At that moment, Arabella shot Alberto a glance, her expression practically shouting: Granny likes it, she thinks youâre really thoughtful.
Alberto grinned, clearly pleased.
âIâm going to go grab the cake, you guys chat,â Arabella washed her hands and took the cake out of the box.
The cake was adorable, a smiling granny surrounded by a ring of peaches with various fruits as decorations, and the words âLongevity and Healthâ were written on top.
Alberto had started making that before dawn, under the guidance of a few pastry chefs. Though he wasted quite a bit of ingredients, he finally managed to make a decentâlooking cake.
Grace couldnât figure out who made it. She laughed and asked, âBella, did you make this? Itâs so pretty!â
She knew that her granddaughter was a whizz at baking.
However, Arabella gave a little smile, âI didnât make it this time.â
She couldnât pull off something this professional. The cake was filled with Albertoâs feelings for Grace.
âDid you light the candles?â
Arabella placed a â70â candle on the cake, to which Alberto quickly replied, âLet me do it! I have a lighter.â Seeing him pull out a lighter from his pocket, Grace looked surprised, âI didnât think you smoked?â
âRight.â
Because Grace once mentioned she disliked the smell of smoke, Alberto hadnât touched a cigarette in decades. He lied calmly, âBella asked me to get it from downstairs.â
Grace glanced at the brand of the lighter. It wasnât something he could buy at a regular convenience store.
Catching her look, Alberto quickly added, âBut I was afraid they wouldnât have it downstairs, so I borrowed one from one of my guys.â That cleared up the air, Grace put her doubts aside.
Arabella knew that this lighter was specially purchased by Alberto, just so he could personally light the candles at this moment.
âIâll pull the curtains.â
In the flickering candlelight, Alberto sneakily glanced at Graceâs radiant face, the face heâd been missing, and finally got a chance to see today.
Back when Graceâs husband was alive, he would see her under the disguise of business dealings, and if luck was on his side, heâd even catch a glimpse of Grace.
But since Graceâs husband passed away, he hadnât seen Grace alone after attending the funeral.
After years of her absence from his sight, Graceâs boneâdeep elegance made her even more womanly.
Tears welled up in Albertoâs eyes. If it wasnât for Bellaâs invitation, heâd have to send his wellâwishes to Grace from far away.
âMake a wish!â After singing the birthday song, Alberto gently prompted her.
Grace closed her eyes to make a wish, then blew out the candles.
Amidst the applause, Grace cut the cake into several pieces.
âYou can only have a little bit,â Arabella reminded her.
âAlright, alright, Iâm already satisfied with just a taste!â Grace took a bite.
âHow does it taste?â Alberto eagerly asked.
âDelicious! Sweet but not cloying, itâs just right.â
âLet me try,â Alberto took a bite, then asked with concern, âHow have you been feeling lately? Any discomfort?â
âIâve been much better; Bella is going to perform surgery on me tomorrow.â
âDonât worry, Bellaâs a great surgeon, youâll blink, and the surgery will already be over.â
âHaha, I sure hope so.â
âGranny, after the surgery tomorrow, youâll be back to full health! Then you can go out more often.â
âThat would be great, Iâve been bedridden for months, Iâm turning moldy.â
feel tired, The three of them chatted and laughed until Grace started to feel tired, and Arabella and Alberto left together.
âIf it wasnât for you today, I wouldnât be able to attend this event, Iâd regret it for the rest of my life,â
Alberto patted Arabellaâs shoulder, saying. âYouâre a good kid, thanks for your encouragement. With this experience, L.can leave this world without regrets.â Alberto laughed, then thought of Attlee and his ilk, his face cooled slightly, âHas that ungrateful son of hers been bothering Grace recently?â
âHeâs been here a few times, but the nurses chased him away. Sometimes they donât notice him, but in the end, Granny always kicks him out of the room.â âI knew that they couldnât keep still. The surgeryâs tomorrow, we canât have any problems.â
âDonât worry, Iâve installed surveillance in the room.â
âHaha, great!â Alberto left the hospital with her, âI must go to Dawnstar to handle some things, then Iâll fly back. I can only rest easy after your grannyâs surgery is successful.â
Arabella knew that he wanted to accompany her granny through the surgery, so she nodded, âI also need to go back to the company to handle some things, see you tomorrow.â
âAlright.â
Arabella got in the car and soon received a call from Dean.
Arabella calmly answered, âAbout ten minutes, how many designers do we have in total now?â
âAbout thirty, but only six of them have won major awards.â
âMhm, set up a special column for these six on the official website, like Mollyâs column representing a certain style, constantly updating with new designs.â
âAlright, no problem!â Dean immediately noted it down, and then said, âSpeaking of Director Molly, a lot of people have been copying her designs recently, Ms. Bennett, do we need to step in?â
Was that even a question?
Arabella dismissively said, âSue them one by one, until theyâre scared. Donât worry about time, or the compensation being too low. In short, we need to let everyone know that anyone who dares to copy the works of any designer under the Collins group will be held legally responsible! They also need to apologize on the official website, we need to go after them until no one dares to copy.â
âRight, Iâm on it!â
âIâm busy tomorrow morning, schedule anything important for today.â
Because she was going to perform surgery on her granny tomorrow morning.
âShould I move tomorrowâs meeting to today? A new company wants to discuss cooperation with us tomorrow morning, should I move that to today too?â
âMhm, alright,â After ending the call, Arabella continued driving.
She was busy at the company all day, spent the evening with Romeo, and handled some personal matters at night.
After busting her ass until 2 am, Arabella had barely hit the sack when her phone started buzzing.
The persistent buzzing sounded especially jarring in the dead of night. Being a light sleeper, Arabella was quickly roused by the noise.