I Chased My Brother’s Friend for a Month, Then Walked Into Work and Found Out He Owns the Company Chapter 09

I Chased My Brother’s Friend for a Month, Then Walked Into Work and Found Out He Owns the Company Chapter 09

On the fourth day, I went to work.

When I got there, Mr. Foster said. “Someone from the twentieth floor called down. They want you to go up and move some things.”

Mr. Foster’s expression was complicated.

The CEO calling up an intern to do his errands, anyone would raise an eyebrow.

I didn’t explain. I just got on the elevator and pressed twenty.

The doors opened, and the hallway was twice as wide as the one on eighteen.

Carpet on the floor, framed paintings along both walls.

Only one door at the end of the hall.

I knocked twice.

“Come in.”

I pushed the door open.

This office was three times the size of the one on eighteen.

Floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking half the city.

Declan was sitting on the sofa, four potted pothos plants on the coffee table in front of him.

He was wearing a black sweater and gold-rimmed glasses.

A completely different person from the one in the meeting.

“The pothos are here. Take two down to your floor and put them on the windowsill.”

“You called me up here just for this?”

“Otherwise?”

I looked at him, then picked up two pots.

As I turned to leave, he spoke.

“Erin.”

I stopped.

“Have you figured things out these past couple days?”

“Figured what out?”

“About us.”

I turned around, still holding the plants.

“I want to break up.”

His fingers paused on the armrest.

“Why?”

“I’m not good enough for you.”

“Is that the reason?”

“Isn’t it? You own this whole building. I’m an intern who hasn’t even gotten her first paycheck. I spend twelve hundred bucks on sushi for you, your daily income is probably a year of my living expenses.”

“Did I ever ask you to spend that kind of money?”

“Doesn’t matter if you did. The facts are the facts.”

“What facts?”

“We’re worlds apart.”

Declan stood up.

He walked over and took one of the pots from my arms, setting it on the floor.

Then he took the other one.

My arms were empty.

He stood in front of me, looking down.

I’m half a head shorter than him, I had to look up.

“Erin, do you know why I said yes to being with you?”

“My brother told me. Because I helped your grandmother.”

He paused.

“He told you that?”

“Yesterday.”

Declan was quiet for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.

“Then he definitely didn’t tell you what came after.”

“What?”

“My grandmother said something to me when she got home that day.”

“What?”

“She said. ‘That girl’s palms were warm.”

I didn’t understand.

“What does that mean?”

“My grandmother said she’s fallen down plenty of times in her life, and she’s been helped up more times than she can count. But most people, their hands are cold when they help her. It’s out of politeness, or reflex. But you, both your hands were warm. You helped her up, then crouched down and brushed the dirt off her pants,

asked if her knees hurt.”

I remembered now.

The old lady had scraped her knee, and I’d crouched down to check.

“My grandmother said. ‘That girl’s heart is warm. Not the fake kind of warm.”

Declan looked at me.

“I’d already noticed you that day. A girl at the wedding, grinning like an idiot. But what my grandmother said

made me take a closer look.”

“So you told my brother not to tell me who you were.”

“Yes. Because I wanted to see who you really were when you didn’t know who I was.”

“Did you see enough?”

“Yeah.”

“And what’s the verdict?”

“The verdict is that you’re pretty dumb. Spending two thousand dollars chasing someone you barely know. Standing outside in the cold for two hours just to hand over some flowers. Burning an egg and still sending a

photo of it.”

“Then why did you say yes?”

“Because you’re honestly dumb.”

He said it softly, his eyes not looking away.

“Everyone around me is too smart. They think three times before they speak. They do the math before they smile at me. You’re the only one who doesn’t calculate.”

“That’s because I didn’t know who you were.”

“Exactly. So I was afraid to tell you. I was afraid that once you knew, you’d start calculating too.”

That landed right on my chest.

Not like a heavy blow.

More like a dull thud.

Like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake, leaving only a ripple on the surface.

“Erin, you say you’re not good enough for me. But have you ever thought. I’m also afraid I’m not good enough

for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The way you treated me, it was real. That two thousand dollars you spent, you earned it yourself. Standing outside for two hours, you did it because you wanted to. That month you chased me, it was the only time in three years I felt like a normal person, not just a boss.”

His voice started to waver a little.

“If you want to break up with me, I won’t stop you. But don’t say it’s because you’re not good enough.”

“Then what am I supposed to say?”

“Say you don’t like me anymore. I’ll walk away. But if you still do, don’t use money or status as an excuse.”

I stood there, biting my lip until it went white.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sun was going down, casting patches of light across the carpet.

He stood in that light, his hair touched with gold.

I couldn’t say the words “I don’t like you.”

Because they would be a lie.

“I don’t know what to do going forward.”

“I don’t either.”

“You’re the boss. I’m an intern.”

“The internship ends in three months.”

“Then what? You’ll still be the boss, and I’ll still be a fresh graduate.”

“So what?”

“What will people think?”

“Let them think what they want.”

“My brother works for you. People are gonna talk.”

“Your brother got promoted because he earned it. He single-handedly handled last year’s audit report. Worked two weeks of overtime. I took his name off the layoff list because he deserved to stay.”

I blinked.

“Really?”

“Ask his colleagues.”

I took a deep breath.

“I need time.”

“How much?”

“I don’t know.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait.”

He bent down, picked up the potted plants, and handed them to me.

“Take these downstairs. Put them by the window. Remember to water them.”

I took the plants, turned, and walked to the door.

As I pulled it open, I glanced back.

He was already back on the sofa, looking at his phone.

Like nothing had happened.

But I saw his hand holding the phone, fingertips trembling.