Chapter 694
Having gone through the check-up, Heather and Leon returned to the hospital room. They could do
nothing else but wait for theboratory report, and the boredom that ensued led them both to start
scrolling through their respective phones. Heather, in particr, did not look like she hade to terms
with being a patient.
“Hey, since you’re bored, why don’t you join me for a round of video games?” Leon suggested in an
effort to persuade Heather to y video games.
“I don’t like League of Legends,” she replied. She had never shown much interest in the video games
he yed.
“No, no, we aren’t ying League of Legends; we’re ying Honor of Kings. Are you interested?” Leon
quipped cheerily, as he had recently be a fan of Honor of Kings.
Heather narrowed her eyes at him. She truly had little to no interest in video games, but it seemed as
though he was rather persistent, so she decided to try her hand at a round or two for the fun of it. In
reality, he was angling to pull her into the realm of video gaming with hopes that she might see the
value of it.
However, his efforts were futile. Adamantly maintaining the view that video games were a waste of her
time, she bit out with emphasis, “As far as I’m concerned, video games are a waste of time and
money.”
“But it will be time well-spent because of all the fun!” he argued passionately. He could see himself
setting up a gaming workshop in order to develop a video game based on his own preferences.
“Look, it’s clear that both of us have very different views on this matter. Don’t try to force yours upon
me, and I won’t try to dissuade you from ying your precious video games,” she said inly, sounding
so sensible that Leon allowed her to put a swift end to this debate.
He lowered his head with the manner of a child who had lost an argument and carried on gaming. He
had to ede to Heather’s obstinate refusal to venture into video games. At the sight of his defeatist
demeanor, she smiled. There were times when he was just like a kid, and she was starting to see him
as family—like a little brother she never had.
Being cooped up in a hospital room left Heather with an abundance of free time. She spent a better
part of it staring up at the ceiling, given that she had nothing to do but daydream. Catching sight of this,
Leon tried to persuade her for another round as he pointed out, “It’s a waste of time to daydream, too,
Heather. You might as well pick up a bit of gaming while we wait.”
She blinked slowly and corrected him, “I’m actually prettyfortable spacing out like this. Thanks, but
no thanks, I don’t think I’d start gaming anytime soon.” As she turned down his offer once more, she
wondered briefly how he could be so patient and insistent on this matter.
He fell into yet another bout of disgruntled silence, growing irritated by her tant refusal to indulge in
video games. Does she really have no interest in gaming at all?
With that question in mind, he began to think about what she often did in her spare time, and concluded
that she was a monotonous person. She showed no interest in all the things that trended among young
adults, and instead emted an old soul.
“Have you never done anything that isn’t a waste of time, Heather?” he asked, refusing to believe
otherwise as he maneuvered his avatar through the game.
“I have,” she answered bluntly. “Which is why I try to stay away from doing such things, and gaming
happens to be one of them.” She could not stress enough that she was impassive toward gaming, and
the thought of it being a waste of time only bolstered such ack of interest.
As far as she was concerned, achievements attained in a fictional setting were significantly different
from those attained in the real world. If she had to have anything to do with gaming at all, she would
much rather invest in a couple of game productionpanies than waste time traipsing around a
fictional world. The former venture was a more profitable one, after all.
“What if video gaming is a job requirement? Would you consider it then?” Leon put forth the question in
all seriousness, seeing as he had ns to have Heather invest in his gaming workshop.
“Well, I’ve not been confronted with such a job requirement before.” She paused in thought. Indeed, the
sphere of her job scope would never intersect with that of video games, and she figured it was
pointless for her to give an answer to a hypothetical scenario.
“What if I were to set up a gaming workshop for the fun of it? Would you consider investing in my
venture?” he pressed on, and this time he was brazenly presenting his proposal. He thought it was
about time he set himself to do something useful since he had no goals for the time being.
“I highly doubt if mypleteck of prowess for gaming would do my partner any good,” Heather
countered coolly and rationally, thereby making it clear that she was not keen on the idea of a gaming
workshop.
“Wow, that’s harsh, Heather,” he said in mock disappointment. Just then, he brought up the matter of
starting an enterprise. “You know, we still have to set up ourpany after this.”
Upon hearing this, she grew reticent. She admittedly did not have enough confidence to set up a
unpredictable for her to know how things might turn out. With all the uncertainty that yed into the
picture, it might be necessary for her to dy her ns for a start-up.
Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.
“Are you really nning to hold off on theunch of the business, Heather?” Seeing as he wasn’t able
to leave Bradfort City anytime soon, Leon thought he might work on the ns he had agreed with
Heather previously.
“I don’t know. There’s a lot on my te at the moment, and I don’t even know if I have the energy to set
up my ownpany,” she exined tiredly as she thought about all the things she still had to face
after this. She was frustrated, and she wasn’t sure of her next move either. She had felt so lost before.
“It’s okay to push the ns back; it’s not as if we have to set up thepany right away,” he consoled
her, knowing that her hands were tied. After all, he knew better than most about the troubles that
gued her.
“We still have the Saffords to think about. They’ve put all their trust and expectations in me, and it
would be unfair to them if we kept dying our ns. It would only wear out their faith and patience at
some point.” Heather had been the one who looked for the Saffords and convinced them to jump on the
bandwagon in the first ce, but as things were, she was afraid that she might be forced to go back on
her word, which was something she loathed doing.
“Don’t worry, I’ll smooth things over with them,” Leon answered confidently. Now that I think about it, I
haven’t seen Paige for a while. I wonder how she’s doing.
With a sigh of resignation, Heather replied, “If we keep dragging this out, I don’t even know if I could
keep my own faith.” She had been riddled with self-doubt recently, and on her worst days, she
questioned if she was truly cut out to be a businesswoman.
In the business world, the only things that decided one’s standing were sess and failure. There was
no grey area in between where Heather could get back on her feet and figure things out. She had no
intentions of bing a failing entrepreneur; she wanted to be a winner in that field.
However, it seemed as if she was straying further and further away from her goal. Sess was starting
to look like a faraway dream, and she was growing unhappy with herself. I know I can do better, she
thought sourly.
“What’s up with you, Heather? You’ve been acting all gloomytely. Come on, you should be more
upbeat. You’re Heather Langston for God’s sake! You were iconic on campus, and everyone wanted to
be like you. You shouldn’t think less of yourself,” Leon cheered presently. He could tell how dejected
and unsure she was of herself these days. If this carried on, it would only be a matter of time before
she spiraled into depression.
Presently, Heather stretched out like a starfish on the bed and mused woefully, “Oh, how meaningless
life has be!” She had no qualms about dwelling in sadness, not when she had Leon next to her.
Meanwhile, Matthias had been simmering in anger ever since his return from the hospital and was
currently burying himself in work at Locke Group. Having seen the sullen expression on his face, Lara
started to worry. Her gaze flickered over to him from time to time. However, he paid no attention to her
and was only concerned with the mountainous pile of work at hand.
Lara had gone into his office for multiple reasons just so she could get him to take notice of her, but her
baiting was futile; he did not even spare her a nce, and she wasn’t sure what Heather had done to
render him so furious either.
“President Locke, here arest month’s spreadsheets for your perusal and approval,” Lara informed
dutifully. She hade up with various ways to start a conversation, but after running through them in
her head, she decided that the only way to get a response out of Matthias was to bring up something
work-relevant.
However, he only nodded and reached out for the spreadsheets. He did not speak to her, nor did he
even bother to dismiss her.
It didn’t take a genius to know that Heather was behind his moody countenance and erratic demeanor.
While Lara did not have the slightest idea as to what that woman had done, she figured it had to be
something dramatic.
Her skin prickled with suspicion, Lara finally resorted to asking Niki to console the sullen man inside
the presidential office. She knew her ce, and Niki was the closest person to Matthias, which
meant he had a better chance of getting him to talk.
When Niki heard her suggestion, he frowned skeptically and said in a somber tone, “President
Locke is currently swamped with work, so I don’t think it’s a good time for me to barge in and initiate a
heart-to-heart talk with him.” It was the wisest thing he could do to turn her down; otherwise, he would
end up being roasted on a spit by Matthias.
“You’re his cousin, and it’s only right that you show some concern for him. He’s in a bad mood right
now, and I don’t even know what Heather said to him. Just offer him a couple of words of sce and try
to get him out of his funk. If we just let him carry on like this, it would only bring down the whole
atmosphere of the workce,” Lara exined gravely, looking serious. She sounded so sensible that
Niki found himself eding to her request, but if he had to be honest, he was terrified of being in the
same room with Matthias when thetter was having mood swings.
Lara, on the other hand, shoved Niki into the presidential office, and when he turned to see that the
door had mmed shut behind him, he grew grim. I’ve been tricked by her again!
Presently, Matthias nced up at him without addressing him, and Niki had never felt more invisible
than this moment as he grew uneasy at the former’s stony silence.
He swallowed and quietly sauntered up to Matthias, and when he saw the spreadsheets sprawled out
on the desk, he realized that this might be a bad time to interrupt the man’s work. He was seized with
the sudden urge to bolt out the door; he didn’t want to be the target of Matthias’ inexplicable rage.
After ncing at the documents Matthias was reviewing, Niki shuffled over to the couch that had
been upholstered on one side of the office. This is a safe spot, he told himself. I’m just going to sit here
quietly now since it’s toote for me to back out of this.
Matthias, on the other hand, was no fool. He knew what Niki was trying to do, but he couldn’t care
less about such petty tactics. Work was the only thing that could clear the mor in his mind right now.
He checked through the spreadsheets quickly, and tossed them aside after making sure that they were
urate. Niki saw this as a window for him to cut through the tension and immediately rushed
forward to the desk.
He skidded to a stop in front of Matthias and stared at him as though he could telepathically talk to him.
However, Matthias was not one to crack under pressure. He did not even look up from the rest of his
documents. This only made Niki feel more awkward than he already was.
“You look like you’re having a productive day, Matthias!” Niki broke the silence with a cheerful
remark, then winced at how stupid he sounded.
Matthias merely lowered his head as he buried himself with work. He did not even bother looking up to
acknowledge Niki’s presence. Thetter didn’t want to give up so easily, so he decided that he
needed to persevere before he could get the gloomy president to warm up.
“I wonder how’s Heather, Matthias. Do you think she’s recovering well?” he asked deliberately, knowing
that Matthias had dropped by the hospital to visit Heather earlier.
It was only after hearing Heather’s name that Matthias raised a brow and looked up. A dark fire could
be seen burning in his eyes and it intimidated Niki. Bristling with fear, the younger man thought, I
must have said something wrong.
After a long pause, Matthias finally said in an icy voice, “Save the leisure talk for outside office hours.”
His warning tone was enough to make Niki want to bury himself in a hole somewhere.
With his heart thumping wildly in his chest, Niki thought it would be safer for him to retreat. He didn’t
want to be the fish in the barrel when Matthias decided to draw his gun.
“I’m sorry, President Locke. I’ll get back to work right away,” he said courteously, his wordsing out
in a flurry as he dashed out of the presidential office. He knew that he had to leave before Matthias
turned him into livestock in a ughterhouse.