305 MEETING THE NORFOLKS AGAIN

Everybody settled down at one of the corners of the cafe. All the customers seemed to be enjoying their time except for the family who just met each other again after a long time. 

"When did you come back?" 

Bo asked Zoe with an amicable smile plastered on his face, which Zoe now doubted if it was real or not.

Before she ate the fruit, there was a time that she already imagined meeting her known family. And it was a sincerely joyous one. Never did she think that it would be like this. 

"This is our first meeting too, Father. She just came back from her medical mission. You know Zoe." 

Cayden explained with an awkward grin as he tried to defend his cousin. 

"A medical mission… Hmm…" Koby rubbed his chin as he repeated what Cayden just said with a twinkle of interest in his eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you. Koby, this is Zoe, my niece. Zoe, this is Koby, Cayden's stepbrother." 

Uncle Bo brought up as he knew that Zoe would know about it in other means anyway. He was expecting that Zoe would be surprised. But she answered in an uninterested manner.

"We already met before, 'Uncle'." She even emphasized the word uncle, which made Bo wonder if she was angry at him for not telling it to her sooner or there is another reason behind it.

"Yes. Just a brief encounter to get to know each other. But maybe now we will have more time since we'll be living under one roof, aren't we?" A mischievous light flickered in his eyes.

However, Zoe crossed her arms at his comment. "I guess not. I've been living quite independently for a long time."

Bo pacified Koby at what he thought was his desire to bond with his known cousins by agreeing with Zoe. 

"That is right. Still, we can meet up at some other time where all of us have enough time to catch up." He gave an eye at Zoe as if telling her that they have a lot to talk about in private.

Then he stood up, signaling to everyone that they must go on their way to attend to important things regarding their company.

Everyone separated, leaving Zoe time to adjust in the urban world and think things through about her new goal.

As she did so, she also tried to reach out to the people that he made friends with in Lord Howe Island and scheduled to meet with them. 

"Zoe?! Oh my god!" Kristie jumped up and down as she dashed to where Zoe was sitting at the restaurant where they decided to meet up. 

Zoe's eyes glistened as she felt her warm embrace. 'At least I am not alone in this side of the world.'

She slightly pulled Kristie away. "How have you been? You look healthy and blooming."

She recalled the last time that she saw her was she was wounded by a gunshot wound. And as she remembers, she has a stage 2 cancer.

'Dr. Xiong must have been successful in treating her.' 

She concluded as her admiration for her previous mentor heightened to a deeper level as she stared at her friend who looked miraculously well after that horrendous moment of her life.

"Maybe it's because her baby is a girl. So much blessing for our survivor queen." 

Nella commented as she gazed in admiration at her new best friend. Kristie didn't back out on her word.

Since the immunity necklace was still on her at the last game, and the prize money was still in the hands of the organizers of the event, they still proceeded on crowning Kristie as the Survivor Queen and giving her the prize.

However, Kristie gave all of it to Nella, just as she promised her. Nella was able to pay their rents and started a small business which is now flourishing because of her.

Meanwhile, Zoe was dumbfounded as she repeated back what Nella just said. "A baby?"

Kristie grinned as she swayed from side to side. 

"We don't know yet. Just got the news a week ago."

Zoe's jaw dropped open in surprise then they turned into a satisfied smile.

"Am I really away that long?"

"Well, I couldn't really say that two years is lengthy. How about you? We thought you were dead after that ruckus. And Erin?" 

Anika asked her as they settled down and ordered their drinks.

"It's a long story. But Erin also has settled down." 

She smiled at them, knowing how happy Erin was to be with a decent man whom she loves deeply and loves her the same way.

"How about Mr. Gao?"

Kristie's face radiated as she leaned forward and curiously asked Zoe.

Zoe was taken aback at Kristie's straightforward question. She unconsciously froze as she was trying so hard to forget about him and now in just one second, all their memories came flashing through her mind again.

She suddenly recalled how they first met again in Lord Howe Island. And how he slowly revealed himself by being her savior over and over again. Her mouth heaved out a deep sigh.

"H-he's fine. We already lost connection." She tried to give them a reassuring smile and focused on her friends that she has just met again today.

"Oh, that's sad. I thought you were already married and living happily ever after in his kingdom faraway." 

Kristie blurted with her lips twitched downward as her shining eyes dimmed down.

A bittersweet snigger escaped from Zoe's lips as Kristie almost guessed it right. 

'Yes, we were. But then -' Zoe mused as her eyes drifted away. 

Seeing the sullen mood of Zoe, Nella raised her hand and deviated the topic instead. 

"Why don't we order our food now? Clay said they would be here any minute now so we can pick out our order already."

"Sure. Let's do that." Zoe gave her a 'thank you' look before peering at the menu. 

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Those moments when you meet old friends who you may not see very often. But the moment you reconnect, feels like yesterday. They are treasures.