After listening to Gladys, Janice thought that it was ridiculous. "How can this be an apology? She’s obviously taking advantage of her seniority."

However, since they were here, it was not appropriate for her to drive them out.

Besides, they were in a seven-star hotel.

She glanced at Christopher beside her.

Christopher nodded his head in agreement.

Since Christopher was silent, Janice said, "Since you’re here, take a seat."

Gladys quickly dragged Vanessa and sat down.

When everyone was seated, the waiter handed over the menu.

He gave everyone a menu. Janice refused to look at the menu because it was too expensive so she passed the menu to Christopher.

Christopher didn’t bother to look at the menu. He gazed at Malcolm.

Malcolm said, "You can order whatever you like."

In the end, Gladys and Vanessa had to do the ordering.

Gladys was overjoyed, but she couldn’t help but gasped when she saw the prices.

"Oh my god, the food is so expensive here. Did Janice do this on purpose? Why did they choose such an expensive place?"

Initially, she didn’t want to come along but she changed her mind when she heard that they were meeting in this hotel.

But she didn’t expect this place to be even more expensive than what she had imagined.

No way, the Gladwells was a middle-class family. Besides, Christopher was poor. He did not deserve to dine in such a high-end place.

Gladys closed the menu and put away the menu for Vanessa and Malcolm as well.

Vanessa was drooling while she looked at the menu but it was snatched away by Gladys in a sudden. Confused, she asked, "Mom, what are you doing? I haven’t ordered yet."

Gladys said, "What order? The dishes here are expensive and not delicious."

Vanessa pouted. "You sound like you’ve tasted the food here."

Gladys said, "How dare you talk back at me? You little girl..."

"Well, it’s just a meal. How much can it cost? Don’t you think your actions are laughable?"

Malcolm couldn’t stand Gladys anymore.

Gladys didn’t care about her reputation and said, "What would I be afraid of? Our money doesn’t grow on trees."

As she spoke, she glanced at Janice, who was sitting opposite her, and sneered. "Janice, did you do this on purpose? Your dad’s company has only recovered not long ago. Can’t you wait before taking advantage of him again? Why are you young people behaving like this? It’s okay if you’re poor but how can you do this? You’re always trying to profit from other people’s hard work. Seriously?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Janice was really mad when she heard Gladys. "What are you talking about? When did I take advantage of Dad? What’s wrong if we want to treat him a good meal?"

Gladys paused when she heard Janice.

"You... You’re paying for the meal?"

"What do you think? Who else would it be?"

Janice was furious.

Gladys was a little embarrassed. She thought it was Malcolm who was going to pay for the meal.

But she wondered.

Where did Janice get the money? Did she win the lottery?

But, she didn’t have to pay the bill anyway, so why should she care so much?

She quickly broke into a smile and said.

"It’s all a misunderstanding. Since you can earn money, we should spend it. Come on, Vanessa. Let’s order."

As Gladys spoke, she quickly returned the menu to Vanessa.

Soon, the mother and daughter duo completed the ordering.

Janice was about to explode in anger. How could Vanessa and Gladys do that? They ordered all the extravagant dishes just because they were not paying the bill.

...

Janice did a rough estimation, the meal would cost a couple of grand.

If she knew that the mother and daughter duo would come, she would have asked Christopher to change the hotel.

She felt a warm sensation on her hand just as she was about to explode in anger. She was startled and turned around, only to find that Christopher was holding her hands firmly.

His warm and rough hands grasped her hands tightly and it gave her a strange sensation.

She raised her head and looked at Christopher. She met his warm gaze. For some reason, she felt a sense of peace and comfort.

She felt more and more sorry for Christopher.

Christopher seemed to have seen through her thoughts and his grip tightened.

Janice felt much calmer than before.

Vanessa spotted their interactions.

In fact, she had been paying attention to Christopher’s actions. Initially, she didn’t want to come along, but she changed her mind when she heard that Christopher was here.

After all, he was too handsome and she couldn’t forget him once she saw him.

Janice felt Vanessa’s gaze and raised her head. She caught sight of Vanessa looking at them as she had no time to look away.

Janice seemed to have noticed something, so she quickly gripped Christopher’s hand tight in purpose.

Vanessa was disdained by her actions.

Tsk!

"Is she trying to show off?" Vanessa thought.

She scorned and turned her head away from them.

Janice was smiling victoriously until she met Christopher’s eyes. Startled, she blushed and let go of his hands when she thought of her childish actions.

Christopher chuckled. "Looks like she cares about me. At least she shows off our relationship."

The dishes were served in no time. It was a seven-star hotel after all.

"Dad, this is the first time we dine together in a hotel after Christopher and I got married. Let’s celebrate with a toast."

Janice and Christopher raised their wine glasses.

Malcolm was overjoyed. He was happy that Janice found herself a husband. Even though Christopher was poor, but he was nice to Janice.

Even though he had divorced Janice’s mother, Janice was still his child.

"Come on, let’s raise our glasses together for a toast."

Malcolm cheered.

Gladys and Vanessa proceeded to copy his actions.

Even though Janice was reluctant, she still clinked her glass with them. However, just as she was about to drink up the wine, Christopher stopped her.

Janice looked at him in confusion.

Christopher whispered in her ear.

"I’ll drink it for you. Don’t get drunk again."

He took her wine and gulped it down without waiting for her response.

Vanessa was looking at them and felt even more upset when she saw their intimate behavior.

How could Janice meet such a handsome man? She wasn’t as lucky even though she was popular in school.

Vanessa thought she was way better than Janice. She had better grades and status compared to Janice. She even thought that she was much more beautiful than Janice.

Why should she fall behind Janice in terms of men?

She was unwilling to accept this fact. Suddenly an idea popped in her mind and she said," Janice, how long have you dated Christopher? I haven’t heard you talking about him at all. I know that you have had a boyfriend since you were in college. Since when did you break up with him?"