After submitting her thesis, Veronica joined Dario in extending a dinner invitation to Malcolm for the evening.
This time, Malcolm accepted without hesitation.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, the trio exited their vehicle and made their way inside, completely oblivious to Marco's car parked a short distance away.
Marco, however, spotted them immediately. His hand froze on the car door handle, his eyes tracking their movements as they disappeared into the establishment. Only after several long minutes did he finally emerge from his vehicle, carefully carrying a sleepy Cecelia in his arms.
Nate had already arrived at the restaurant and greeted Marco with a casual nod. "You're here."
Marco responded with a simple, "Mm."
As Cecelia began stirring from her slumber, the rest of their party—Cullen, Niall, Sabrina, and Bonnie—arrived in quick succession.
Marco's gaze dropped noticeably when he spotted Bonnie among the group.
Bonnie, in contrast, beamed with delight upon seeing him. She rushed forward, her voice honey-sweet as she greeted him. "Marco."
His cold stare and pointed silence in response created a palpable tension in the air.
Sabrina, sensing the awkwardness, approached them and focused her attention on the child. "Cecelia, are you feeling unwell?" she asked, noting the little girl's drowsy demeanor.
Cecelia shook her head slowly. "No..."
Marco's expression softened instantly when addressing Sabrina. "She's fine, just waking up from a nap," he explained, his voice gentler than before.
Now fully alert, Cecelia wiggled out of Marco's arms and retreated to a corner sofa with Sabrina, where they began conversing in hushed tones.
Niall settled beside Cullen, accepting the glass of water he offered before pulling out a thick textbook from her bag. "Don't mind me if I read a bit while we wait," she announced to the group. "You all can continue your conversations."
Nate, aware of Niall's studies under Professor Stephen, raised an eyebrow. "Bringing books to dinner? Isn't that taking dedication a bit too far?"
Bonnie, who had managed to claim the seat next to Marco despite his obvious disinterest, jumped in. "She's been for days—completely consumed by her studies."
Marco knew Niall's ambition to become Malcolm's student. Ironically, the very professor she aspired to study under was dining just a short distance away in another room of the same restaurant. Yet he kept this information to himself.
His mind drifted back to the scene downstairs—Veronica positioned between Malcolm and Dario, engaged in conversation. Initially, he'd assumed her presence was merely an extension of her connection to Dario, that she was there as his plus-one.
But wouldn't she have stayed closer to Dario if that were the case?
Veronica had always been reserved, even antisocial at times, yet downstairs she had been conversing with Malcolm with unmistakable ease and familiarity.
DataPulse's two groundbreaking projects had materialized only in the past few months—precisely the timeframe in which Veronica had left Dennis Group to join DataPulse.
Just days ago, Stephen had proclaimed that Veronica's abilities surpassed even his own considerable expertise.
Then Marco remembered how quickly Dario had rejected Niall's application to join DataPulse—all supposedly because of Veronica.
At the time, both Nate and he had interpreted Dario' decision as evidence of some romantic entanglement with Veronica. They'd assumed his preference for her over the equally qualified Niall was personal rather than professional.
His eyes drifted to Niall, deeply absorbed in her textbook, periodically looking up to ask Cullen questions about concepts she found challenging.
The realization hit Marco with the force of a physical blow, leaving him momentarily stunned. Suddenly, countless puzzle pieces clicked into place in his mind, forming a picture he hadn't seen before.
Without warning, he shot up from his chair, his abrupt movement drawing surprised glances from everyone at the table.