Hearts System: 1000 Ways to Tell CEO I Love You-Chapter 11: Hearts Clash

"N-No, please don’t!" Shirley feigned her chuckle. "We will stay here for as long as we’re needed."

"Have you finished the collated report?" Madam Henny asked, to which Shirley answered by shrinking behind her computer. "Even if Leander dismisses us within minutes, you should at least finish that one before leaving."

Galaxy stopped for a bit. She turned to find her little junior struggling with the report. She turned to Madam Henny first... before asking Luellen, "How about you, Ms Piper? Are you done?"

Luellen brought her eyes up. "I still have a few pages to encode. The formulas haven’t been polished, either. Please give me more time."

"Oh, you can’t leave without finishing that, either." Galaxy chuckled, leaning against her seat. "You know, in solidarity with everyone."

"I will submit it before leaving the office today." Luellen didn’t pay too much attention to the woman’s provocation. She needed to focus on encoding figures. It was trickier than words.

It was just that the inner office’s doors opened. Leander walked out with his briefcase in one hand and his coat in the other. He said, "You can leave now, everyone. I’ll see you tomorrow."

Houston got up from the couch, where he settled after seeing Luellen using his desk. It was just that he was the only one who moved.

Madam Henny smiled at him. "I have to wait for their reports, Leander. I have to stay longer."

"Reports?" Leander stopped at the door, not even close enough to reach the knob. He looked back at the office and saw the occupied desks. Only Madam Henny and Galaxy had the liberty to look at him. The two interns were furiously typing on their keyboards.

"Yes, dear. We need to submit them for the audit on Friday." Madam Henny leaned on her chair. "Also, aren’t you forgetting something? Do you mean for Ms Piper to bring Sydney home?"

"...right." Leander walked back and sat on the single couch closest to Houston. "Let me know if you’re done."

Galaxy packed up her stuff. She flipped her hair back and smiled in Leander’s direction. "Leander, we don’t have to leave the building if you like. Why don’t we just wait for them to finish while staying in the garden? I heard the gardener reworked some of the lights. They should be fun to watch for a while."

Leander, who put his briefcase down, didn’t even look in her direction. "I remember you saying pollen irritates your skin."

The woman pressed her lips together for a bit. She answered with a chuckle, "Well, we’re not going close to them, are we? Come on. It’s better to wait there than here."

"I like the office."

"Gala, shouldn’t you be attending to something personal now?" Madam Henny rescued the degrading conversation. She eyed the woman, who even forgot to hide her glare. "You said so yesterday. Your cousin...?"

"Uhm... yes... she needs me..." Galaxy almost snorted. If Leander weren’t there, she would have done so. She slowly stood up from her desk. Her gaze rested on Leander again. "Leander, I would have to leave for family affairs now. Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to the garden at least?"

Leander didn’t answer. He got busy looking over the office tablet, which Houston had passed to him. Even the secretary didn’t say anything.

Galaxy waited for a few seconds. However, her entire body shivered in humiliation. Just earlier, she had lunch out with Leander. Hours later, the man ignored her over a few reports due the next day. She could only retreat and leave without another word.

Silence pursued for another few minutes. Shirley glanced at the clock, which read almost six in the evening. She quietly took her phone out and typed under the table.

A feeble shake tickled Luellen’s table. She glanced at the phone, which was left face down. She glanced at Shirley and picked it up. As expected, the supposed model intern had sent another message.

[Don’t get creative. I need to leave now. Do this task. You’re the real intern here.]

Luellen mapped the frustration on Shirley’s face. Yesterday, she did hear how Shirley normally hung out with her friends after work. They should be going out again today. After all, in their minds, Shirley was the one who got the promotion to the CEO’s office. Even Summer mentioned it over text within the day.

The maiden put her phone down. She didn’t want to help out someone who tried to steal from her. It was just that... she didn’t know how long Leander would wait. After all, she was taking care of the dog in his stead.

[Hearts clash! Pick a task route to take!]

[Blue Heart task: Preserve dignity and decline the rescue!]

[Black Heart task: Empower (Shirley Hower) and suffer the compounding consequences!]

Luellen stared at the words floating in front of her. She glanced at Leander again before sighing within her. Her hand gripped her phone again.

[Me: Sue, do you have Shirley’s phone number? Can you call her like you’re having an emergency? Just get her out of the office. She’s begging me.]

[Sue<3: Huh? I can do that, but why?]

[Me: I just don’t want to see her anymore. She’s sitting directly across from my desk. Please, please, please!]

[Sue<3: If you say so.]

Not long ago, Luellen put her phone down while Shirley’s phone rang. The other young woman even shrieked in shock. After all, Luellen put her phone down. She couldn’t be the one calling. Moreover, her ringtone was that racy pop song. Everyone else in the office darted their eyes to her reddening face.

Shirley quickly answered the call to cut the ringtone, "Yeah? Do you need me for something? I’m still at work!"

Her smile somewhat froze, and her head slowly nodded off. She glanced at Leander, who went back to attending to his tablet. Shirley cleared her throat. "Uhm... my mom..."

"That better not be a fake excuse." Madam Henny frowned at the crude attempt at escaping. She glanced at Luellen, who was visibly texting earlier. Was this girl secretly helping out? Weren’t they at odds with each other?

"I’m really so sorry! The promotion was so sudden. I forgot to adjust all my plans!" Shirley clutched her phone tighter. "I’m almost done! I just... She needs me...!"

Before Madam Henny could say something, Leander spoke without looking. "Then leave. Let Ms Piper finish your work."

Shirley and Luellen gazed at the CEO, but he didn’t say more. It was enough for Shirley to gather her things and leave the office in a hurry. She didn’t even touch the computer on her desk. All she left behind was the closing click on the glass door.

Madam Henny faced Leander, but the CEO brought his eyes up from the tablet. He turned to Luellen. "Take over her desk. Houston will finish that one."

"I’m on it." Luellen brought her bag to Shirley’s desk. She sat down and stared at the messy document in front of her. Her entire soul froze.

[Black Heart won the clash!]

[Disgust detected! You have earned 3 black heart/s!]