Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 177

When | stepped out of the café, it started to drizzle all of a sudden. It wasn’t pouring buckets or anything, but the chill that crept down my neck was bone-chilling, cutting right through to the heart.

| hustled back to the hotel in the rain and after a hot shower, | suddenly felt like | couldn’t muster an ounce of energy. Flopping onto the bed, | quickly drifted into a half—conscious state.

Guess | was just down on my luck, huh? Failed to protect the one | wanted to, busted my butt on a project that still didn’t turn out right. It made me wonder, if | up and vanished from this world one day, would anyone even bat an eye?

Man, | was really beat.

That was until my phone started blowing up with a barrage of urgent rings, yanking me back from my thoughts.

| cracked my eyes open, just in time to catch a beam of light sneaking through the window, and realized it was already daylight. My phone screen was still flashing, with ‘Cecilia’ popping up on the caller ID.

Figured she was checking in about the negotiation results. Taking a deep breath, | pressed answer.

weet voice was t

“Xaviera, we've got trouble,” Cecilia’s usually with panic, “I just walked by Hogan's room and overheard him plotting to teach FreeMan a lesson with Assistant Zachary. What do we do?”

Teach FreeMan a lesson?

Just as | thought, Hogan still had a chip on his shoulder and was gearing up to target

FreeMan.

But poor Sean, he was innocent. He was just covering for Timothy and now he was caught in the crossfire.

And Sean was no pushover; if he took a hit from Hogan, he was bound to hit back twice as hard. If these two went at it, it was gonna be a case of ‘when two fight, the third wins, both coming out worse for wear.

With a splitting headache, | pinched the bridge of my nose and asked, “Did Mr. Zade say how he plans to handle it?” Chapter 177

“Something about a gallery.” Cecilia whispered, “Xaviera, you’ve gotta come up with something fast. If Hogan picks a fight with Mr. Abbott now, it'll just give people something to talk about, and that’s bad news.”

The gallery.

It clicked—Hogan had bought those two paintings from Sean. | remembered Timothy saying how the gallery’s collection was a mixed bag. For Hogan to find fault there would be a piece of cake.

No way | could let this blow up.

Half an hour later, | showed up at Hogan’s suite.

Seeing me, he frowned and snorted, “Looks like things didn’t go your way.”

Knowing | was at fault, | braced myself and said, “Yes, | got rejected. I’m ready for any penalty you see fit, Mr. Zade.” Hogan glanced at me and said flatly, “As expected. Plainly put, you’ve been too soft on Sean.”

There was a hint of malice in his eyes when he mentioned Sean’s name.

Recalling Cecilia’s words, | cautiously suggested, “Mr. Zade, you're right. Maybe we should focus on finding new original artists. | have a couple of prospects lined up for you to review.”

With that, | handed over the prepared files. This was my ace in the hole, perfect for defusing the situation.

Hogan looked at the files | handed over with a hint of hesitation, then after a cursory glance, said calmly, “You’ve thought this through.”

“Too kind, Mr. Zade,” | played it cool, forcing a smile, “So, does this mean | should start setting up meetings with these candidates along with Director Irwin?”

He gave me a skeptical look, and after a two-second pause, he asked, “Xaviera, what's your angle here?”

My heart skipped a beat, but | kept my composure, “Nothing really, just figured it’s better to blaze a new trail than to waste time butting heads with rivals.”

At that, he paused, taken aback for a moment before his brows knitted together, “So, you’re here to plead Sean’s case?”

“Something about a gallery.” Cecilia whispered, “Xaviera, you’ve gotta come up with something fast. If Hogan picks a fight with Mr. Abbott now, it'll just give people something to talk about, and that’s bad news.”

The gallery.

It clicked—Hogan had bought those two paintings from Sean. | remembered Timothy saying how the gallery’s collection was a mixed bag. For Hogan to find fault there would be a piece of cake.

No way | could let this blow up.

Half an hour later, | showed up at Hogan’s suite..

Seeing me, he frowned and snorted, “Looks like things didn’t go your way.”

Knowing | was at fault, | braced myself and said, “Yes, | got rejected. I’m ready for any penalty you see fit, Mr. Zade.” Hogan glanced at me and said flatly. “As expected. Plainly put, you’ve been too soft on Sean.”

There was a hint of malice in his eyes when he mentioned Sean’s name.

Recalling Cecilia’s words, | cautiously suggested, “Mr. Zade, you're right. Maybe we should focus on finding new original artists. | have a couple of prospects lined up for you to review.”

With that, | handed over the prepared files. This was my ace in the hole, perfect for defusing the situation.

Hogan looked at the files | handed over with a hint of hesitation, then after a cursory glance, said calmly, “You’ve thought this through.”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Too kind, Mr. Zade.” | played it cool, forcing a smile. “So, does this mean | should start setting up meetings with these candidates along with Director Irwin?”

He gave me a skeptical look, and after a two-second pause, he asked, “Xaviera, what's your angle here?”

My heart skipped a beat, but | kept my composure. “Nothing really, just figured it’s better to blaze a new trail than to waste time butting heads with rivals.”

At that, he paused, taken aback for a moment before his brows knitted together, “So, you’re here to plead Sean’s case?”

“Something about a gallery.” Cecilia whispered, “Xaviera, you’ve gotta come up with something fast. If Hogan picks a fight with Mr. Abbott now, it'll just give people something to talk about, and that’s bad news.”

The gallery.

It clicked—Hogan had bought those two paintings from Sean. | remembered Timothy saying how the gallery’s collection was a mixed bag. For Hogan to find fault there would be a piece of cake.

No way | could let this blow up.

Half an hour later, | showed up at Hogan’s suite.

Seeing me, he frowned and snorted, “Looks like things didn’t go your way.”

Knowing | was at fault, | braced myself and said, “Yes, | got rejected. I’m ready for any penalty you see fit, Mr. Zade.” Hogan glanced at me and said flatly. “As expected. Plainly put, you’ve been too soft on Sean.”

There was a hint of malice in his eyes when he mentioned Sean’s name.

Recalling Cecilia’s words, | cautiously suggested, “Mr. Zade, you're right. Maybe we should focus on finding new original artists. | have a couple of prospects lined up for you to review.”

With that, | handed over the prepared files. This was my ace in the hole, perfect for defusing the situation.

Hogan looked at the files | handed over with a hint of hesitation, then after a cursory glance, said calmly, “You’ve thought this through.”

“Too kind, Mr. Zade,” | played it cool, forcing a smile, “So, does this mean | should start setting up meetings with these candidates along with Director Irwin?”

He gave me a skeptical look, and after a two-second pause, he asked, “Xaviera, what's your angle here?”

My heart skipped a beat, but | kept my composure, “Nothing really, just figured it’s better to blaze a new trail than to waste time butting heads with rivals.”

At that, he paused, taken aback for a moment before his brows knitted together, “So,

you're here to plead Sean’s case?”