Chapter 2178

“Let’s go to the office first.” Jared’s pupils slightly narrowed.

His gaze was so dark that it was impossible to discern his thoughts.

Meanwhile, at the Riddle residence, Nicole had already entered the living room with Nolan and Lana.

“Mom?”

“Grandma!”

The three of them greeted Gloria and plonked themselves on the couch.

“You’re back.” Gloria’s eyes narrowed into a smile. “I thought you would stay until the evening.”

“We came back after having lunch.” Nicole sat down and proceeded to express her concern for Gloria.

“Why are you sitting here instead of resting upstairs?”

“I suddenly felt restless and could not sleep, so I sat here for a while.” Gloria then shot a glance at the window. “Jared brought you back just now, didn’t he? Why did he not come in?”

“He has something to do at work, so he went off to deal with them,” Nicole explained.

“He has something to tend to on a weekend?” Gloria asked, surprised.

Nicole nodded. “There might have been an emergency.”

She had overheard Max receiving an important call earlier. Though she did not know the details, she could sense the subtle solemness in the atmosphere afterward.

Gloria was puzzled. “What sort of unexpected occurrence could the Johnston Group be forced to deal with?”

Moreover, Jared went there personally. Could it be something serious?’ she asked herself.

Hearing that, Nicole’s eyebrows furrowed involuntarily. She also found it strange, and now that she thought about it. Max’s expression at that time seemed somewhat troubled.

Nicole could not understand the feelings brewing within her, but she simply had the urge to help Jared out. “Mom, I’m going to my room.”

“Go ahead, I’ll take care of Nolan and Lana,” Gloria nodded, thinking that Nicole also had something to attend to.

Nicole quickly went upstairs to her room and turned her computer on.

After assessing the system files of the Johnston Group, she became puzzled, as she did not find anything unusual.

‘Everything seems fine, so why did Max’s demeanor feel off? If it’s not because of the ongoing project, could it be a problem with the project they were discussing?’ she wondered.

Suddenly, upon arriving at a realization, Nicole quickly worked on the computer, and retrieved Max’s call records.

Nicole squinted after she had understood the contents, her eyes becoming dark and cold. Questions then began to arise. The project was going to be a success, so what problems did it have? How could a project that had been running smoothly encounter issues that had caused direct financial losses to the other company? How could Max make such a rookie mistake? And how would Jared handle this matter?

The night fell silent, with nary a chirp from the outside. Everyone in the Riddle residence had gone to sleep, but the light in Nicole’s room was still on.

When Jared returned home and saw that glimmer of light, his gloomy expression instantly eased, and his eyes turned gentle. It felt good to know that someone had kept a warm light on for him.

He went upstairs to his room and was somewhat surprised to find Nicole still awake. There, he could not help but ask,” Why are you still up at this hour?”

“I was waiting for you.” Nicole looked up at him and closed the laptop in her hands.

Jared raised an eyebrow the instant he heard that. “What were you busy with?”

Instead of answering the question, Nicole put the laptop away and asked, “How did it go?”

She already had a rough idea of the situation, but she did not know how he planned to resolve it. She had just been trying to find a solution online, hoping to help him in some way, but he had returned before she could make any progress.