater, so he welcomed everything.
After a while, when the baby chair was brought over, he sat in it, his big eyes staring at the sizzling grilled meat.
“Such a good and cute baby,” Carley said, her heart melting at Alex’s adorable face.
Sylvia didn’t need to do much; Carley busily grilled meat and shrimp for Alex.
“You should just find a boyfriend, get married, and have kids. That way, you won’t envy other people’s babies,” Olivia said, finding Alex cute but not to Carley’s exaggerated extent.
Alex gnawed on the meat, occasionally letting out low growls of frustration when he couldn’t bite through it. Sylvia smiled at this cute scene, took his small bowl, and used a fork and chopsticks to cut the meat into smaller pieces before giving it back to him.
They were happily eating grilled meat, unaware that Sylvia had already become a trending topic online.
Although some media accounts had blurred Alex’s face, an unscrupulous streamer had shown his face during a live broadcast. So, some netizens were spreading Alex’s photos wildly.
Sylvia frowned as she opened her phone to see these strange trending topics.
She was a bit annoyed, “Netizens these days really have too much time on their hands.”
She was about to ask Alby to remove Alex’s trending topic when she refreshed the page and saw that it had already been removed.
Only her trending topic remained. She didn’t need to clear hers since a bit of publicity would only benefit the Princess Sharon project. After all, her relatives and friends were the investors.
As she thought about this, her phone rang. It was Franklin calling.
She raised an eyebrow and answered, “Hello.”
“I took care of the trending topic and warned the platform. From now on, no mentioning anything about the child,” Franklin’s cool, raspy voice came through, giving her a sense of security.
Sylvia’s clear eyes softened, “I know. I’m having barbecue with the kids right now. Do you want to join us?”
Franklin chuckled softly, “No need. We can have hot pot together tonight. Invite Evie and let her bring Jaime so the two kids can meet.”
“Okay.” Sylvia agreed softly and hung up the phone.
“Was that godfather?” Alex looked up at Sylvia, his small bowl filled with freshly peeled shrimp from Carley.
His little hand held a spoon, his white, chubby fingers looking incredibly cute.
“He worries about us, so he called to check,” Sylvia said lovingly as she caressed his cheek. “Alright, eat your shrimp.”
“Showing off your love! Mr. Maskelyne is so sweet to you,” Carley teased as she put a piece of beef into her mouth. “He took care of the trending topic for you.”
“Such an enviable couple!” Olivia laughed too, her slender eyes full of charm.
Sylvia raised an eyebrow, “You two dare to tease me now?”
“Not at all,” Carley quickly drank some water. “I wouldn’t dare!”
Olivia started peeling a lobster for Alex. “Here, I’ll peel an Australian lobster for you.”
They skillfully changed the topic.
Sylvia said nothing more and began arranging dinner with Evie for the evening.
Evie was making crafts for Jaime’s kindergarten. “Sure, no problem.”
She couldn’t help but complain, “I don’t know if these crafts are assigned to parents or kids. It’s torture for me.”
Jasper took over the craft materials and started working on them seriously. “Let me do it.”
Evie finally had time to chat with Sylvia. “Sylvia, did you really adopt this child?”
“Alex and Jaime are both unfortunate kids. My living environment is better,” Sylvia replied calmly. “We’ll talk more tonight. I’m still having lunch.”
“Alright. See you tonight.” Evie sensibly ended the call.
During lunch, Sylvia discreetly checked the protective spell on Olivia under the table. The spell she had cast was still intact.
Last time Bryce tried to cast a binding spell on Olivia but was backfired and injured without breaking the protection spell.
Even so, Sylvia reinforced the spell again.
Olivia appeared to be the beloved daughter of the Hogan family. Her parents doted on her immensely. But she lived in a wolf’s den with two brothers eyeing her.
“Olivia, have you regained any memories recently? Remember anything?” Carley asked curiously after putting down her chopsticks. “You really can’t remember anything?”
Olivia shook her head. “No. I feel quite good like this. For some reason, I feel much lighter and happier now.”
Her phoenix eyes showed confusion. “My parents said I used to be different from now.”
“More than different! You used to be very quiet. Not like now-free-spirited and carefree. I love the current you! It’s okay if you can’t remember. As long as you’re happy!” Carley poured tea for everyone.
“Thank you, Auntie,” Alex said politely, making Carley giggle. “Oh my! So polite at such a young age. What a good boy.”
The two girls then presented their prepared gifts to Alex. “Here, take these as meeting gifts.”
Alex put down his spoon and opened the gift boxes to find two jade bracelets and necklaces inside.
They glowed with a captivating luster under the light.
“So extravagant!” Sylvia recognized the high-quality jade immediately.
“Alex is our treasure; we can’t give anything less,” Carley said shyly. “So Olivia and I chose jade.”
Olivia nodded. “We thought jade suited Alex’s temperament.”
“Thank you,” Alex said as he stood up from his baby chair and kissed Carley on the cheek before doing the same to Olivia.
“Oh my! When you grow up, you’ll be irresistible!” Carley exclaimed joyfully after being kissed by the soft baby.
She hugged him tightly.
“You guys…” Sylvia laughed helplessly.
After lunch, the two girls returned to Kaur Group’s office.
Sylvia took Alex to the park since it was springtime with flowers blooming everywhere.
The park was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, with peach blossoms in full bloom stretching endlessly.
As evening approached, Alex fell asleep in his car seat from exhaustion.
Sylvia sat quietly in the car with him.
His even breathing and chubby little face brought her peace she had never experienced before-even though he wasn’t her biological child.
She sighed deeply and looked down at her flat stomach.
She wondered when she would be able to conceive a child of her own.
It was said that raising a child could attract another child into the family; many infertile couples conceived after adopting a child.
She didn’t know if it was true or not.
The sunset bathed the park in golden light as twilight spread across the sky.
The car remained parked quietly until Evie called her. “Sylvia, are you at the hot pot restaurant? I’m about to leave.”
“I’m heading there now. I’m in the park about ten kilometers away; it won’t take long.” Sylvia started the car and set the GPS for the restaurant.
“Alright, see you soon.” Evie hung up.
The car drove steadily on the road as Sylvia focused on driving.
It was rush hour with heavy traffic and many red lights causing frequent stops and starts.
As they neared the hot pot restaurant, Alex slowly opened his eyes. “Godmother…”
“You’re awake?”
Sylvia glanced at him in the rearview mirror when suddenly! She slammed on the brakes!