The following days, Cecil demonstrated his vision of how to win Louis’s heart. Visiting almost daily, bringing delicious meals or sending gifts, Cecil tried his best. It was only a pity that some people take it as a matter of course to be showered with attention.

Although Louis was surprised by the increase in frequency at which he received gifts or got meals, it was nothing new for him. Over the past four years, Cecil had done the same—minus the almost daily visits. Since Cecil knew how taxing it was to lead a company, he never requested much of Louis’s attention, so he had no problem with Cecil dropping by.

But that also meant that Cecil got no special response from Louis regarding his pursuit.

Since Louis’s reactions were not as Cecil imagined and he still always watched Silas like a hawk, Cecil decided it was time to step up the game. The only problem was that he was at his wit’s end when it came to pursuing someone.

Laying in his bed, Cecil sighed. He pondered what else he could do to get Louis’s attention when he heard a ‘ding.’

Groping around his bed excitedly, he searched for his phone. Unlocking the phone with the expectation of seeing a message from Louis, Cecil’s enthusiasm was drenched quickly.

“Only an ad for flowers…” He threw the phone back on the bed and covered his eyes with his arm. Why was it so hard to win somebody’s love?

Wait. ‘Flowers’?

Cecil sat up in bed. That’s it! What was more romantic than sending your beloved flowers? Expressing your love with a beautifully arranged bouquet that told the receiver everything they needed to know about your deepest feelings for them.

That was perfect.

Throwing himself back into the pillows, Cecil began to giggle with happiness. Tomorrow, he would bring Louis the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen.

“Hehe,” Cecil felt like he could explode with happiness.

“Duck! Why the hawk are you laughing like a maniac, Cecil! It gives me the creeps.”

Hearing the voice of his brother through the door, Cecil did not explode because of happiness but because of anger.

***

With a beautiful bouquet in his hand, he made his way to Louis’s office the next day. But when he arrived, there was no one in the office.

Looking at the layout of the floor, Cecil confirmed that he was on the right floor of the building. But just to be sure, he walked back to the elevator to confirm the floor number.

It wouldn’t be the first time that he came to the wrong floor. This building had a total of thirty floors, each belonging to a different company, and a beautiful rooftop garden. When he was younger, he often visited this building with his father, who came here to visit a business partner. One time, he accidentally went to the rooftop and fell in love with the garden there.

He liked it so much that his father decided to buy the whole building and gift it to him, so he could come and go whenever he wanted. This ownership also made it easier to visit Louis.

Cecil giggled at this thought. He had really made a wise choice back then when he recommended this building for Louis to use as the company ground. Not only could he give the other a less expensive rent, but he could also come and go as he wanted.

Once he confirmed that he was indeed on the right floor, Cecil went back to the office door in a depressed mood. His head hung down and the bouquet was left hanging from his hand, almost touching the ground due to its size. Anyone who saw that scene would think he was crying.

This was also the exact thought of Silas when he stumbled across the scene.

“Don’t tell me you are crying?” Silas walked over and lifted Cecil’s chin up. Ignoring the fierce eyes of the other, he only let go when he confirmed that the other’s eyes were dry.

“No! I’m not, and why the duck would you even care?” Cecil said while he wiped his chin.

Leaning onto the wall next to Cecil, Silas responded nonchalantly, “I can’t let my love rival be seen crying outside the boss’s office now, can I?”

After he finished his words, he took a look at the flowers in Cecil’s hand. They were truly beautiful. A gorgeous arrangement of only the best colors and flowers, adorned with greenery. The full roses showed the intentions of the giver, making even a bystander like him understand the love Cecil held for Louis in his heart.

But from his observations in the past few days, Louis seemed completely indifferent towards Cecil, taking everything that was given for granted and either deliberately or not ignoring the other’s feelings. A true scumbag.

Every passing day he watched Cecil’s desperate pursuit and Louis leading him on, he disliked Louis a little bit more.

How could the man be so indifferent to this cutie? If it were him, he would agree immediately. It really was a pity that they were incompatible.

“So, do you know where Louis is or not?”

The annoyed voice of Cecil brought Silas back to the present.

“Oh. Yes, I know where he is. He is in a meeting and won’t be out for a while.”

Cecil’s shoulders plummeted. At the moment, he looked like an abandoned puppy on the roadside, which no one could ignore.

“Want to wait in my office?” Seeing Cecil’s intention to disagree, Silas added, “I wouldn’t want the whole office to see you standing at the boss’s office and gossip about it.”

Although the idea of sitting in the same space as his love rival made Cecil’s forehead furrow, the thought of being the reason why people talked bad about Louis was worse, so he agreed.

“Here, put the flowers inside this vase.”

Silas’s office turned out to be just as cold as himself. There were no family pictures or pictures of anything, nor any decorations.

Bored, since there was nothing that could give clues about Silas’s weaknesses, Cecil responded absentmindedly, while sitting down, “Unnecessary, they won’t be here for long anyway.”

Still, seeing Silas insisting, he took the vase and placed the bouquet on the desk. Noticing the long look Silas was giving the bouquet, Cecil thought he was impressed and maybe worried about his great idea and the effect it would have on Louis. This made Cecil’s lips raise and thus his mood also got better.

“What?” he said proudly. “Jealous of my great idea?”

But instead of responding, Silas just shook his head and turned his eyes away.

Cecil shrugged his shoulders. What a strange man.

Then they stopped talking and the office became silent. Feeling that the silence between them was deafening, Cecil racked his brains to find a topic to talk about. But it was useless; this office was so monotone that even the talkative Cecil felt his mind go blank. Only the bouquet gave this space an air of life.

Silas must have felt similarly as he was still observing the flowers intensely.

Yes, that’s right, the bouquet! Smirking, Cecil opened his mouth to talk about the topic that came to his mind.

“Are you impressed by my creativity to give presents to Louis? I also sent him various gifts and nutritious meals, in order for him to stay strong and continue his excellent performance. What do you feel inferior?”

Cecil gave Silas a look of contempt.

Lifting his eyes up from the flowers, Silas gave Cecil a look and smiled.

“Hah, it’s true that I was quite impressed by your gifts, but in my opinion, what can compare to a home-cooked meal that you prepared yourself with all your love? I think homemade meals are better than restaurant visits.”

Distracted by the smile that had appeared on Silas’s face, it took Cecil a while to react to Silas’s words. “You think home-cooked meals are better?”

A strange expression appeared on Cecil’s face. Forget cooking; as far as he could remember, he had not even taken a step into the kitchen yet.

The look on Cecil’s face was so amusing that it took Silas a lot of self-control not to laugh out loud. “Or could it be that this young master doesn’t know how to cook?”

Sensing that Silas was looking down on him, he tried to turn the tables. “Pah, you are talking all high and mighty but who knows if you even know how to cook yourself!”

“Coincidentally, I do know how to cook.”

“Prove it!” Internally, Cecil felt proud of this comeback. How could Silas prove his cooking skills in an office? And if they ever had a cooking showdown, Cecil could just learn it by then—

“Luckily, I still haven’t eaten my lunch yet.” Without waiting for Cecil’s response, Silas took out a lunch box and opened it.

The moment the delicious scent of curry filled the air, Cecil’s face went black. The food inside the lunch box looked very appetizing and not greasy at all. It was almost on the same level as the food prepared by their personal chef at home.

But—just because it looks good doesn’t mean it also tastes good, right?

Seeing Cecil’s unconvinced expression, Silas knew he had almost achieved his goal. “Do you want to give it a taste?”

Staring at Silas with a complicated expression on his face, Cecil thought very seriously about the possibility of whether this was a ploy to poison him in order to get him out of the way or if this delicious meal could really be eaten.