NovelOnline| turned away from the piercing stare of Ryan and caught sight of Nathan, his face frozen in shock. He quickly
threw on his shirt, buttoning it up as he walked over. Nathan asked, “You
have more guests today?”
Ryan's face darkened as he asked, “And who is he?”
| never imagined I'd end up in a situation like that, not even in my wildest dreams. Yet here
it was, playing out like ssoap opera. Both of my backup guys showed up at my place at
the stime.
Both men turned to look atat the exact stime, their gazes locking onto me. | regained my composure
and offered a steady smile. “He’s my subordinate, Ryan.”
Ryan's face went pale, and a wave of grievance washed over his expression. | turned and
gestured toward Nathan. “And this is my friend, Nathan.” Nathan's brow furrowed slightly.
The tension in the room was thick, but I tried to lighten the mood. | reached out, took the
bag from Ryan, and asked, “Did you bring any dishes?”
Ryan's face eased up a little, and he nodded. “Yeah, | brought some. | cover to have
lunch with you.”
| nodded, then turned to Nathan. “Do you have any plans for lunch? If not, maybe you
could...”
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“Nope, nothing else going on. Mind if | just eat here?” Nathan cutoff, picking up on my
not-so-subtle hint.
] gave a couple of awkward laughs. “Lunch is fine, but just so you know, my ex-husband is
bringing my daughter over soon.”
Nathan jumped in quickly. “Perfect timing. | actually have sbusiness matters | need to discuss with Mr.
Holcomb,”
Just then, Yvonne called out from the elevator. “Dad, hurry up.”
In the tense silence, Jared appeared, holding Yvonne's hand. They seemed to be chatting but stopped dead in
their tracks when they saw the scene at the door.
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Chapter 276
Yvonne's eyes widened as she blinked a few times, then she dashed over to me. “Mom, you're home. Awesome!
And look, Ryan's here, too. Oh, and who's this guy? Is he your new boyfriend?”
Yvonne's words made the whole room freeze in awkward silence. | looked over at Nathan, and he was looking
right back at me.
Jared's face was stormy as he walked right up to us, demanding, “Victoria, what's going on here?”
| replied truthfully, “I had a tennis match with Mr. Hallman, and Ryan brought sfood over because he wanted
to have lunch here. Do you want to stay for lunch?”
Yvonne grabbed Jared's finger and shook it. “Dad, didn’t you say you had lunch plans with someone else? Why
don’t you head out instead?”
Jared's voice went cold. “No, | didn’t. I'll eat here.”
Nathan looked Yvonne up and down, then introduced himself, “Hey there, kiddo. I'm not your mom's boyfriend,
just a friend. You can callNathan.”
“Oh, okay.” Yvonne nodded.
Yvonne didn’t seem bothered at all about the whole new boyfriend thing.
Maybe it was because she was used to seeing Sally always trying to set Jared up with new girlfriends back at
home. Yvonne's way of thinking was way more flexible than most kids,
and she seemed pretty chill about us splitting up.
I'd heard that people who were indifferent and distant didn’t get hung up on relationships. They were quick to
accept when things got distant or fell apart.
| was hoping to send at least one of them away, but it looked like all three guys were determined to stick around
and see what | could do in the kitchen. Whatever, | would just let them all stay for lunch.
“Con in and grab a seat, I'll get started on the food,” | said, carrying the ingredients into
the kitchen.
| checked the supplies and, sure enough, everything was fresh. There was even a good amount of seafood.
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Chapter 276
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Ryan cin, shota complicated look, and said, “My housekeeper put all this together. Think this'll be
enough for everyone?”
| nodded. “Yeah, this is more than enough.”
“Is there anything | can help with?” Ryan asked.
“Just wash these fruits and take them out. | don’t need you to do anything else,” | told him. Ryan went to wash
the fruit right away.
| looked through the glass and saw Jared and Nathan out on the balcony. They looked like they were smoking and
talking about something, but I had no idea what.
Before Ryan could finish washing the fruit, Yvonne crunning in and tugged on his finger. “Ryan, | brought my
Legos! You promised you'd helpbuild something. Can you helpmake a little car?”
Ryan, a bit helpless, leaned down and said, “Just wait a few more minutes, letfinish washing the fruit for you
first.”
“Okay, but hurry up,” Yvonne replied, and then dashed over to me. “Mom, I'm so glad | can eat here with you.” |
was peeling vegetables when her words caughtoff guard.
After Yvonne left, Ryan glanced over and sawspacing out. He tried to comfort me, saying, “Your daughter
toldabout you two. She said she wouldn't upset you anymore.”
| turned to look at him, a touch of bitterness in my voice. “What did she say to you?”
AD
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