Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 47
I gritted my back teeth, feeling a surge of rage welling up in my chest. In the next
second, I pointed at Cecilia's desk and snapped, “Then you better cough up a
rose gold one just like it. Mr. Zade. You clearly have an eye for the good stuff,
saves me the hassle of picking another.
Hogan probably didn’t expect me to come on so strong, and for a moment he
was totally lost
for words.
Cecilia, the instigator, was turning all shades of red and white.
The atmosphere got super tense real quick.
Just in time, Wallis stepped in to smooth things over, “Even though Director Irwin
didn’t mean any harm, the laptop's definitely toast. Considering she’s still a
student, how about the company covers the difference?”
Cecilia's eyes went wide with confusion, her lips quivered, showing she was on
the edge of saying something but held back.
“No need.” Hogan cut in crisply. “We'll do as Ms. March suggested. I'll handle it.”
“Hogan,” Cecilia burst out, obviously worked up, “this isn't right, I can't let you
shell out for this.” “Come on, Director Irwin,” Wallis interrupted Cecilia with a
chuckle, “Let's just go with that. you're really in luck, aren't you?”
After finishing, Wallis turned to Hogan and asked, “Are we heading straight to the
store. Mr. Zade?"
She was even more down-to-earth than me.
So there we were, me, Hogan, and Cecilia hitting the mall together.
The shop owner took one look at the fried laptop, sighed, and said, “The
motherboard’s fried, it's a goner, no fixing it.”
I wasn't planning on fixing it anyway, but it was packed with important files that I
needed to ensure wouldn't leak.
Hogan got right to the point, pointing at a laptop priced at 1,999 dollars, “Wrap
this one up.”
The owner was caught off guard by his decisiveness and paused before
suggesting. “Sir, there’s an upgraded model of this one, just two hundred more.”
Hogan glanced at me immediately, as if asking for my input.
Before I could even open my mouth, the shop owner added, “Your girlfriend must
be in IT, right? In that field, the laptop is all about showing off. Gotta get
something snazzy.”
Suddenly, Cecilia piped up, “Hogan, since the owner suggests it, why don't you
get Xaviera the upgraded model?”
Chapter 47
The shop owner's eyes were darting between the three of us, his gaze loaded
with unsaid thoughts.
Hogan looked at Cecilia and said, “Alright, we'll go with your suggestion.”
After Hogan swiftly swiped his card, the owner, grinning from ear to ear, asked,
“What about this one?”
He was referring to the waterlogged wreck Cecilia had created.
It was my stuff, and I made up my mind quick, “Could you toss it in the trash for
me, please?”
After that, I made up some excuse and left with my new laptop.
Back at the office, everyone's eyes practically popped out when they saw the
laptop in my hands.
Zora just blurted out, “Man, I wish Director Irwin would spill coffee on my laptop
tomorrow morning.”
Wallis joked, “You're daydreaming.”
I couldn't help but laugh.
At the end of the day, Tina suddenly called.
“Xaviera, there's a comic con at the convention center tomorrow afternoon,
wanna come check
it out?”
I wasn't really interested.
But thinking about how she went out of her way to clear up that photo mix-up for
me, I felt bad
saying no.
“Come on, once your game launches, you might need to do all sorts of offline
promotions too. Consider it a learning experience.”
That reasoning was pretty tempting.
After talking it over with Wallis, I agreed to Tina's invite.
Time flew, and the next afternoon I showed up at the convention center as
promised.
Right at the entrance, I saw a bunch of cosplayers, all decked out and catching
people's eyes.
There were characters from various online games, fresh and exciting.
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I walked and looked around, my gaze
finally landing on a quiyosplayet in a
bfack rdbe@itha waist—long skirt.
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Read the latest chapter there!
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He wore a black patterned mask on
his face, and his eyes were slender
and long, with a tqugh(of red@at'the
©

oprershhéling an old-school
umbrella matching his outfit. He sat
there quietly. exuding a vibe of being
both righteous and wicked. The
content is on Novelxo.org! Read
the latest chapter there!
He was drawing quite a crowd, like a handsome man stepping out of an ancient—
style poster.
12:22
Chapter 47
For some weird reason, he kinda resembled one of the male leads we had set up
in our game.
My heart skipped a beat, and my feet involuntarily moved towards the cosplayer,
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As I got closer, he noticed me too.
Our eyes met, and PLgmoe 0!
slop esiEel denly softening

tenderness. The content is on
Novelxo.org! Read the latest
chapter there!
It felt eerily familiar.
“Do I look good?*
His warm voice reached my ears, and I was taken aback, blurting out, “Darren?”