Chapter 23
The next morning at Mercer Holdings, everyone who crossed paths with Adrian noticed something strange.
He was in a good mood.
A really good mood.
Someone greeted him in the elevator.
"Morning, Mr. Mercer."
Adrian smiled.
"Morning."
The employee nearly forgot to get off at his floor.
Another person greeted him in the hallway.
Adrian smiled again.
By the time he reached the executive floor, rumors were probably already spreading that the heir to Mercer Holdings had either fallen in love or suffered a serious head injury.
Even his blue hair looked especially good today—soft, perfectly styled, and very obviously the result of actual effort.
When Adrian walked into his office, his assistant was already waiting.
Adrian glanced around.
"Did the flowers arrive?"
His assistant grinned.
"Already here."
He hadn't been around yesterday afternoon, so he'd missed whatever had happened between Adrian and Emma.
But when he'd checked the office group chat last night, everyone had been saying the same thing:
At first, he hadn't believed it.
Then Adrian had called him first thing this morning and told him to order flowers.
Flowers.
Well.
That settled it.
The ship had sailed.
His assistant almost wanted to cry.
Finally.
And if Adrian and Emma were together now, surely Emma wouldn't resign anymore.
A huge bouquet of deep crimson roses sat on Adrian's desk, framed by the floor-to-ceiling windows behind it.
Adrian looked at the flowers with satisfaction.
Yesterday, he'd noticed fresh flowers in a vase at Emma's apartment.
So last night, he'd actually looked up different kinds of roses.
Him.
Adrian Mercer.
Researching flowers.
At one in the morning.
If anyone found out, he'd deny everything.
He nodded toward the bouquet.
"Put them on Emma's desk before she gets here."
His assistant reached for them.
Adrian added,
"Don't tell her they're from me."
He paused.
"I want it to be a surprise."
His assistant slowly smiled.
"Got it."
This ship had been an emotional roller coaster.
Two days ago, he'd thought it was dead.
Yesterday, it had somehow come back to life.
And now Adrian was secretly sending Emma roses?
Who would've guessed?
Apparently, Adrian Mercer in love was...
kind of romantic.
His assistant picked up the bouquet and headed toward the secretarial office.
Mia Parker and the other secretary were already there.
The moment Mia saw the enormous bouquet in the assistant's arms, her eyes lit up.
"Whoa."
"Those are gorgeous."
Then she narrowed her eyes.
"Wait."
"Are those for Emma?"
The assistant grinned.
"Yep."
"For Emma."
The other secretary's expression stiffened.
She hesitated.
"Did... you buy them for her?"
The assistant nearly dropped the bouquet.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."
"Don't start rumors about me."
He pointed at himself.
"Emma and I are completely innocent."
The other secretary's face went slightly pale.
"Then..."
She glanced toward Adrian's office.
"Mr. Mercer sent them?"
The assistant didn't answer.
He just gave her a mysterious look and walked toward Emma's desk.
He carefully set the flowers down.
Then paused.
Something felt wrong.
Emma's desk was...
clean.
Really clean.
His first thought was:
Wow. Emma really keeps her workspace organized.
Then he looked again.
His smile disappeared.
Wait.
This wasn't clean.
This was empty.
No notebook.
No mug.
No charger.
No pens.
No snacks.
Nothing.
Even the box of tissues was gone.
His stomach dropped.
Oh, shit.
Mia had already wandered over to admire the flowers.
Then she saw Emma's desk.
She froze.
"Oh my God."
She looked around.
"Did someone rob Emma's desk last night?"
Then she stopped.
Her own things were still there.
Everyone else's things were still there.
Only Emma's desk had been cleared out.
Which meant—
Mia slowly looked at Adrian's assistant.
Adrian's assistant slowly looked at Mia.
Their eyes widened at exactly the same time.
"Oh, no."
Meanwhile, Adrian was sitting casually on the edge of his desk.
There was a faint smile in his eyes.
Emma was going to like the flowers.
Definitely.
Probably.
He thought about the ridiculous resignation letter she'd handed him.
Adrian opened his desk drawer and pulled it out.
He stared at it for a few seconds.
Then tossed it onto the desk.
He'd give it back to her later.
He was a man.
There was nothing wrong with backing down once in a while.
Especially when the other person was Emma.
She was cute.
She was interesting.
She cooked.
She rode a scooter like she had nine lives.
And apparently, she could kill a cockroach with her bare hands.
Adrian smiled to himself.
The office door opened.
His assistant walked in.
One look at Adrian's face and the assistant's heart sank.
He knew that smile.
That was the smile of a man hopelessly falling in love.
Which meant—
He doesn't know.
He had absolutely no idea Emma was gone.
She hadn't hesitated.
Hadn't left a dramatic goodbye.
Hadn't even left a coffee mug behind.
She had cleared out her entire desk in the middle of the night and vanished.
The assistant suddenly felt like crying.
This wasn't a roller coaster anymore.
The roller coaster had left the tracks, gone through the gift shop, and was currently heading toward the parking lot.
Adrian finally noticed his expression.
His smile faded slightly.
"What?"
The assistant swallowed.
"Well..."
"About Emma..."
Adrian frowned.
"Why are you talking like that?"
Then his expression changed.
"She didn't like the flowers?"
The assistant rubbed his nose.
"It's not exactly that."
"She's..."
He desperately searched for the least dangerous wording.
"...gone."
Adrian straightened.
"Gone?"
His voice changed.
"What do you mean, gone?"
A few seconds later, Adrian was standing in front of Emma's empty desk.
The moment he saw it, his mind went blank.
No mug.
No notebook.
No charger.
Nothing.
Just a huge bouquet of roses sitting alone on an empty desk.
Something tightened violently in his chest.
Adrian stared at the desk.
Then turned away.
He tugged sharply at the silver chain around his neck.
"No."
His voice was firm.
"Impossible."
Absolutely impossible.
They had eaten dinner together last night.
She'd cooked for him.
They'd gone grocery shopping.
He'd ridden on her scooter.
She'd made him a mango smoothie.
He'd even been the first person she'd ever let ride on the back of her scooter.
How could she possibly be gone?
Adrian marched back into his office.
He grabbed his phone and immediately messaged Emma.
The message didn't go through.
Adrian frowned.
He tried again.
Nothing.
His stomach dropped.
Then he noticed what had happened.
He froze.
She blocked me?
His fingers tightened around the phone.
Emma blocked me?
For several seconds, his brain simply refused to process that information.
Why?
Why the hell would she block him?
His heart started pounding.
He immediately found Emma's phone number and called her.
Ring.
Ring.
Emma was asleep.
Of course she was asleep.
She didn't have to work anymore.
The first benefit of unemployment was sleeping in.
Her phone started ringing beside her.
Emma groaned.
One arm emerged from under the blanket and blindly searched the nightstand until her fingers found the phone.
She squinted at the screen.
Emma:
"......"
Decline.
She dropped the phone back onto the nightstand.
She didn't work for him anymore.
Why would she answer her former boss's phone call?
Was she insane?
Two seconds later—
Emma opened one eye.
Decline.
She rolled over.
The phone rang again.
Emma sat up.
Her long hair was a mess around her shoulders.
"What is wrong with this man?"
She answered.
"This better be important."
The moment Adrian heard Emma's familiar voice, the pressure in his chest eased slightly.
She was there.
She hadn't disappeared.
Normally, this was where he would've demanded an explanation.
Why hadn't she come to work?
Why had she cleared out her desk?
Why had she blocked him?
But then he heard her tone.
And suddenly—
he didn't dare.
Some instinct told him that if he said one wrong thing, Emma would hang up and block his number too.
Adrian swallowed.
His voice came out unusually gentle.
"Are you taking the day off?"
His assistant, standing nearby, slowly turned his head.
His eyes widened.
What the hell?
He had never heard Adrian Mercer speak that gently to anyone.
Not once.
And why did he suddenly look so...
careful?
Almost nervous?
The assistant's entire worldview shifted.
Holy shit.
Emma actually trained him.
And, disturbingly—
the assistant found this extremely satisfying.
Emma stared at the ceiling.
Adrian had called her three times in a row for this?
She'd thought something serious had happened.
Maybe some billion-dollar corporate disaster.
Not that she'd ever been involved in anything worth billions.
The closest she'd gotten was probably shopping during Prime Day.
She'd saved thirty bucks on a vacuum cleaner once.
Basically corporate finance.
Emma rubbed her eyes.
"What do you mean, taking the day off?"
"I quit."
"I'm not coming back."
Her voice was still husky from sleep.
To Adrian, it sounded soft and lazy.
Almost intimate.
Which somehow made the words hurt even more.
"Wait."
Adrian's voice immediately softened.
"I didn't approve your resignation."
Emma:
"......"
"So you're not quitting," he continued.
"Take today off."
"Come back tomorrow."
Then—
he hung up.
Emma stared at her phone.
"......"
Did this idiot seriously hang up so I couldn't say no?
The moment Adrian ended the call, every ounce of fake confidence disappeared.
His chest felt heavy.
Like someone had dropped him into deep water and was slowly taking away the air.
He looked at his assistant.
"Emma's coming back tomorrow, right?"
The assistant:
"......"
Oh, God.
This was a trap.
There was no correct answer.
There were only answers that got him killed at different speeds.
He forced a smile.
"She... probably will?"
Adrian's expression darkened.
"What do you mean, probably?"
The assistant straightened.
"She will."
Adrian glared at him.
"She definitely will."
The assistant nodded immediately.
"Definitely."
"Absolutely."
"One hundred percent."
Adrian finally looked away.
Right.
Emma would come back.
Of course she would.
She wouldn't just leave him.
His eyes landed on a little succulent sitting on the corner of his desk.
He picked it up.
His assistant immediately had a bad feeling.
Adrian plucked off one leaf.
"Emma will come back."
Another.
"Emma won't come back."
Another.
"She'll come back."
Another.
"She won't."
The assistant stared at him.
Then at the succulent.
What did the plant ever do to you?
Adrian kept going.
"Come back."
"Won't."
"Come back."
"Won't."
Finally, there was one leaf left.
Adrian plucked it.
"She won't come back."
Silence.
Adrian stared at the leaf in his hand.
His face slowly darkened.
Then he looked at his assistant.
"Go buy another succulent."
The assistant:
"......"
He looked at the massacred plant.
I'm sorry.
You deserved better.
Back at her apartment, Emma was now completely awake.
She genuinely couldn't understand Adrian.
Hadn't he always found her annoying?
She finally left.
Shouldn't he be celebrating?
Why was he trying to get her back?
Besides—
Mrs. Mercer had already paid her five thousand dollars.
There was absolutely no chance Emma was going back.
A deal was a deal.
She leaned against her pillows and started scrolling through her phone.
A notification appeared.
Emma looked at it.
Then dismissed it.
Nope.
She'd already blocked him once.
She wasn't reopening that door.
As far as she was concerned, their professional relationship was over.
No one at Mercer Holdings knew exactly how Adrian survived that morning.
But everyone knew how his assistant survived it.
The office shipping group had been exploding for hours.
Adrian's assistant stared at the messages.
Then slowly looked toward Adrian's office.
Through the glass, he could see Adrian sitting at his desk.
Beside him sat a brand-new succulent.
The assistant looked back at his phone.
He sighed.
Easy for you people to say.
You're watching the show.