The Gallagher house.
Fiona had no mood to keep talking. She half-heartedly brushed off a few comments, then made up an excuse and basically sent Veronica on her way.
Veronica left feeling helpless—and a little annoyed.
After all, she hadn't done anything wrong. She'd even spent money on a gift, and it still turned into this mess…
She wasn't exactly someone without a temper.
So when she got home, Veronica vented a bit to Kevin.
After listening, Kevin just shook his head. "That's how the Gallaghers are. Don't take it too seriously."
Which, honestly, was the truth.
Veronica nodded. She really couldn't be bothered to care anymore.
Let Fiona do whatever she wanted.
On the other side…
Fiona was in a terrible mood. She had no interest in watching TV, kept a dark expression on her face, and urged Ian and the others to go to bed early.
After that—
In the cramped bedroom, she unleashed all her frustration on Steve.
---
A brand-new day.
Around ten in the morning.
Dexter woke up, got cleaned up, and headed toward the restaurant.
The place was opening tomorrow. Even though opening this restaurant was basically just for fun, an opening was still an opening—so it needed to feel festive.
That meant at least some basic decorations were necessary.
As Dexter walked, he thought about how to decorate the place.
Then, out of nowhere, he spotted someone sitting at the restaurant entrance—hugging her knees, head lowered, forehead resting on her legs. At first glance, she looked like a homeless person.
It was Vivian.
"?????"
Dexter froze for a moment.
He couldn't help it—Vivian looked way too pitiful like this.
He immediately quickened his pace and walked over.
He'd taken down the hiring poster last night, so the restaurant entrance was unusually quiet today, with no one hanging around.
Dexter stopped in front of her.
Vivian noticed a pair of shoes, looked up, saw him, blinked, and smiled.
"Boss, I'm here."
Dexter didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "How long have you been waiting here? It's freezing—why didn't you call me?"
Vivian looked completely unfazed by the cold, smiling brightly. "Not long at all. I just got here a little while ago, so I didn't call."
"Come on, go inside and have some hot water first. Warm up," Dexter said, not sure what else to say as he quickly took out his keys and opened the door.
"Thank you," Vivian said, standing up right away and following him obediently.
There wasn't any hot water inside yet—it needed to be boiled.
While waiting, Dexter told her about the apartment.
Vivian was overjoyed.
Before long, the two of them left the restaurant, walked to the hotel parking lot, and then Dexter drove her to the apartment.
Vivian was extremely satisfied. She went up and down, looking everything over, smiling happily. "Thank you, boss. This place is really great."
Hearing that, Dexter looked at this woman in front of him—someone who stayed cheerful and optimistic no matter what she went through. Then he thought about the Gallagher family living not far away…
The contrast was pretty striking.
If the Gallaghers had even a fraction of Vivian's mindset, things would probably be very different.
"You're welcome. Let's go buy some furniture," Dexter said with a smile.
"Huh? You're buying furniture too?" Vivian said in surprise. "I could honestly just sleep on the floor…"
"Then I'd be abusing my employee, wouldn't I?" Dexter joked. "Let's go. Your boss has money—don't worry about these little things."
"You're really a great boss," Vivian said sincerely.
They soon got back in the car and headed to the furniture store.
---
After coming to this world…
Aside from the lifespan in the real world that he still hadn't obtained, money and everything else in this world meant very little to Dexter.
He truly didn't care.
To him, everything was just a game.
And because of that—
He was lonely in this world.
But someone like Vivian—someone he genuinely liked, almost perfect, with barely any flaws—made that loneliness fade a little.
He really liked that feeling. It had nothing to do with romance.
—
Just as they arrived at the furniture store, his phone vibrated.
It was Kevin.
"Dexter, your restaurant opens tomorrow. Are you decorating today? Vee and I can come help," Kevin said.
See?
What a great guy. Hardly some shameless jerk.
Dexter smiled and nodded. "If you're offering, I won't hold back."
"Haha, no need to be polite," Kevin replied cheerfully. "Should we head over now?"
"Later. I just got to the furniture store to buy furniture and appliances for a place I rented yesterday. I'll call you after I'm done."
"Then how about Vee and I go buy some decorations for you?" Kevin suggested.
"That would be perfect. Keep the receipts—I'll reimburse you," Dexter said. He honestly had no idea what kind of decorations to pick, so Kevin's suggestion was spot-on.
"Alright, alright," Kevin agreed—though he'd already decided he wasn't keeping any receipts.
It was just a few decorations. Nothing expensive.
They hung up.
Dexter stayed with Vivian and started shopping around the furniture store.
Vivian didn't need much. What she needed most wasn't a bed, but kitchenware.
"That way, if I ever run out of money, I can still find things and cook for myself," she explained.
Dexter chuckled.
Fair enough.
Vivian had eaten just about everything before. She could totally go into the wild, find ingredients, bring them back, and cook them.
Her survival skills were absolutely insane.
"Impressive," Dexter said, giving her a thumbs-up.
"Hehe," Vivian laughed happily. "Boss, I'm actually pretty good at cooking too. I'll make something for you sometime."
"Alright. If it really is good, you can be the restaurant's chef whenever I feel like slacking off," Dexter said—half joking, half serious.
"No problem," Vivian agreed without hesitation.
---
After buying all the furniture and appliances, it was already past three in the afternoon.
Since delivery would take a while, the two of them headed back to the restaurant first.
On the way, Dexter called Kevin.
When they arrived at the restaurant entrance, Kevin and Veronica were already there, holding bags upon bags of stuff.
"Wow, how much did you guys buy?" Dexter asked, genuinely surprised by the number of bags.
"Boss, better too much than not enough," Veronica said with a grin.
Kevin nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Fair point," Dexter replied. Then, without wasting time, he introduced Vivian to them.
"Veronica, this is Vivian Ancest. She'll be working with you from now on."
"Vivian, this is Veronica Fisher. Starting tomorrow, she'll be your coworker."
"And this handsome guy here is Kevin Ball—Veronica's fiancé. The two of them are getting married soon."
Dexter said all of that in one breath.
The moment the words left his mouth—
Kevin's expression completely changed.
"!!!!!!!"
Veronica froze for a split second, then immediately turned to Kevin, her face full of shock and anticipation.
"Kevin? Are you proposing to me?!"
Vivian, as always, just smiled.
Of course—
Dexter was smiling too.
There was no helping it. This scene was just way too funny.