After abruptly ending the eting, Xander decided to return ho. However, what confused Taylor the most was the fact that his boss had completely ignored everything he said ever since they left the conference room.
Instead, Xander remained seated in the backseat, staring intensely at the phone in his hand.
’Just what’s in there?’ Taylor wondered for the hundredth ti as he secretly glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
His boss hadn’t moved an inch. Not even a muscle on his face twitched. The more Xander sat there like a frozen statue glaring at his phone, the more concerned Taylor beca.
"Boss, about the eting—"
"Cancel it."
The response ca so fast that Taylor nearly bit his tongue in shock.
"Huh?"
It was then Taylor noticed Xander subtly adjusting the collar of his suit as though he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Are you not feeling well, Boss?" Taylor asked cautiously. "Should I call a doctor?"
Xander slowly lifted his eyes and looked at him as if he had just asked the dumbest question imaginable.
Taylor imdiately gulped.
Truthfully, he wanted to assu this strange behavior had sothing to do with Ivy. After all, he had practically begged her earlier to help them because everyone in the company felt like they were walking on thin ice around Xander lately.
Still, Taylor also knew Ivy was probably still upset after the endless ridiculous nicknas Xander kept calling her.
But now...
Now Taylor was less curious about Ivy and more curious about the mysterious thing inside that phone that had sohow turned the terrifying Xander Erson into a socially malfunctioning robot.
"Taylor."
The sudden call of his na snapped him out of his thoughts instantly.
"Y-Yes, Boss?" he stamred nervously, terrified Xander had caught him staring.
Taylor prided himself on being observant without ever getting caught. Yet sohow today, his survival instincts had completely failed him.
Xander remained silent for a mont before asking in the calst tone possible,
"How many girlfriends have you had?"
Taylor’s lips parted in utter confusion.
’With your grace? None. Because you work harder than a divorced father paying child support.’
But of course, he valued his life too much to say that out loud.
"Ah... about that..." Taylor awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "I’ve had plenty."
He smiled proudly.
"Though none of them lasted more than a week."
Xander stared at him blankly.
Taylor’s smile slowly stiffened.
"But Boss..." he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. "Why are you suddenly asking this? Are you planning to set up on a blind date?"
Suddenly, Taylor’s eyes sparkled with hope.
It had been ages since he’d had a proper break. Working under Xander ant living like a full-ti hostage with a salary. Between business enemies, endless schedules, and emotional damage, dating was practically impossible.
So the re possibility that his boss was finally developing human empathy almost brought tears to his eyes.
"No."
Taylor’s smile disappeared instantly.
The heartbreak was imdiate.
"So then why ask about my girlfriends?" he complained with a pout. "You can’t just give a man hope and destroy it in two seconds, Boss."
Xander ignored his suffering completely.
"Because I wanted to know what this ans when it cos from a girl."
Taylor frowned in confusion. But the mont Xander turned his phone screen toward him, his jaw dropped so hard it almost dislocated.
"D-DOUBLE HEART EMOJIS?!" Taylor gasped dramatically, staring at the two bright red hearts on the screen like they were sacred symbols sent from heaven itself.
His eyes widened further when he saw the sender’s na.
Ivy.
Taylor’s soul practically left his body.
For a solid five seconds, the car fell into complete silence.
Then suddenly—
"BOSS!" Taylor scread so loudly the driver nearly swerved the car off the road.
Xander frowned. "Why are you yelling?"
"WHY AM I YELLING?!" Taylor clutched his chest like he was having cardiac arrest. "Boss, do you even understand what this ans?!"
"That’s exactly why I asked you."
Taylor stared at him in disbelief.
"You... you really don’t know?"
Xander’s expression darkened slightly. "If I knew, would I ask?"
Taylor almost cried. A billionaire genius who could destroy global companies within hours... yet defeated by two tiny red heart emojis.
Humanity truly was balanced.
"Boss," Taylor said solemnly, trying his best to remain professional despite internally losing his mind, "this... this is dangerous."
Xander’s eyes narrowed imdiately. "Dangerous?"
"Yes." Taylor nodded seriously. "Very dangerous."
"Explain."
Taylor took a deep breath. "A girl sending double heart emojis ans one of two things."
Xander leaned forward slightly.
"She either likes you..." Taylor paused dramatically.
"Or?" Xander asked impatiently.
Taylor swallowed. "Or she likes you a lot."
The entire car went silent again as Taylor nervously watched as Xander stared back at the phone screen, his expression unreadable.
Then, after a long pause—the corner of Xander’s lips lifted ever so slightly, leaving Taylor frozen in horror.
’Oh no.’
His boss was smiling. This was not normal. This was the beginning of a disaster.
"Boss... did you just smile?"
The mont those words left Taylor’s mouth, the faint curve on Xander’s lips vanished instantly, returning to his usual cold and unreadable expression.
Taylor nearly slapped himself ntally.
Why would he point it out?
Why?
"Ahem..." Xander cleared his throat lightly before adjusting his cufflinks with complete composure. "You’re imagining things. Focus on the road ahead."
Taylor stared at him in disbelief.
’Imagining things?’
The man had smiled. Actually smiled.
Taylor had worked under Xander for years and had seen him threaten businessn, destroy competitors, terrify shareholders, and once make an executive cry during a presentation...
...but smiling?
That was rarer than a solar eclipse.
’I only asked Ivy to help calm him down,’ Taylor cried internally. ’How did she end up knocking the boss off balance completely?’
Seriously, what kind of magic were two heart emojis carrying?
"Wow..." Taylor muttered under his breath in amazent. "What a dangerous flirting move..."
"Did you say sothing?" Xander’s calm voice suddenly ca from the backseat.
Taylor instantly straightened like a soldier caught slacking off.
"No, Boss!" he answered imdiately.
Xander narrowed his eyes suspiciously before glancing back down at his phone again, the corner of his lips curving once again.
***
Ivy had no idea how long she had been lying around in her room doing absolutely nothing.
At first, the silence felt peaceful. Now it was driving her insane.
She wasn’t soone who could stay isolated for too long, but considering she had nowhere else to go for the mont, she had no choice but to remain locked inside the room.
"Should I go et Sal?" she suddenly muttered, her eyes lighting up. "I’m sure he must be bored without ."
But the excitent disappeared almost instantly.
"...Actually, maybe not." She sighed dramatically and flopped back onto the bed. "With all the delicious food in front of him, he probably forgot I even exist."
The betrayal hurt.
Ivy had completely lost track of ti since Taylor called her earlier. But now that she thought about it, she suddenly wondered what was happening over at the company after she rejected his desperate plea for help.
"I’m sure he’s working himself to death right now," she snickered evilly.
Honestly, Taylor deserved it.
Ivy still hadn’t forgotten the incident at the cliff. Even though she couldn’t exactly take revenge with guns and violence anymore—mostly because of Leo—she decided ntally torturing Taylor was the next best thing.
Served him right.
Feeling slightly better, Ivy finally picked up her phone again.
"Why hasn’t Leo replied yet?" she muttered while unlocking the screen. "Did he fall asleep already?"
She had sent him those heart emojis earlier thinking he would like it. But the second the chat opened her entire being freezed.
"...What?" Her soul practically left her body as her eyes widened slowly. Then widened even more. And then—
"WHAT?!"
Ivy shot upright from the bed so fast she nearly threw her phone across the room.
"No no no no no—" Her fingers trembled violently as she stared at the screen in horror.
The chat wasn’t with Leo. It was with Leo’s father.
Xander Erson!!!!
The blood drained from Ivy’s face instantly as her brain stopped functioning for a full five seconds before pure panic exploded inside her like fireworks.
"I SENT HIM HEARTS?!" she shrieked, clutching her head dramatically. "DOUBLE HEARTS?!"
Ivy imdiately buried her face into a pillow and scread.
"MURDER ."
How did this happen?!
What should I do?
Did he see it?
Should I delete it
Ivy freaked out so badly that she nearly fell off the bed.
"No no no no—"
Clutching her phone tightly, she jumped to her feet and began pacing around the room like soone seconds away from a ntal breakdown.
She genuinely thought she had texted Leo.
How was she supposed to know Xander had sohow ended up saved under the na ’Leo’s Father’?!
"Arghhh!" Ivy grabbed her hair dramatically as panic continued flooding through her system.
"This is so embarrassing!"
She stopped in the middle of the room and stared at the screen again as if hoping the ssages would magically disappear on their own.
Spoiler alert: they didn’t.
The two bright red hearts remained there proudly, mocking her existence.
"How do you even make a mistake this huge, Raven?!" she scolded herself, pointing accusingly at her own reflection in the mirror. "Were your eyes closed?! Were you possessed?!"
She groaned loudly and flopped face-first onto the bed again before imdiately sitting back up in frustration.
"No, wait..."
Suddenly, her expression changed.
Her twitching eye narrowed dangerously.
"This is all France’s fault."
The panic in her face slowly turned into irritation.
"That psycho..." she muttered through gritted teeth. "Why was he bombarding with ssages nonstop?!"
If he hadn’t kept spamming her phone earlier, she wouldn’t have gotten distracted.
And if she hadn’t gotten distracted— she wouldn’t have accidentally sent double heart emojis to the coldest man alive.
Ivy was still in the middle of her ntal breakdown when suddenly she heard the sound of a car entering the premises.
Her entire body stiffened instantly.
’He’s here...’
Her eyes widened.
’He’s here, he’s here, he— wait... is he actually here already?!’
Panic exploded inside her all over again.
"I’m never leaving this room again," Ivy declared dramatically before collapsing face-first onto the bed.
At this point, death honestly sounded less embarrassing.
Because facing Xander after making such a massive blunder?
That was far worse.
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