My Online Lover Was the Mafia Boss Who Fired Me Chapter 10
Three years later, I became the youngest regional general manager at Aurelia Maritime.
A new analyst joined my department.
Julian Hart.
Twenty–four, just out of grad school.
Smart, hardworking, just a little impulsive.
His first time doing a risk report on his own, he dragged the wrong formula line.
The department head chewed him out in front of everyone.
“You can even make a stupid mistake like this?
“What the hell did you learn in four years of college?”
Julian stood by the conference table.
His face was bright red.
His hand gripping the report was shaking.
I stopped when I walked past, and glanced at the report.
“Reimport the data.
“Send it to me by five p.m.”
The head of department tried to say more.
I closed the file.
“It’s fine once the mistake’s fixed.
“Humiliating him won’t fix the formula automatically.”
Julian looked up at me.
His eyes were red, but he held the tears back hard.
That look reminded me of myself three years earlier.
After the meeting, he chased me to the elevator bank.
“Ms. Mercer.
“Thank you so much.”
“It’s fine.”
The elevator doors opened.
I stepped inside.
Before they closed, I saw him still standing there, his entire ear bright red.
After that, I slowly realized Julian had a crush on me.
He always made excuses to come into my office.
Delivering files.
Giving updates.
Asking questions that didn’t need to be asked in person.
Every morning, there was an extra coffee on my desk.
No sugar.
Just a splash of milk.
He never admitted he bought it.
I never called him out on it.
I wasn’t stringing him along.
It just didn’t feel necessary.
Crushes at his age came fast, and they could disappear just as fast.
He thought I was great today.
Tomorrow he’d meet a prettier, younger woman and move on.
Besides, I didn’t need anyone’s affection to prove I was worth something anymore.
Halfway through a meeting, Julian was sitting in the back row staring at me the whole time.
A coworker next to him nudged him, and he snapped back to attention.
The tip of his ear got even redder.
I pretended I didn’t see it and kept walking through the presentation.
After the meeting, I walked past the break room.
I heard my coworkers gossiping inside.
“It’s here again.
“Champagne roses.
“Three whole years, one bouquet every month.
“That Valtieri Don really is lovesick, huh?”
“Lovesick my ass. I heard Ms. Mercer used to work at his company, and he was the one who fired her after
humiliating her to her face.
“What’s the point of playing heartbroken now?”
I kept walking straight back to my office.
Julian was standing by my desk, hiding something in his hand.
When he saw me, he instinctively tucked it behind his back.
“Can I help you?”
“Nothing.”
His smile was a little stiff.
“Someone sent flowers for you downstairs again.
“Do you want me to take care of them?”
I looked at his young face, and suddenly felt tired.
The champagne roses had been coming for three years.
The calls and requests to meet had gone on for three years too.
I’d turned all of them down.
Elio never used his family power to force me anymore.
But he’d never really given up either.
“Put them in the cleaning closet,” I said.
Julian blinked in surprise.
Then he nodded hard.
“Okay.”
He carried the flowers out of the office.
His step was a lot lighter than before.