"Are you okay?" asked Riki. He brought a glass of hot drink for Irene, who was sitting on a chair on the roof of the building.
The woman just sat silently, staring ahead with a blank expression.
When she realized that Riki was sitting next to her, offering her a glass of hot drink, she began to come to her senses and smiled at Riki.
"Jean said he would take care of that man. You know, Jean also has a grudge against that man. So, don’t worry. Drink up."
Irene lifted the glass of warm drink, sipped it slowly, and returned to her own thoughts.
Riki understood that Irene was just wrestling with her thoughts. It wasn’t easy for her to forget what had happened to her.
In the past, Riki thought that being beautiful or handsome would make life easier.
But, it turned out that wasn’t the case.
Irene was proof of that. Her beauty had brought her misfortune.
The jerk had been reported by Jean and Jake. After investigation, it turned out that the man had done many things that could be reported, besides frequently harassing his female employees. Some of these things included embezzling company money. He also often cut employees’ salaries, which is strictly prohibited by the state. This is because the safety and prosperity of workers are guaranteed by law. Any company that violates this will immediately have its business license revoked.
Therefore, it was easy for them to bring down that jerk.
Even so, Riki could understand if Irene was still traumatized by that man. Not only was she sexually harassed, she was also mentally abused. All this time, the man had been manipulating Irene so that she couldn’t escape his supervision and wouldn’t dare to run away from the company.
Riki himself felt uncomfortable. Because he didn’t do much, but he got a lot of money from the system as a reward for taking down that jerk’s business.
The system rewarded him with about three million dollars for the mission.
Riki wanted to give it to Irene, the victim of that man, but he didn’t know how.
"Irene, if you need a job, I can hire you here," said Riki.
Irene turned back to Riki, smiled weakly, and shook her head.
"No, I’ve always had a dream of opening a shop that sells cut flowers. I might have to borrow money from the bank for the initial capital and—"
"Wait a minute," Riki quickly interrupted Irene.
"I’ll help you with the capital, and you can also work with Little Heaven, because now it’s mine too."
Irene looked at Riki with a soft gaze, smiled slightly, then suddenly cried. This made Riki panic, not knowing why Irene was suddenly crying like that.
"Hey, why are you crying?" asked Riki, trying to calm Irene down, but confused about how to do so. Then suddenly Irene hugged him tightly and cried on Riki’s chest.
There was nothing Riki could do at that moment except hug her and gently pat Irene’s head. He hoped that the beautiful woman would calm down.
A few moments passed, until Irene calmed down and she released her embrace on Riki.
"I’m sorry for suddenly crying like that, I’m just very emotional right now. In the past, I always did everything myself, even my family didn’t care about me, then suddenly you came... Jake and Jean too. You guys—you’re so good to me... I—" Irene started crying again, but this time Riki took the initiative to pull her into his arms.
At that moment, Riki wasn’t thinking about anything; he just wanted to make the woman feel better. But he didn’t know that this would give the woman he was holding high hopes for him. It also broke the hearts of the male employees who were secretly peeking at the two of them.
As employees who knew nothing and were suddenly in an uproar, they were naturally curious. Moreover, Irene was one of those women who was always the topic of conversation, whether among women or men. All thanks to Irene’s beauty, and also thanks to her jerk of an ex-boss.
After all, who didn’t know that the jerk was after Irene? Almost everyone in the building knew it.
Including Jean and Jake, who had just arrived. Both were puzzled because almost all the employees were peeking at something on the building’s roof.
When they found out who they were peeking at, both of them felt heartbroken too.
"A beautiful woman is indeed more suited to someone with a lot of money, right?" Jake muttered.
"Let’s drain Boss Riki’s money, Jake. Who knows, maybe a woman as beautiful as Irene will stick around us too," Jean replied.
"That’s very difficult, Jean, because Boss Riki is the complete package. If it weren’t Boss Riki, girls would definitely like the Jayden type," said Jake.
Jean raised an eyebrow, "You mean the type who looks simple but turns out to be the son of a conglomerate? That’s the same thing."
"So..." Jean paused, just to make sure that what he had just heard was true.
How could he believe that Riki would suddenly say he would entrust one of his important businesses to Irene, and that Jean would take care of it?
"Do you mind working with me, Jean?" asked Irene.
Jean shook his head quickly, "Of course not! I accept this offer! Of course I accept!" said Jean, sounding very enthusiastic.
"Then I’ll be counting on your help, Jean!" Irene extended her hand for Jean to shake. However, just as Jean was about to shake her small, delicate hand, Jake quickly beat Jean to it.
"Hey! Boss Riki asked me to do it, not you!"
Riki just chuckled as he watched his two valuable employees fight over Irene.
"Boss Riki, why don’t you give that task to me?" protested Jake.
Riki raised an eyebrow, "Huh? This is quite a heavy task, and you already have a lot on your plate. Even Jay’s restaurant is opening tomorrow, and you also—"
"Okay, okay, I understand, but... oh, forget it." Jake sat back down, grumbling to himself. He tried to convince himself that it was for the best. After all, women and work should be kept separate. Because Jake was a professional.
"I want you two to visit my land on Azeria Street, and if Irene thinks the vacant lot there is suitable for a cut flower business, then immediately find someone suitable to build a shop there. But I think that place is the most suitable because it’s not far from Little Heaven," said Riki.
"How about we go there this afternoon, Jean?" asked Irene, who no longer looked sad.
"Oh, actually, I can go now. Since it’s almost lunchtime, we can have lunch together," said Jean.
Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
"Remember to be professional at work," he said.
"We’re just having lunch, Jake, you’re overreacting," replied Jean.
"Well then, let’s go now, Jean."
Jean and Irene immediately left to see the vacant lot on Azeria Street that belonged to Riki.
Riki was grateful that he had a suitable and strategic piece of land.
After the two left Riki’s room, Riki laughed out loud. This greatly offended Jake.
Jake glanced at Riki with an annoyed look, "You’re really annoying me, boss."
"Anyway, why are you guys fighting over girls? Gosh, there are many other women out there, Jake, who might be right for you," said Riki.
Jake rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Because you’re so handsome and rich, it must be very easy for you to get girls, right?" Official source ıs 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Riki stopped laughing, thought for a moment, and shook his head, making Jake even more annoyed.
"Not really what? You became famous because you dated Angeline Harland, and your dates were even shown on television. You even made the twin sisters of the CEO of that game company like you, and I’m sure any girl would like you at first sight," said Jake.
Riki smiled, looking proud of everything Jake had just said. Making Jake regret praising his boss without realizing it.
"Recently, there was also a woman from Hayper Entertainment who—"
"See! What did I say? You really do attract women’s attention easily!"
Riki laughed at Jake’s words, which sounded very silly to his ears. Especially how Jake pouted when he protested.
"If you want, I can introduce you to some beautiful women, Jake—oh, did you know I have beautiful cousins? One is named Selene, the other is named Sofie—"
"Forget it, I’ll find a woman myself, boss!" That’s what Jake said to Riki that afternoon.
Riki just chuckled, finding it very funny to see Jake sulking.
But it turned out that Jake’s words were not just empty talk.
Jake was really looking for a woman. But he wasn’t looking for women in clubs, nor was he asking his friends to find one for him.
Instead, he found women through dating apps.
Jake showed it to Jean and Riki when their work was done and it was finally time for them to go home.
Riki didn’t suspect anything at the time, until he saw the photo of the woman Jake was referring to, when Jake showed it to him.
Riki’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"Jake, that’s Sofie!"
Jake looked back at the photo of the woman from the dating app, "No way, Riki. Only adults can create accounts on this app. And your cousin is still too young for that."
"Then try asking her to meet you."
Jake looked very hesitant to do what Riki had suggested.
"I don’t think I can, because we just met. It would be really weird if I suddenly asked to meet up, wouldn’t it?"
Jake’s words only made Riki even more worried about his cousin.
What was Sofie thinking, joining a dating app for adults and even posting sexy photos of herself?