CHAPTER 2: CHAPTER 2: POPPY HALE GOT MARRIED

The entire department was forced to stay late due to the pressure from the newly arrived leader.

Everyone stayed to work overtime, finishing their tasks by nine in the evening.

Especially the project leaders picked by Declan Hawthorne, all of them stared bitterly at their screens with no intention of leaving.

Poppy Hale’s phone rang; it was her daughter Florence Lynch asking when she would be home.

Poppy lowered her voice, "Florence, go to sleep with grandma first. Mommy will be back later."

Florence’s childish voice replied, "Okay, Mommy, don’t work too hard. Florence and grandma can eat a little less."

Poppy felt a pang in her nose.

To prevent losing her composure, she quickly hung up the phone.

But her heart couldn’t settle down, as her mind was filled with Florence’s innocent words.

Poppy took her mother’s last name; her father’s surname was Lynch.

After her father passed away, Poppy and her mother let Florence take her father’s surname.

No one knew that Florence was actually Declan Hawthorne’s daughter.

Even Declan himself had no chance of knowing he had a daughter in this world.

Florence was two years old this year, with some immune system issues, often getting sick.

The doctor said she was born with a delicate constitution, requiring a lot of money to maintain.

Poppy took Florence to see traditional Chinese medicine. The cost of medicine alone was five figures each month. But as long as her daughter’s health could be restored, no amount of money was too much.

After the Hale Family went bankrupt, Poppy sold her bags, jewelry, car, and house from before, barely paying off part of the debt.

Now both Mrs. Hale and Florence needed medication, and the whole family relied on Poppy to earn money.

So even though she was shocked to see Declan and wanted to escape, her legs trembling uncontrollably... she couldn’t afford to lose this job.

She needed money.

A colleague at the adjacent desk noticed Poppy taking Florence’s call and joked, "I didn’t expect someone as young as you to have such a big daughter. Where’s the child’s father?"

Although the others nearby didn’t look up, they all perked up their ears.

Poppy chuckled lightly, tucking her hair behind her ear, a simple action done with such charm, and replied casually, "Not in good health, lying at home, needs medication every month."

The colleagues fell silent.

They knew Poppy’s daughter and mother both had health issues.

So, wasn’t it true that the whole sick family relied solely on Poppy to earn money?

Poppy was incredibly strong.

After the gossip, no one asked further questions, and they all lowered their heads to deal with their work, hoping to finish early and go home.

Outside the department, a pair of shiny leather shoes stopped there; a man in a tailored suit held a phone, with a prompting voice coming from the receiver.

"Hello? Declan? I’m talking to you. My mom is asking if you’re free this weekend to come over for a meal."

Changing direction, Declan Hawthorne strode into a nearby elevator, "No."

"What about the weekend after next?"

"No, either."

Mason Rivers was at a loss; inviting Declan over for a meal was a pretense, Mason’s mother wanted to set Declan up on a date.

"You’ve just taken over the company, and you’re working so hard that you don’t even have time for a meal? Last time I wanted to ask Poppy Hale out for dinner, she also said she was busy. Anyone who doesn’t know would think you guys are running for president."

After mentioning Poppy Hale’s name, Mason realized he might have said too much.

It slipped out so naturally, how did he forget that the person across from him had once dated Poppy Hale, Declan Hawthorne!

Mason grit his teeth and patted his own mouth.

Stupid mouth.

Mason and Poppy Hale were friends, spending days playing games together back in college.

Early on, Declan Hawthorne even thought there was something between them.

He even secretly cared and competed.

Later, he realized Poppy never saw Mason as a man.

Once, during a basketball game, Declan had to teach Mason a lesson, and after drinking, Mason confessed, "Poppy Hale is beautiful, who can resist?"

"But her temper, one word and she’ll slap you. Declan, she wouldn’t dare slap you, would she?"

Someone nearby immediately said, "Poppy Hale not worshiping Declan is already fortunate, slapping him? She wouldn’t dare even if you gave her ten guts!"

"True."

...

Just as he was about to change the subject, Mason heard Declan’s indifferent voice, "The Hale family went bankrupt?"

Mason was stunned, scratched his head, and answered, "Yes, it’s been a few years. I say, Declan, Poppy Hale is married now. Are you still thinking of..."

"Think of what? The land in the east of the city, or the factory in the north?"

Those were projects that Rivers Group also wanted. Hearing this, Mason stopped being cheeky and got excited, "Declan, if you’re eating meat, let your brother at least drink some soup!"

Declan replied lightly.

Mason was apprehensive.

It seemed he should refrain from mentioning Poppy Hale in front of Declan Hawthorne in the future.

-

After modifying the project content, it was late at night.

Poppy Hale looked up; her colleagues had all left, leaving her as the only one in the vast office.

She was used to such scenarios.

Poppy turned off her computer and stood to stretch her neck, checking around the office to ensure all computers were properly shut down, pushing all the chairs back into their spots before walking toward the elevator.

The deserted office building was particularly quiet at night, and the sound of Poppy’s heels striking the floor echoed.

Clearly, there was another set of footsteps behind her, heavier, sounding like leather shoes.

Poppy glanced back using the corner’s reflection; the figure behind her was tall, with hair higher than the position of the bricks above her.

It was a man.

Even though there were surveillance cameras, Poppy wasn’t sure if they were active this late at night, as people from other departments shouldn’t be on this floor, and she had checked earlier; everyone in her department had left...

Poppy’s heart was in her throat.

In the middle of summer, the hair on her arms stood on end.

Previously, there had been news of employees encountering perverts late at night in the building, and afterwards, the group required that overtime shouldn’t exceed midnight.

Poppy was working overtime until one-thirty.

Could she really be so unlucky?

As Poppy thought about it, she shakily took out her phone, pretended to make a call, and raised her voice, "Hello, honey, where are you? I’m off work. Hurry up and come pick me up, I’m so tired."

"You’re almost here? Okay, I’ll wait for you."

Perhaps it was just an illusion, but after making the call, the persistent footsteps behind her did stop.

Poppy let out a breath of relief and dashed into the elevator, trembling as she pressed the button for the first floor.

The screen lit up, the numbers 10086 appeared and then faded.

The elevator descended.

In the corridor, a person turned into the emergency exit, where the faint light of a lighter flickered, followed by smoke curling upwards, shadowing Declan Hawthorne’s eyes and brows.

Moments later, as the cigarette burned down to its end, searing his skin, Declan absentmindedly flicked the ash and regained some clarity.

Seeing the lights still on on this floor, he opportunistically came down to check, unexpectedly finding Poppy Hale working late.

It seemed she was diligently supporting that sickly husband of hers.

Declan took out his phone to send a message to Morgan Sloan.

"Notify everyone, from now on, overtime past midnight doesn’t count for overtime pay."