Ariel, who was walking at a leisurely pace, slowed down. She furrowed her brows
She wasn’t expecting to overhear Jayson and Matt’s conversation while they were on a smoke break during her
stroll.
As for the baby room Matt had just mentioned….
How each room would be used had already been decided since the first day they moved into their marital home. On the third floor were Jayson’s study, the gym, and a room for Jayson to meet his guests.
Their bedroom, Ariel’s study, and her dressing room were on the second floor.
They had never designated a room as the baby room since the beginning Jayson had never brought up the idea during their three years of marriage.
Jayson wasn’t interested in conceiving a child with Ariel during those three years. He tried to postpone the matter for as long as he could.
Yet, he had torn down the inside of their marital home and renovated the whole place. He even added a baby room to the house now.
Ariel supposed that even a man like Jayson would change after meeting his true love.
She didn’t continue on her stroll. Instead, she calmly turned around and went back into the hotel. She couldn’t be bothered to listen to the rest of Jayson’s answer.
Just as she entered her room, Ariel received a call from Katie asking her what her plan was for her birthday the next day.
Ariel paused briefly. It finally dawned on her that it was her birthday tomorrow.
She gave it some thought but couldn’t decide what to do. In the end, Ariel told Katie she would decide after she was done with everything tomorrow.
The next day, Ariel prepared a hard copy of her findings and analysis summary before leaving her room.
Carlos wasn’t a fan of reading things in digital form.
As she exited the elevator, Ariel saw Janice’s WhatsApp message.
Janice had sent her birthday wishes, adding that she had already picked out a gift. She promised to give it to her once she returned to Eldoria.
Ariel, beaming, stowed her phone and took a step.
Just then, someone exiting the elevator with a luggage accidentally bumped into her arm, having been in their blind spot. Ariel lurched forward, dropping both her bag and the documents she held.
That person immediately apologized to her.
Ariel took no offense. She waved her hand lightly. “It’s alright.”
She crouched down to retrieve her things.
But before she could, someone strode over and helped Ariel pick up her belongings
Zach subconsciously glanced at a particular section of the document after he picked it up. He froze for a moment. Then, Zach knitted his brows.
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Ariel pursed her lips when she saw that it was Zach. She felt slightly annoyed. Then, she quickly yanked the documents and her bag out of his hands.
Zach noticed the way Ariel had reacted to him helping her.
Truthfully, he didn’t realize it was her. Zach came over reflexively when he saw that someone needed help.
He wouldn’t have bothered to lend a hand if he knew it was Ariel.
The frown on his forehead deepened as he took in the disdainful look on Ariel’s face. “Ms. Walker, is this how you thank someone who’s helped you?”
Ariel put away her documents. She had a stony look in her eyes. “Sometimes, one will make others feel troubled if they act overly righteous.”
She didn’t want to waste her time arguing with Zach. Ariel turned around and left.
Zach failed to control his expression. He was visibly irked as he stared at Ariel’s back. He couldn’t understand why Ariel had such a foul temper.
However, he recalled the content he had just seen. The documents had extremely detailed, advanced, and complex
concepts.
“How come Ariel has documents of that level in her possession?” Zach frowned and pondered.
“Mr. Quinton?”
Behind him, Nancy just came out of the elevator. She spotted Zach and walked over to greet him.
Zach snapped out of it. He looked at Nancy and smiled. “Where’s Mr. Larkin?”
Nancy smiled faintly. “He came downstairs first. He’s waiting for me outside now.”
Zach paused briefly. “The two of you are staying together?
Nancy’s brows lifted. She merely smiled without saying anything
Zach felt that he had overstepped his boundaries. He tried to change the topic. “Will you guys be going around the military base to learn new things again today?”
Nancy replied, “Yes. When we return here tonight, we’ll discuss the flight system we’re focusing on for this trip with Mr. Carlos again. It’ll be great if we can generate some new ideas.”
Zach fell silent. For some reason, he thought about the content he had just seen in Ariel’s document earlier.
He glanced at Nancy’s side profile and asked, “Have you come up with any new ideas, Ms. Stanton?”
Chad checked the time as Ariel arrived, then gave her the milkshake he’d picked up for her.
“How does our birthday girl want to celebrate her birthday today? Should I take you out to dinner after we finish everything today?”
There was no way Chad would forget about Ariel’s birthday.
A few years ago, Ariel was working on developing the U.N2 at the research institute. The day they officially announced that they had completed the U.N2 was on Ariel’s birthday.
That day, Carlos had shouted at Chad endlessly, saying how much of an idio
he was, even though he was four
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years older than Ariel. Chad still had a vivid memory of that lay.
Ariel grinned and looked at him. “Have you already forgotten? Mr. Carlos wants to talk to us today. We can eat out some other day.”
low hiss. “That old man can be so heartless at tones. Yet, you still want to become his student. He’s going to make you work like a slave eventually.”
Ariel dropped her gaze and chuckled. She put her documents In her bag. “Whether I celebrate my birthday doesn’t make much difference.”
She was no longer that particular about celebrating her birthdays.
After a short pause, Chad frowned and gazed at her. “Does Jayson know that it’s your birthday today?”
With an indifferent look in her eyes, Ariel shook her head. “We’re already divorced. It doesn’t matter whether he knows about it or not.”
Betty had been the only one to remember her birthday for the past three years. In fact, that first year, Betty even came to their marital home just to celebrate Ariel’s birthday
Jayson was also there, so Ariel felt she could genuinely say she’d had a birthday celebration that year.
After that, Jayson seemed to have forgotten about her birthdays. He had instructed Colton to send Ariel gifts whenever an occasion required him to do it.
Jayson wouldn’t have to worry about a thing as his subordinates would fulfill their tasks dutifully. Naturally, they wouldn’t specifically remind Jayson about these matters either.
Chad scoffed. “I’ll tell my old man about it tonight. We’ll celebrate your birthday for you.”
“Who cares about Jayson and what he does!” Chad grumbled inwardly.
After returning from the military base, Ariel felt somewhat drained. She went back to her room and took a bath.
Upon exiting the bathroom, she discovered a WhatsApp message from Betty, wishing her a happy birthday and mentioning her present was waiting.
Ariel was quite moved. She replied, “Thank you, Grandma.”
Betty replied almost instantly. “Is Jayson with you? He’s celebrating your birthday with you, right?”
Ariel could keep a straight face while typing her response now. “Yeah. You don’t have to worry about that.”
She had responded that way so as not to worry Betty, who might otherwise call Jayson and urge him to meet with Ariel.
As expected, Betty was pleased with Ariel’s answer..
Just as the two of them were done chatting on WhatsApp, Chad came into Ariel’s room with a cake. However, he seemed a bit upset..
Ariel asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
Chad said through gritted teeth, “Look outside your window.”
Ariel glanced over her shoulder. She could see colorful fireworks going off in the air through the window.
Chad grimaced and scoffed. “It’s your birthday today. However, Jayson had spent the afternoon accompanying Nancy on her shopping trip. He even bought her some fireworks.
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“He and the others are lighting the fireworks at the barbecue area downstairs!”
