Sweet Love 2x: Miss Ruthless CEO for our Superstar Uncle-Chapter 165: If He’s Serious, He’ll Show It

The hostess led them toward a table near the window where the noise of the mall softened into a distant murmur.

Arianne helped Lily out of her coat before taking the seat beside her. Leo settled close against Arianne’s other side without being told. The boy’s shoulders relaxed once he was seated, though his hand stayed loosely wrapped around the sleeve of her coat. Across from them, Audrey placed her tablet carefully on the table, smoothing the front of her coat before sitting down.

Mira had taken a seat two tables away, angled just enough to watch the room without appearing to do so.

Audrey studied the twins for a moment with open curiosity. She had heard about them before, mostly through scattered comments over the years, but seeing them in person was different. Lily’s expression was bright and alert, reminding her of old photographs she had seen of Alexander Rochefort. Leo, meanwhile, remained quiet beside Arianne, his posture smaller, more cautious.

"I’ve heard about them for a while," Audrey said, resting her hands against the edge of the table. "But this is the first time I’ve met them in person. They really do look like their father."

Arianne nodded once, acknowledging the observation without elaborating. "They’ve grown quickly this year."

Lily leaned forward, pleased with the attention. "I’m Lily. And this is Leo. He doesn’t talk much but he understands everything."

Leo glanced briefly toward Audrey and then lowered his gaze to the table again, as if the introduction had already required enough attention for one moment.

Audrey smiled politely. "Nice to meet both of you."

The waiter arrived soon after with menus. Lily took hers with careful seriousness, unfolding the pages and scanning them as if the decision carried great importance. Leo did not touch his menu at first. He remained close to Arianne’s side, quietly watching the waiter as the man placed glasses of water around the table.

"Take a look," Arianne said to the twins. "But we’re not ordering dessert first."

"I wasn’t going to," Lily replied quickly, though her eyes were already lingering near the bottom of the menu where the desserts were listed. "I’m just checking what they have."

Arianne lifted her own menu, though her attention remained divided between the twins and the conversation across the table. Audrey watched the interaction quietly. It was the first time she had seen Arianne outside a corporate setting or a formal event. The woman who sat across from her now looked composed as always, yet the atmosphere around her felt noticeably different from the boardrooms Audrey associated with her name.

Leo shifted in his seat when the waiter returned.

"What would you like to drink?" the man asked.

Leo looked briefly toward Arianne.

"Apple juice," Arianne said for him. "And water for Lily."

"I can choose my own drink," Lily protested gently.

"You can," Arianne replied, turning the menu toward her. "But you chose juice the last three times."

Lily considered this for a moment before nodding. "That’s fair."

The waiter wrote the order down and stepped away.

Audrey folded her menu and rested her elbow against the table. "You seem very comfortable with them."

"They’ve been with me for a while," Arianne said simply.

Audrey tilted her head. "Gilbert mentioned that you’ve been helping care for them. I suppose I didn’t picture what that looked like day to day."

Arianne glanced toward Leo, who had begun tracing a line along the edge of the table with quiet concentration. "Children usually make their expectations clear."

The waiter returned with their drinks and waited while they placed their orders. Lily negotiated enthusiastically for fries, explaining in patient detail why fries were an important component of lunch. Arianne listened without interrupting until the explanation finished.

"You can have fries," she said, "but only if you finish the rest of your meal first."

"Okay!" Lily replied, satisfied with the compromise.

Leo ordered something simple after a short glance toward Arianne for reassurance.

Once the waiter left again, the table settled into a brief quiet. The mall below them hummed with movement—people crossing the atrium floor, escalators carrying shoppers between levels, distant voices blending into a steady background rhythm.

Audrey rested her fingers around her glass and looked toward Arianne again.

"I spoke with Gilbert recently," she said. The sentence arrived carefully, without urgency.

Arianne did not react immediately. She took a small sip of water before setting the glass down. She already knew what this was about.

"He mentioned speaking with you first," Audrey continued. "Apparently he wanted advice."

Arianne’s expression remained calm. "He asked for my opinion."

"And you gave it."

"I did."

Audrey leaned back in her chair, studying her. "I’m curious what you told him."

Before Arianne could answer, Lily looked up from the table. "Why do you know Uncle Gil?"

The question arrived with the straightforward curiosity of a child who had recognized a familiar name in a conversation she had only half been listening to.

Arianne turned toward her. "Ms. Sawyer is an old friend of your Uncle Gil."

"Oh." Lily accepted the explanation without hesitation and returned to examining the sugar packet beside her plate.

The conversation resumed naturally once the interruption passed.

Audrey looked mildly amused. "That was a fair question."

"It usually is," Arianne said.

"And your answer to Gilbert?"

Arianne paused before responding, the same quiet pause she used when choosing her words carefully.

"Gil rarely revisits decisions he has already made. If he reached out again, it means he has reconsidered the situation."

Audrey nodded slowly. "That was my impression too."

Arianne’s gaze moved toward the window where snow continued to fall past the glass.

"Men need to be reminded sometimes. Not with arguments, but with time and consequences."

She paused, then met Audrey’s gaze. "Don’t let him bully you again into submission."

Audrey raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a warning."

"It’s an observation."

"And Gilbert?" Audrey pressed.

"If he’s serious, he’ll show it. Don’t make it easy for him this time. You have the upper hand."

Audrey smiled genuinely this time. Arianne was Gilbert’s best friend, yet she was helping her. "Thank you, Ms. Summers."

The waiter returned with their food before Audrey could respond further. Plates were placed around the table one by one. Lily’s attention shifted immediately to the fries, which she examined with approval before pushing one plate closer to Leo.

"You have to dip them first," she explained. "Otherwise they’re just ordinary."

Leo watched the demonstration quietly and copied the motion with careful precision.

Audrey observed the exchange with a faint smile. The children seemed comfortable around Arianne in a way that suggested familiarity rather than obligation. Leo leaned against her shoulder briefly while concentrating on his food, the gesture so casual it might have gone unnoticed by someone less observant.

"You handle this very naturally," Audrey said.

Arianne looked mildly puzzled by the comment. "They’re children."

"I suppose that explains it."

Lily dipped another fry and held it up triumphantly. "Leo likes it."

Leo nodded.

The conversation drifted to lighter topics while they ate. Audrey asked Lily about the clothes they had chosen earlier, prompting an enthusiastic explanation about color combinations and Leo’s mysterious ability to reject sweaters without trying them on. Arianne listened while finishing her meal, occasionally adjusting Leo’s plate when he pushed it too close to the edge of the table.

By the time the plates were cleared, the snow outside had grown thicker. The mall lights reflected against the glass ceiling above the atrium, creating a soft glow across the upper level.

Audrey reached for her coat. "Thank you for lunch. I’m glad we ran into each other."

"So am I."

They left the restaurant together and stepped back into the mall corridor. The sound of shoppers returned immediately—distant music from nearby stores, the steady hum of conversation, the low mechanical rhythm of escalators moving between floors.

Lily walked beside Arianne, still talking about the sweaters she had seen and asking if they could get a few toys. Leo stayed close on Arianne’s other side, his hand slipping naturally into hers again as they moved through the crowd.

Arianne slowed after a few steps.

The change was subtle, but Audrey noticed it.

She followed Arianne’s line of sight down the corridor.

Across them, standing near one of the display windows, was a woman Audrey recognized immediately from photographs and social columns. Diana Blackwood stood beside a young boy whose small coat matched her dark winter attire. The child’s hand rested lightly in hers as they watched the flow of people passing through the mall.

For a moment the distance between the two groups remained unchanged.

Arianne’s hand tightened slightly around Leo’s. Not enough to pull him closer. Just enough to feel the difference.

Leo looked up at her. He didn’t say anything. He just watched her face.

Diana hadn’t seen them yet. Her attention was on the boy beside her, adjusting his scarf, brushing snow from his collar. The boy was young—younger than the twins, maybe. He looked up at her with the easy trust of a child who expected to be cared for.

Arianne thought about what she had told Audrey minutes ago. Don’t let him bully you again into submission. She thought about the photograph in the Aurelle campaign. The woman walking away down a corridor. The missing ring.

She thought about Diana, standing in a mall, adjusting her son’s scarf.

Leo’s hand tightened around hers. He had noticed something. He always noticed.

Arianne looked down at him. His eyes were on her, not on Diana. He was waiting.

She gave his hand a small squeeze. "It’s fine," she said quietly.

Lily was still talking about toys. Audrey was watching Arianne, waiting to see what she would do.

Arianne did nothing. She continued walking, her pace even, her hand steady in Leo’s. The distance between her group and Diana’s held.

Snow drifted steadily past the tall windows behind Diana, the flakes catching the light as they fell.

Arianne didn’t look away.