Chapter 20- work

Chapter 20: Chapter 20- work Lilian threw herself completely into revising her thesis and preparing for the final defense. She practically camped out at Tiffany’s place, sneaking food and drinks while dedicating all her energy to this one goal. Naturally, she had neither time nor mental space to contact Morrison. What could she do? Only when she saw Morrison in person did she really remember she was his girlfriend. When they didn’t meet, it was like the whole relationship slipped from her mind. On Morrison’s side, after Lilian asked for a break from seeing each other, there was absolutely no chance he’d reach out first. His pride and ego wouldn’t allow it. Sean, on the other hand, was desperate to find out who this mysterious girlfriend was. He hoped Morrison would make some move so he could dig up some gossip. But for nearly a week, Morrison stayed completely low-key—working during the day, staying late for overtime or social events at night, no hint of a date anywhere. Morrison went about his life like nothing was different, but Sean was getting restless. One day, Sean stormed into Norton’s office. "Boss, Morrison’s been working late or out at social events every night this week. No dates at all. Do you think they broke up already?" Norton had no interest in office gossip, but hearing the word "breakup" made him frown. "Just a few days and already breaking up? Shows you that dating someone your own age is the only way to make it last." Neither of them had any idea that the handsome and capable Morrison had actually been ordered not to see anyone right now—hence no dates. Later, Sean couldn’t hold it in. When he went in to report on work, he casually added, "Boss, why haven’t you been going on any dates these past few days?" The moment Sean said "dates," Morrison’s expression darkened as if a sore spot was pressed. He snapped his head up and glared at Sean. "Who am I supposed to be dating?" If he remembered correctly, he hadn’t publicly announced his relationship with Lilian. The only time he’d mentioned it was when he asked Norton’s opinion about buying her those earrings during a business trip. Norton asked if he had a new girlfriend, and he didn’t deny it. Morrison trusted Norton wasn’t the kind to gossip or spread things to Sean. So how had Sean found out? Sean just smiled wryly, noticing the pitiful look in Morrison’s voice and eyes. "My brother told me you started seeing someone new. But I haven’t gotten any flower deliveries or dinner invitations to pass on, so I was just wondering..." As Morrison’s secretary, Sean handled all his daily office work—and clearly, he was a very curious one. Sean was the one in charge of all the dating arrangements—flowers, gifts, the whole package. Every one of Morrison’s ex-girlfriends had their affairs managed by Sean. Morrison had been living quite comfortably, but as soon as Sean mentioned dates, it immediately reminded him of the "no seeing each other for now" order. That feeling of frustration bubbled up instantly. All his irritation was unleashed on Sean without a second thought. "Have you finished your work? Mind your own business!" "Get out!" Sean became the scapegoat and was promptly shown the door without any courtesy. Still, this confirmed Sean’s suspicion that the boss might actually have broken up—otherwise, Morrison wouldn’t be in such a foul mood. Sure, the breakups always had Morrison doing the dumping, but even so, everyone deserves to feel a little down sometimes. That evening, Morrison was having dinner with Dave. Dave brought up how his sister was living at their mother’s place, mooching food and drinks while desperately preparing for her thesis defense. Dave couldn’t help but complain, "I just don’t get it. What’s so stressful about a thesis defense? If you’ve done well all along, why get so worked up now?" Morrison thought Dave was totally out of touch. How many people had it as easy as Dave, whose knowledge back in college was enough to teach the professors? For Dave, the thesis and defense were nothing more than a walk in the park. "You think everyone’s a genius like you?" Morrison couldn’t help but defend the girl being criticized. His girl was fair-skinned, beautiful, and cute — how could Dave be so heartless? Besides, what was the point of a girl studying so hard anyway? It was better to marry well than just study well. Finding a good man to love her was what truly mattered. After Sean’s mention of dates had gotten under his skin earlier, Morrison had actually thought about calling Lilian to ask her out. But now, hearing that she was spending all her time at Tiffany’s place, it seemed unlikely she’d want to come out. Better not to ask at all than get rejected. He felt annoyed at himself for having that thought in the first place. When she said not to see each other for a while, he was furious and swore that if she didn’t take the initiative to reach out, he wouldn’t bother either. And yet here he was, tempted to ask again. It frustrated him to no end. As for Morrison defending his girl, Dave just glanced at him without much reaction. Because in the past, whenever Dave complained about his own sister, Morrison always stood up for her, saying things like she was just young and naive. So this time, Dave didn’t think much of it. Dave himself was also troubled lately—he and Laurent were divorced, Laurent had returned to her parents in the small town, and the two of them were now living apart. Every day felt like a torment. As they were finishing their meal, Morrison asked, "After Lilian graduates, will you arrange for her to join Washington Co. directly?" "Yeah. Where else would she go? Do you really think any other company would hire her, given her skills?" That was Dave’s answer. Morrison opened his mouth to say that Lilian had excellent academic results, but he swallowed the words back. Why Morrison knew so much about Lilian was because a few days ago he had someone look into everything about her at school — including her feud with Angela and her academic performance. Honestly, even he wasn’t sure why he bothered digging. What he found out was that the girl had a great reputation on campus. She wasn’t competitive or showy, nor did she seek attention. Angela, on the other hand, really was low-class. Of course, he also discovered Lilian’s grades were actually very good — among the top of her class. Dave often complained to him about how dumb his own sister was, so Morrison had assumed Lilian wouldn’t be much better. But turns out she had won scholarships several times. Naturally, Morrison couldn’t just tell Dave this — otherwise Dave would definitely pry into why Morrison cared so much about his sister. So, he just took a sip of his drink and casually suggested, "Why don’t we have her start at MOS Corp. for some experience? Our finance department is short-staffed anyway, and I’m too lazy to recruit. Let her train here for a while, then move on to Washington Co. It won’t make you lose face." Dave glanced at Morrison. "Are you sure you want to take her on?" Deep down, Dave was more than willing. He’d always been unhappy and baffled by his sister’s choice to study accounting. Now that she was graduating and heading to Washington Co., Dave worried about what trouble she might cause. Having Morrison temporarily take her under his wing sounded like a blessing. But at the same time, Dave grew suspicious. Why would such a sharp guy like Morrison agree to let Lilian join MOS Corp.? Morrison caught the look of doubt immediately and chuckled. "We’re good brothers, right? Helping you out is what I’m supposed to do." He masked his true intentions with brotherly affection and added, "This is just a suggestion anyway. Ultimately, it’s up to her." That reassured Dave. He instinctively believed that his simple sister wouldn’t have any special relationship with Morrison. What he didn’t know was that Lilian had quietly done something earth-shattering behind everyone’s back. After dinner with Morrison, Dave called Lilian to ask if she’d be willing to join Morrison’s company after graduation. Lilian was surprised. "Morrison’s company?" Her mind was a mess from all the thesis stress, and she’d completely forgotten about Morrison’s offer to have her join MOS Corp. She hadn’t expected Morrison to bring it up with Dave so soon and was a little confused. Then she remembered Morrison had mentioned it’d be inconvenient to meet often if she joined Washington Co., so without much thought, she agreed. "Sure, I just graduated anyway, so it doesn’t really matter where I work." To get her big brother’s approval, she added somewhat hesitantly, "If I go to your company without any skills, people will laugh at me and probably at you too. It’d be better to work for Morrison first, gain some experience, then transfer to Washington Co. later — that way it looks better."