Chapter 266 - A Way Around (2/2)

A corner of his lips twitched when Olivia and Grandma were given the red carpet treatment, a guard dressed in a tux ushering the ladies straight inside the hall.

Oliver grumbled whilst dropping his phone in the bin. ”How could they do that to us? How could they leave us behind?”

”Sweetie, we already skipped the line,” Ava responded through a forced smile on her face. She lightly pushed Oliver, nudging him to crossover the detector so they could move on and start the night.

Inside the hall, chatter and jazz echoed as guests started on a great note as they caught up with familiar faces they haven't seen in a long time because of their packed schedules.

While the party went on in the background, Olivia and Grandma Lin managed to dodge a few guests who attempted to make small talk on their way to their table, and Olivia had to give credit to her grandma for that.

She was astonished at how Grandma Lin skillfully bypassed everyone by just waving a hand and saying hello, never stopping to accommodate anyone who so much as opened their mouths to ask a question.

Olivia took a note or two of her grandma's techniques, confident that it would come in handy in the future.

Olivia might be used to attending gatherings, but she often found it difficult to extract herself from conversations that bore her because she didn't like to send off the wrong message to people and look like a snob for cutting a conversation short.

Now she knew better that a way around a conversation was not starting one at all, just like what her grandma did. If only she could also have her grandma's charm and not the aloof aura she inherited from her father.

Reaching their table in the front most of the hall by the stage and closer to the fire exit for their easier extraction should something unexpected arise, the security detail helped Grandma Lin to her seat before pulling out one for Olivia to sit on.

”That's a new guy. Where's the younger one who smiles a lot?” Grandma commented as soon as the security detail stood in a corner not far from their table.

”Oh. He expired,” Olivia responded. She guessed Grandma Lin must be talking about MIB2. An uncomfortable lump, lodged in her throat, and Olivia forced it down with a hard swallow.

She peered at her grandma who nodded her head in reply as if hearing that kind of news wasn't news at all.

She was so focused on her grandma that her brows slowly knitted upon seeing the Lin Matriarch fish a concealer stick in her purse.

”Come closer to grandma, darling.”

”Grandma? Is something wrong with my make-up? I can fix it in the powder room.” Olivia patted her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Grandma Lin chuckled and shook her head with her smile resting on her sprightly face.

Without a word, she dabbed the concealer stick on Olivia's c.h.e.s.t, just above the hem of her tube top. ”Your hickey is showing,” Grandma snorted.