Cullen, Nate, and the others froze montarily when Marco suddenly stood up from his chair.
Cullen noticed the strange expression flickering across Marco's face and leaned forward with concern. "Is everything alright?"
Marco's gaze lingered on Cullen and Niall for a brief mont before he composed himself. "No, it's nothing," he replied, slowly lowering himself back into his seat.
Bonnie hesitated, then attempted to speak. "Marco, I—"
But Marco seed not to register her words. Instead, he turned toward Cecelia with a warm smile. "Are you thirsty, Cecelia? Would you like so water?"
Cecelia nodded eagerly. "Yes."
She bounded over to Marco, took two quick sips from his glass, then scampered back to resu her animated conversation with Sabrina. They had been excitedly discussing the small toy Sabrina had brought along.
After quenching her thirst, Cecelia reached into her pocket and presented Sabrina with a colorful figurine. "I got this when I went to see a movie during New Year's. I want you to have it."
Sabrina's eyes widened with delight as she accepted the unexpected gift. "You went to the movies during New Year's too?"
"Uh-huh!" Cecelia nodded enthusiastically. "My uncle and aunt took . After the movie, we played arcade gas. My aunt is amazing at them! But my uncle and I had to leave early because we had sothing else to do."
"Uncle Leo took to see a movie that morning too," Sabrina said with a hint of wistfulness in her voice. "But he was in a hurry to et his friends afterward, so we went straight ho. I didn't even know they sold figurines there."
A flicker of disappointnt crossed Sabrina's face as she realized what she'd missed out on. Then, hearing about Cecelia's aunt's gaming prowess, she added softly, "My mom is really good at gas too."
"Then next ti, let's bring my aunt and your mom! We can all play together," Cecelia suggested, her face bright with excitent.
As she spoke, she noticed Cullen watching them intently. Sabrina caught his gaze too. "Dad, what is it?"
Cullen's lips curved into a gentle smile. "Nothing, sweetheart. Keep chatting."
"Okay."
After placing their food order, Nate suddenly shifted the conversation. "By the way, Marco, how's your company's partnership with DataPulse progressing? Still going well?"
Marco maintained his composure as he replied, "Pretty good."
Nate raised a curious eyebrow. "Oh? No unexpected issues?"
Niall, who had been deeply engrossed in her book, paused montarily as her fingers hovered over the page she was about to turn.
Having known each other for years, Marco imdiately understood that Nate was tactfully asking whether Veronica had caused any problems or made any mistakes.
He noticed Cullen's gaze shift toward him, clearly interested in his response to the question.
Marco lowered his eyes slightly before answering, "No."
Nate couldn't hide his surprise. "Really? Not even one?"
"Mm."
Niall's lips tightened almost imperceptibly as she turned to the next page of her book.
Cullen silently sipped his tea, his expression unreadable.
Finding the conversation less engaging than expected, Nate soon steered the discussion elsewhere.
Approximately two hours later, after finishing their al, they all exited the restaurant.
Just as they stepped outside, Veronica and Malcolm's group also descended the stairs, preparing to leave.
Back at ho, Veronica imdiately imrsed herself in the materials Malcolm had provided.
The docunts contained comprehensive information about cutting-edge AI developnt initiatives from countries around the world—essentially, everything included was still in conceptual stages and might never materialize into actual products.
She read for hours on end, so absorbed in the material that she lost all track of ti. Night gradually gave way to morning without her even noticing.
It wasn't until the sun had climbed high in the sky that her aunt Poppy gently knocked on her door. "Ver, breakfast is ready."
Veronica responded without looking up from her papers, "Okay, I'll be down soon."
After completing her morning routine of brushing her teeth and taking a quick shower, she reached for her phone and dialed Dario's number.
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