Chapter 448: Thanks, Mr. Heston 1

Just as she’d expected, Dylan Heston wasn’t at the company. This put her mind at ease.

The weight that had been hanging over her all morning finally lifted, and she slumped onto her desk, letting out a huge sigh of relief.

At lunchtime, a colleague called out to her, “Time to go!”

“Coming!” She shut down her computer and went out with her colleague.

The company didn’t provide lunch, so employees either brought their own, ordered takeout, or went out to eat.

Since she didn’t know how to cook, she could only go out to eat with her colleagues.

“Wait, I forgot something. Hang on a sec.” Her colleague suddenly remembered she had left something behind and quickly ran back inside.

Nancy Hughes walked to the entrance and saw a man coming out of the manager’s office. She stopped in her tracks.

‘How could he be coming out of there?!’

‘I was watching all morning, and I didn’t see any sign of him.’

Dylan Heston’s gaze swept past them, flickering over her as if he hadn’t seen her at all before he looked away and walked toward the exit.

The manager hurried after him. “This way, Mr. Heston!”

Dylan Heston was rich and powerful, and now he was a major shareholder in the company. The manager fawned over him, pressing the elevator button. “Watch your step, Mr. Heston.”

Standing in the elevator, Dylan Heston had a clear view of Nancy Hughes at the entrance, no more than five meters away.

Just as the elevator doors were closing, the man inside suddenly curled his lips into a handsome smile, just like he used to. In that instant, Nancy felt her heart begin to pound, threatening to burst from her chest.

‘That man… was he just smiling at me?’

‘Or am I hallucinating again?’

Nancy’s colleague was busy getting her things and missed the moment Dylan smiled. “Let’s go, what are you spacing out for!”

Nancy followed her, and the two of them got into another elevator. She asked hesitantly, “Um, is the new shareholder in the office today?”

“You’re just finding that out?”

‘So it’s true? When did he get here this morning?!’

“I figured someone like him wouldn’t need to come to a small company like ours!”

“I don’t know. Anyway, I heard this Mr. Heston might be with our company for the long haul!”

For her, this was very bad news.

The last thing exes needed was to run into each other, especially not in a supervisor-subordinate relationship like theirs.

Perhaps because her mind was preoccupied with Dylan Heston, she had no appetite for lunch and returned to the office feeling exhausted.

The company had hired a lot of new people recently, so her workload had decreased significantly. All she had to do was touch up some line art and contact a few clients.

At noon, the manager came out and announced a company dinner for that evening. Attendance was mandatory unless you had something important to do.

She had plans with Zachary Stone, so she probably couldn’t make it to the party tonight.

Besides, if it was a company party, wouldn’t he be there too?

Nancy Hughes knocked on the manager’s office door. After hearing a “Come in,” she pushed it open and went inside.

She never expected him to be in the office too, currently looking down at a document.

Hearing the noise, he lifted his head and glanced at her, his eyes cold and distant.

“Manager, Mr. Heston!” she said, bracing herself.

“Ah, Hughes, what can I do for you?” Manager Young cleared his throat, putting on his “boss” airs.

‘Dylan Heston is right here. It wouldn’t look good if I pulled the manager outside to talk, would it?’

She might as well just say it here. Besides, there were some things she wanted that man to hear. “Manager, I have something on tonight, so I probably can’t make it!”

“What is it?”

“I already have an appointment to meet a client.” She unconsciously lied, stealing a glance at the man beside her from the corner of her eye.

The man wasn’t looking at her. His head was down, his gaze seemingly fixed on his own hands. His long fingers, holding a fountain pen, seemed to pause for a moment.

“Didn’t I say that everyone has to attend the party today, no matter what!”

“But this client is really important. It took me a long time to get her to agree to meet me.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can meet the client another time, but you must attend this party today!” Manager Young whispered to Nancy. “Do you have any idea who that is sitting over there? A hundred of your clients aren’t worth one of him. This party is for him, so you have to be there!”

“But…”

The man sitting at the desk suddenly dropped the pen in his hand, which landed on the desk with a sharp CLACK. “Manager Young, an employee who uses her personal time to work for the company should be commended.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right, Mr. Heston!” The manager’s tune changed instantly, sycophantically agreeing with Dylan Heston. “In that case, you don’t have to come tonight!”

“Thank you, Manager!”

“Don’t thank me. You should thank Mr. Heston!”

Nancy Hughes’s gaze shifted to the man beside her, who was leaning back leisurely in the large executive chair.

Her throat tightened. She forced the words out. “Thank you, Mr. Heston.”

“Mm, go on back to work.”

Back at her desk, she collapsed onto the surface, exhausted.

That brief conversation with Dylan Heston felt like it had drained all her strength.

If he was going to work here every day from now on, did that mean they would have to see each other daily, and probably more than once?

Every moment spent near Dylan Heston felt like it was killing her, leaving her completely drained.

She’d wanted to skip the party partly to avoid Dylan Heston, and partly because she really did have plans with Zachary Stone.

She thought Zachary Stone was a pretty good guy. Being with him, whether just talking or doing things together, always felt pleasant.

‘Spending the rest of her life with him might not be an impossible notion.’

She never thought she would run into the very person she was trying to avoid.

She didn’t know whether to call herself unlucky, or just plain unlucky.

The restaurant Zachary Stone had chosen happened to be the same one where her company was holding its party.

In the women’s restroom, she ran right into her colleague. It was incredibly awkward.

“Huh? Nancy, what are you doing here?”

She gave a hollow laugh and asked uncertainly, “Are you guys having your company dinner here?”

“Yeah!” her colleague replied, then asked, “Who are you here with? Why don’t you come join us?”

Thinking of Zachary Stone waiting outside, and then of Dylan Heston who was with her colleagues, her scalp tingled with dread. She quickly shook her head. “No, I can’t!”

“Aw, come on! It’s rare for us to go out. The more the merrier!” the female colleague insisted.

“Really, I can’t. You guys go have fun.”

Seeing her insistence, the colleague didn’t press the issue. “Alright then, I’ll head back!”

“Okay, you go on!”

When she returned to her seat, the food had already been served.

Zachary Stone thoughtfully poured her some juice. “What took you so long?”

“I just ran into a colleague.” She took a sip of juice, her heart racing with anxiety.

A sheen of sweat covered her forehead, and her palms were clammy.

Zachary noticed her odd behavior. “Are you hot?”

“I’m fine!” she said with an awkward smile, the unease in her heart growing.

‘Dylan and the others are right in there. What if they suddenly come out and see me?’

‘They probably won’t just come out, right? No, what if they do? What if he sees me with Zachary?’

‘Dylan approved my absence from the party because I told him I was meeting a client.’

Her mind was a chaotic buzz. ‘No, no, he doesn’t know who this client is, or if they’re a man or a woman!’

‘Calm down. Don’t be so anxious. Even if he sees us, I’ll just say Zachary is the client!’

With that thought, her anxious heart began to settle. “How has work been for you lately?”

“Nancy, when we’re together, can we talk about something other than work? You keep bringing it up, and it makes me feel like I’m on a business meeting,” Zachary Stone said, a little displeased.

Work was the main topic of conversation between him and Nancy. Whenever he tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, she would always deflect.

“Sorry, I’m not very good at making conversation,” she said, putting down her chopsticks.

“We can talk about other things. Why don’t you tell me about your past?” Zachary was very curious about Nancy’s past.

Especially about her ex-boyfriend. Even though they had broken up, her ex still seemed to have a huge influence on her.

The pain from her past must have been immense, which was why she was always so guarded and reserved with him.

Nancy was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Zachary to want to know about her past.

Her life, aside from the time she spent with Dylan Heston which had filled it with color, seemed to be a monotonous gray.

“There’s not much to tell.” She scratched her hair. “I grew up in a small town and wanted to study hard to make something of myself. Before college, all I did was study. Then in college, I worked desperately at part-time jobs to pay for tuition and support myself. That’s about it.”

‘I wonder if he’s satisfied with that answer.’

“I was the same way. Studying abroad wasn’t easy. You have to give some things up to get others.” Zachary recalled his own school days, which were almost identical to Nancy’s—juggling academics and part-time jobs to make ends meet.

Sometimes, he even had to endure discrimination from foreigners. No matter where you are, life is full of hardships.

“People see how glamorous your life is now, but no one knows the bitter struggles you went through to get here,” Zachary said earnestly, then smiled. “This topic is a bit heavy. Let’s talk about something else.”

“Did you ever like any guys in college?”

Nancy didn’t expect Zachary to be so nosy. “There was one guy I liked. It was a one-sided crush, and it eventually fizzled out.”

Zachary was a little curious. Perhaps this was the guy who had hurt Nancy so much. “So, you never got in touch again after that?”

She shook her head, her fingers gripping her glass tightly. “He passed away.”

Zachary’s train of thought came to a halt. He said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”