Chapter 77
– a reminder of
Alice took a taxi back to her apartment, noticing bloodstains on her sleeve helping Noah into the car. After changing, she saw Noah’s reply: [Yeah.] Just one word. The man was always concise, almost stingy with his words, unless he was being sarcastic. That night, during her livestream, Noah relentlessly sent gifts. Alice ignored them, but the chat exploded.
[Is that Lemon’s second brother? He’s so generous!]
[I thought she wasn’t close to her family. That’s over a million in donations!]
[She’s a heiress, after all. Even if she’s fighting with her family, it won’t change her status. I’m jealous of all that brotherly love!]
Alice’s mood soured. She
sent Noah
private message:“Stop sending gifts.”
Noah replied: “Just accept them. You need money living on your own.”
But she didn’t need their charity.
Annoyed, she contacted the platform staff after her stream, requesting a refund of Noah’s gifts. She didn’t need their money.
Seeing the refund notification, Noah sighed deeply.“Does Alice hate me that much?” The butler said, “Second Master, Miss Alice is just making a point. Her goal is to get rid of Miss Chloe. Only then will she return.”
“Alice’s not like that. I neglected her feelings, and this is the result.”
Second Master, Miss Chloe is innocent. If not for the incident all those years ago, she wouldn’t have become an orphan and suffered so much. She’s the most
innocent
one.”
Noah was torn. Chloe hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was Chloe who had caused Alice’s current situation. He didn’t know what to do.
His secretary entered. “Mr. Windham, we still haven’t fixed the firewall issue. Miss Alice was in charge of that section. She must know how to fix it.”
Noah chuckled wryly.“But she won’t talk to me.”
“Shall I try contacting Miss Alice?”
Noah nodded, still hoping for reconciliation.
The secretary called Alice.“Miss Alice, I’m Mr. Windham’s secretary. We’ve met before.”
“What is it?” Alice recognized the voice; the secretary had been one of the few who had stood up for her in her past life.
“Miss Alice, there’s a problem with the firewall on the software your branch developed. The partner wants to cancel the contract if it’s not fixed. Could you come to the company?” Alice remembered the incident from her past life. She’d rushed to fix the problem, only to have Chloe steal her credit. This secretary had defended her, only to be reprimanded by Noah. Alice hesitated. “I’m not a Windham Corporation employee. It’s not my responsibility.” “But you were involved.”
That was then. I considered myself part of the Windham family. Things are different now.”
1435
Noah heard her words clearly, his lips trembling.
The secretary said, “Miss Alice, consider this freelance work. We’ll pay you Danielet rates. What do you say?”
Alice didn’t want the money, but if the project was canceled, the secretary would suffer. She agreed. Fine. I’ll come tomorrow.” She would repay this favor.
The next day, Alice went to Windham Corporation. The building felt familiar, as if she was still in her past life. She went straight to the top floor.
The secretary, Li, was waiting.“Miss Alice, this way.”
Alice entered Noah’s office and saw him there. He’d been discharged early! He stood up obsequiously. “Alice, you’re early. Did you have breakfast? I bought some of your favorites.”
Alice saw breakfast items on the table. Noah picked up a bean paste bun.“Alice, you love bean paste buns.”
Alice’s lips curled. “Chloe likes bean paste buns, not me.”
Noah’s hands trembled. He frantically discarded the bun. I’m getting old. You… you like soup
dumplings.”
Alice’s expression was calm.“My favorite is jianbing (savory crepe).” Not bean paste buns, not soup dumplings.
Noah could barely stand, his breath catching in his throat. His face was contorted with guilt. Alice, I’ve been a terrible brother. Can you give me another chance?”
Alice picked up the documents.“Why bother? Isn’t this better?” Peace and distance
Noah’s eyes reddened.“Alice, I want to make it up to you.”
“Unnecessary.”
Alice left with the documents. Secretary Davis glared at Noah.“Sir, such a golden opportunity, and you messed it up.”
Noah was frustrated.“I clearly remember she liked bean paste buns. The butler told me.” His face darkened. Did the butler lie to me?”
“Sir,
you didn’t remember Miss Alice’s preferences. You don’t care about her.”
Noah slumped onto the sofa, his stomach aching.“What can I do to make amends? Do you have any ideas?” He genuinely wanted to repair their relationship.
Davis thought for a moment.“I’ll tell the branch manager that Miss Alice is here for work and to treat her respectfully. Start with the small things.”
“You’re right. I’ll let Alice manage the branch. She’ll see my sincerity then, right?” He recalled Alice’s past ambition to run a company.
Alice left the top floor and went directly to the branch office. She knew where the firewall problem lay; she needed to rewrite the code on–site and retest it.
She checked her phone. A message: [Alice, I’m sorry. Second Brother was wrong. I got your preferences wrong. It won’t happen again.] It was Noah.
But she didn’t care anymore. Didn’t he understand?
1415
Chapter 77
She reached the branch office reception. “Hello, I’m the engineer here to fix the software.” “Alice, what are you doing here?”
Chloe, dressed in designer clothes, entered, her eyes wary.
Alice’s expression didn’t change.“None of your business.”
The manager rushed out, having heard that the heiress was visiting. He looked at Alice and Chloe, troubled. Which one was the Lu heiress?
The receptionist said to Alice, This lady is here to apply for the engineering position.”
The manager approached Chloe enthusiastically. This impeccably dressed lady must be the Lu heiress.
