Chapter 6

I could see the displeasure in Bruce's eyes when he neared us. "Care to explain, Ms. Fisher?" He asked, all business-like. Cindy hurriedly explained, "It's nothing to do with Nance, Bruce. I'm just too dumb." She looked like she was blaming herself. "Wait for me in the car," Bruce said gently, as if consoling her. Cindy turned to me as if waiting for my instruction, amusing me greatly. She had no need to listen to my instructions when her sugar daddy was right there. Bruce said again when Cindy didn't move, "Be good." Only then did Cindy obediently clear her things and leave the office. Bruce then made me go to Cindy's office. He stood with his back to me as he examined the office before finally looking at me. "Haven't you bought an air purifier yet?" How considerate of him. I said quietly, "The store will have it delivered tomorrow." Bruce said nothing momentarily as he tapped his fingers on the desk. He then said, "Cindy isn't like you. She was only able to be enrolled in Nicox University because of their quota requirement. Don't expect too much from her." Expect too much? All it took was a simple front-end code for Bruce to deem as high expectations? Fine. He was the sugar daddy here, after all. I paused for a moment before responding, "Then how should I delegate tasks to Ms. Lane from now on, Mr. Harold?" Bruce met my gaze and said sternly, "Make sure what happened today never happens again." His firm tone and gaze made me realize this was the extent he would go to when he was protective of someone. As pain lanced through my chest, I heard my voice say, "As you wish, Mr. Harold." It was 8:00 pm by the time Bruce left. David was still in the office, and when he saw me sitting in my cubicle unmoving, he asked gently, "Are you unwell, Nance?" "No." "But you look terrible. Why don't I drive you to the hospital?" I waved my hand. "I think I'm just hungry. You can go home first." David looked at me, hesitating to speak. He'd witnessed my conversation with Bruce earlier. After giving it some thought, I said, "I'm fine, really. Why don't you go back and get some rest?" Only then did David leave. I sat silently for a moment before switching on my laptop. As I tried to code, my thoughts got more and more complicated. Past memories resurfaced within me, suffocating my heart and making it hard to breathe. Perhaps to Bruce, our six years—more than two thousand days—spent together meant less than the little bit of grievance Cindy suffered. I coded the entire night before taking the time to edit everything. If our progress was fast, we'd be able to finish the game code in three months. I just needed to work a little harder. Cindy panicked when she saw me brushing my teeth in the pantry. "Were you here the whole night, Nancy?" I replied calmly, "I had to spend some extra time fixing some faulty code." Cindy looked sympathetic. "You work too hard. Wait here, I'll give you some of the granola bars Bruce sent me." She then ran off like a sly little rabbit. How heartless of Cindy to pretend what happened yesterday didn't transpire. Maybe this was what it was like to be doted on. Unlike me, who only had all this code to show for. I was swamped with work the following two days—up until I received a call from Kate, that is. "It's the weekend tomorrow, Nance. I know a restaurant with really good food. Why don't you and your boyfriend come have dinner with me there?" I had no idea how Kate managed to obtain my phone number. Of course, I also knew the dinner tomorrow wasn't solely for eating purposes. What did Kate want to uncover? Could it be that Bruce hadn't told his mother about Cindy yet? Regardless, I had no interest in the Harold family's affairs. So I responded with, "Sorry, Kate. I have to work overtime tomorrow." Kate paused for a moment as if not having expected my refusal. She then grumbled, "I heard about Bruce's investment in your company's project. I'll tell him not to pressure you too much because of it." So Kate was using her identity as our investor's mother to pressure me. I furrowed my brow and relented, "Alright. Dinner tomorrow, then?" "Yes! I'll send you the location. Remember to bring your boyfriend along with you." What boyfriend? Oh well, I'll wait till tomorrow to explain things to Kate. The next evening, I arrived on time at the restaurant Kate recommended in the countryside. It was elegantly decorated, and the servers dressed eloquently. One look and you could immediately tell this was an expensive restaurant. Kate had pretty much upgraded her lifestyle as well. She looked at me curiously in the private dining room and asked, "Are you here alone? Isn't your boyfriend joining you tonight?" "He's busy." A glimmer of suspicion appeared in her eyes, but Kate quickly said, "Okay then. Bruce is still on his way here. We can order our food first." My grip around my glass of water tensed. Bruce was coming over, too? Kate gazed at me questioningly when I said nothing in response. "Now that your company is working with Bruce's, do you happen to know a young woman by the name of Cindy Lane?" It seemed like I'd guessed right. Bruce hadn't formally introduced Cindy to his family yet. I replied, "I'm not too sure. I don't often cross paths with Mr. Harold." Kate sighed and said, "I overheard some gossip at Roeval yesterday about how Bruce had placed an order for an expensive cocktail dress. The recipient was someone called Ms. Lane." Kate then shot me a look, to which I replied with a smile. "You can ask Mr. Harold about this instead, Kate." I couldn't care less about other people's affairs, especially not Bruce's. Kate scowled, "I'm just worried, Nance. To tell you the truth, I've already looked into this Ms. Lane. She comes from an ordinary family who owns a snack shop. She isn't exactly an exceptional student, either. I don't understand why Bruce likes her." Kate's meaning was simple—someone like Cindy didn't deserve Bruce at all. In truth, I was surprised too. I always thought the woman who Bruce doted on would at least be some rich heiress. "Oh, dear me." Kate quickly covered her mouth when she saw how unresponsive I was being. "I don't mean anything bad, Nancy. C'mon then, let's order." Kate was probably concerned about why Bruce would set his eyes on an ordinary woman who wasn't even on the same standing as me. But then again, when was love ever reasonable? Bruce soon arrived dressed in a suit. When he saw that it was just Kate and I in the room, he asked mockingly, "Didn't you bring your boyfriend along?" As if he'd guessed I was lying. I figured I'd previously reduced myself too much in front of Kate and Bruce, which gave them the impression that I was a pushover. A notification popped up on my phone just then. I glanced at the screen to find that it was a message from Douglas. The text read, "Are you free tomorrow night? I heard the new crime thriller movie is pretty good. Want to watch it together?" I held my phone and responded to Bruce in an airy tone, "I'll bring him over next time."