Evelyn was allergic to almonds, so whenever she ate out, she always had to remind the restaurant. It was rare for her to have a meal without needing to bring it up.
She felt a little suspicious about the absence of almonds in the dishes tonight, but then she thought it was probably Maria who had taken care of it.
She ate a few more bites, then set her cutlery down. Lucas clearly wasn't hungry either. He looked up at her and said, "Grandma arranged a suite on the floor below."
After a brief pause, he added, "The night view here is really quite beautiful."
Evelyn understood that Maria wanted them to have a pleasant evening together. She instinctively looked around.
There was only a violinist playing in the corner to set the mood and a few servers who were barely visible inside the restaurant.
It felt like a crowded environment, with too many eyes and too many people for a private conversation.
"I'm done eating. I'll go ahead." Evelyn stood up. This wasn't the place to talk about the ring, and she didn't want the conversation to accidentally reach Maria's ears.
Lucas didn't stop her. He took a cigarette from his pack and looked at her deeply. "Alright. It's a bit chilly outside. Go ahead."
Without hesitation, Evelyn turned and left. She felt no attachment to the romance created with piles of money.
The suite, hundreds of square feet in size, greeted her with a path of rose petals from the door, leading all the way to the living room. She glanced toward the bedroom, where she could faintly see the large bed also covered in rose petals.
The lights, the wine—everything screamed Valentine's Day. But Evelyn didn't even spare it a second glance. She felt nothing.
She walked straight to the living room, brushed aside some petals, and sat on the couch.
The suite offered more privacy, and Maria's ears couldn't reach this far.
She checked the time, noting that it was just past 8:00 pm. Tonight, she would lay everything out with Lucas.
In the divorce agreement she had given him, she hadn't asked for anything. If Lucas insisted on not returning the Reed family's ring, she would request that the agreement be amended to include a clause about returning it.
Even if it meant going to court, she would fight for it.
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