Chapter 50

We had lunch until almost 2 PM.

Zoey was thrilled with the meal. She might look skinny, but man, she had quite an appetite! She polished off several plates of meat all by herself.

She was so stuffed she could barely move, just lying back in her chair groaning, "Mrs. Smith, Tony made you chase him for so long, treating us to a meal is the least he could do."

I chuckled to myself. When it was time to pay, the waiter came over and said the meal was already covered, and we could just leave. But I insisted on paying the bill anyway.

Zoey's eyes went wide, and she tried to stop me, "Mrs. Smith, didn't Tony say it was on the house? If I knew you were paying, I wouldn't have ordered such expensive dishes."

"He is he, and I am me. The connection between Tony and the Entertainment Club murder case is still unclear. Even if he's tight with Alan, I haven't met him, so I don't want to owe him any favors. Besides," I glanced at the not-so-expensive bill and smiled, "it's not much. Didn't we agree that I would treat you to lunch? What does it matter if someone else covers it?"

"I get it, Mrs. Smith! Until he's cleared of any connection to the case, he's still a suspect, and we can't accept his favors!" Zoey said, holding my arm and smiling.

"Yes, but not quite. The main reason is that I think he's had a tough time. Whether it's his life or his experiences, let's leave this free meal opportunity for Tammy and Anna." I said.

My gut told me Tony wasn't directly connected to the Entertainment Club murder case, but like Tammy and Lally, he was hiding something. From the beginning, I had never wanted to make things difficult for them; I just wanted the truth.

Now, with Alan's connection, when Alan lived in Sand Village, he was well taken care of by Tammy and George. I had to repay that kindness. If Tony had no essential connection to the case once the truth was revealed, and since Silverlight City Legal Journal was indeed expanding its new media business, I would be willing to help him.

Before leaving, I greeted Tony and set up a meeting at a nearby café at 6 PM.

Then I took Zoey to Stellar Plaza to buy clothes. I used to have terrible taste in clothes and didn't like shopping. During college, Cindy would drag me to look at clothes, and after marriage, it was Alan. He said that a person couldn't just work; they also needed to live. Every weekend, he would go shopping with me, seriously commenting on the clothes he picked for me, which ones were good and which ones weren't. I must say, he had a great eye.

Zoey was about 5.74 feet tall, with a very balanced figure. When she had first started her internship, she had a youthful street hip-hop style, which was cool, but in winter, especially as a reporter, it had lacked a bit of maturity. Fortunately, Zoey had liked to wear dark coats in autumn and winter, and with her tall stature, she had looked particularly good in them. But after all, she was in her twenties, and dressing like she was in her thirties wasn't quite right. She had needed an inner layer to balance it out, and a green dress would have been perfect, making her look lively and young, yet trendy.

After browsing the mall, we ended up back at the first women's clothing store.

As Zoey put it, it was like revising a plan over and over again, only to find that the first version was the best.

Today, Zoey was rocking jeans, little boots, a gray wool coat, and a short cream-colored sweater underneath. She looked put-together but a bit low on energy. She grabbed the green dress and dashed to the fitting room. After changing, she came out and struck a pose, giggling, "Mrs. Smith, how do I look? Am I a beauty or what?"

The green bohemian dress was a burst of color in the winter, and the gray wool coat balanced it out perfectly. With her slightly curly long hair, she looked both elegant and carefree.

I was momentarily taken aback, like I was seeing a scene from ten years ago when Alan took me shopping for the first time. I had just graduated and started working. Alan got his first paycheck and said he wanted to buy me clothes. That piece of clothing cost $1,000, which was almost half a month's salary for a fresh grad back then. Alan didn't even flinch.

"When I was a kid, I thought if I made money, I would definitely buy clothes for the people I love, whether it's love or family. That's the most valuable thing for me," Alan said.

Ten years had passed, and so much had changed. The person I had loved was no longer here. I had searched high and low for the truth to console our lives.

Seeing Zoey's joyful expression, I silently understood what Alan meant back then. "Yes, indeed. You look even more beautiful in this, you gorgeous lady."

"Mrs. Smith, you're a gorgeous lady too. I'm just a little beauty," Zoey said with a cheerful smile.

I walked to the counter to pay. The clothes weren't very expensive, or rather, the important thing wasn't the price. It was Zoey, whom I've known for half a year, always accompanying me. She's innocent, pure, lively, and always empathetic with me. It seems like fate anticipated my misfortune and sent her to my side in advance.

"Hello, just this one, please wrap it up."

Zoey's birthday was on December 15th, and mine was on December 30th. This was her gift, and also a gift for myself.

Around 6 PM, I arrived at the nearby café as agreed.

When I left Stardust Diner, Tony mentioned again to meet at the nearby café, clearly indicating he didn't want Zoey to come.

Maybe he wanted to tell me something private, or he simply wasn't familiar with Zoey and didn't want to interact with her. And to be honest, I came to this meeting as Alan's wife, and Zoey is indeed an outsider, so I let her go home first.

I checked the time and ordered two cups of coffee.

Soon, Tony appeared at the door, saw me, waved, and walked over to sit down.

"Mrs. Smith, didn't I say I would treat? Why did you still pay?" Tony sighed, picked up the menu to order coffee, "This time it's on me, please don't be polite."

But seeing the prices on the menu, he paused and awkwardly said, "I wanted to find a nice place for our first meeting, but it is a bit expensive."

Then he waved to the waiter, "Hello, one water and one coffee, please." He explained, "I can't sleep if I drink coffee at night."

"No need, Tony, I already ordered." I said gently, "Save the free meal at Stardust Diner for next time when you bring Anna and Ms. Martinez."

Tony was stunned for a moment, then realized, "I thought you came to our house just to ask some questions. It seems I was right; Mrs. Smith, you did investigate. Otherwise, you wouldn't have talked to Anna for so long."

"Anna is also thinking about you. So, are you interested in joining our company?" I looked at him deeply.

"Thank you, but... I'm fine where I am now, so I won't come. Let's finish our conversation today; we might not meet again in the future."