Hearts System: 1000 Ways to Tell CEO I Love You-Chapter 28: Another Love Interest

Luellen shook her head and covered her face with her hands. She then looked up at him. "I’m just... I’ll make sure I won’t get any stains on it. Wait, can’t we just rent this? I... I’m so scared to wear this again..."

"Spending that much money on a single-wear dress?"

"Mr Leander, why are you so mean?" Luellen sighed and looked down at her clothes. She even whimpered like a sorry dog. "We can spend thirty thousand on a single occasion. How much will a wedding cost?"

"I don’t know. That depends on your plans."

"My plans?" Luellen flinched. She turned to the man, who was busy with his phone. She also caught the attendants standing idly, steps away from them. Luellen would ask again, only to realize that she was leaning on Leander. She was even talking about spending money on a wedding.

It depended on her plans? Why did it sound like...?

Luellen gasped and shifted away from Leander. Her face was painted red, but her words were caught up in her throat. She then whined and poked Leander’s thick arm.

"Mr Leander! I thought it was only funny for one day!"

"Hey, hey, what is happening?" Beckett walked into their section and saw Luellen and Leander on the couch. He whistled at the obscured silver gown. "Wow, I thought we were only shopping for a farewell party? Why are you in a wedding gown, Luellen?"

The maiden sobbed. "Stop with the wedding thing, please... Let’s just... I’m going to get out of this dress."

...

Luellen never felt so poor. Her silver gown was already expensive. However, Leander’s suit didn’t lose out to the price. He ended up getting a custom set. Sydney’s gown was also around the same price, and Leander paid for it as well. Luellen felt like Leander spent her entire annual salary in just one day.

Since Leander felt like strolling longer, he left Luellen to put the clothes in the car. Beckett also had to find a good place for Sydney to relieve herself. That was why Luellen was left alone on a waiting bench. The two men would just look for her later.

She took the time to breathe air she wouldn’t share with rich men. Her father had money, but she never saw him purchase such expensive things. Even for her mother.

"Looks like someone’s where she shouldn’t be..."

Luellen heard the voice, but she no longer had the energy to fight. She looked up at the group of women walking toward her.

Shirley led her cronies and looked down at Luellen on the bench. "Oh, what’s wrong? You blew your allowance on your current fit and had no money left to buy anything else? Humph, you should just sit that party out. You’re not needed there. You don’t even belong around us."

"Yeah, no one will look at you and say that you’re on Shirley’s level." One woman laughed and chattered with her other friends. They soon made fun of Luellen.

"Go home, little girl. You don’t belong in spaces where I am." Shirley glanced down at her strawberry slushie. She dropped it on Luellen’s lap, causing the tinted drink to ruin Luellen’s clothes. The maiden even gasped at the coldness. Shirley laughed. "Oh, my God! My wrist is so exhausted from shopping for a lot of clothes!"

Luellen pushed what she could scrape from her lap. However, the sticky liquid seeped and stained her linen pants. She glared at Shirley, who only looked down at her.

She wanted to scream and fight, but Shirley had a lot of friends. What if they do more to humiliate Luellen? The maiden only looked down and used her handkerchief to dry the coldest part of her thighs. Tears lined her eyes, but she didn’t want to cry in front of them. She also didn’t want the system to grant her another black heart.

Crash! Cold water crawled right along Luellen’s shoulders.

Not satisfied, Shirley took one of her friends’ lemonade and dumped it on Luellen’s head. The lemon slices even fell on her lap.

"Don’t show your face to me again, Luellen Piper." Shirley huffed and walked off. Her cronies laughed at Luellen’s defeated stance. They even praised Shirley for her power.

"What... did I even do to you...?" Luellen couldn’t hold it. She pressed her palms to her face and cried on them. "What did I do? Why are you like this to me?"

Step. Luellen’s blurred vision saw past the cracks in her fingers. A man was standing in front of her. She looked up, but the man squatted to get to her eye level. He combed Luellen’s hair back with his hand. He smiled.

The man asked with a gentle voice, "Are you all right? Do you want me to walk you to your car? I can also buy you new clothes."

Luellen wanted to answer, but she could only sob. She would rub her face, but the man used his handkerchief to clear her face. Luellen looked up at him again, letting him help her up to her feet.

"Thanks..." Her mouth opened, but the prompt held her words back.

[Hearts a-pounding! You have located another Love Interest (Nathan Chrome)! You can now earn more red hearts!]

Luellen’s eyes flickered. The system flagged a stranger as a love interest? It didn’t even think August was good enough.

"No need to thank me." The man chuckled and used his handkerchief to clear the smudges on Luellen’s face. "You should find a place to redo your makeup. Don’t allow those women to look down on you more."

Luellen could only nod and keep her head down. She took a deep breath before looking up at the man. A small smile curled her lips. "Really, thank you very much...!"

[Hearts a-pounding! (Nathan Chrome) is asking for a five-star gift (First Kiss)! This gift is free yet extremely valuable. The discovery of the gift-giving might also upset other Love Interests. Deliberate carefully!]

"What?" Luellen couldn’t help but jerk back. She heard ’first kiss’, and her face automatically withdrew. She didn’t even have to notice Nathan’s movement.

"Did something happen?" Nathan chuckled as he stepped back. He raised both hands above his chest. "Did I alarm you?"

Luellen shook her head and slipped out of the space between him and the bench. She pinched her shirt’s hem and pulled it gently. The fabric stopped molding to Luellen’s shape. Luellen said, head down, "I have to find a way to change now. Thanks a lot, Mr Chrome."

The man lifted his brows. "Oh... sure. Be more careful, miss. Do you need me to call a cab for you?"

Luellen looked up and shook her head. She lowered her gaze to avoid his eyes again. "I’ll be fine. My friends should be arriving soon. We came by car, so I shouldn’t leave without them. Thank you so much."

"All right. I’ll be going now." Nathan hummed and walked away. Luellen only looked up to see him when he was already steps away.

"...who is he?" Luellen clutched her hands. "Why did the system say he’s a Love Interest...?"