April stretched her waist after a long day of sitting on the chair, Boss was still upstairs so she went to the nearby café to buy two milk teas. As she was about to cross the street, a Humer honked fiercely, piercing her ears.

“What the fuck, ya blind or something?” The man inside cursed. 

In a fluster, April looked at the stoplight. It was red. The driver must have planned to jump on the other side before the red light but didn’t make it so he’s venting his frustration on her. She heard him bluster a few more times but she pretended to be deaf and walked to the pedestrian. 

She wasn’t even three steps away from the island when the Hummer moved forward threateningly. The colour drained from her face.

Dear God,  this man is intentionally harassing her! 

“Move faster little bitch. What are you waiting for Christmas?” He taunted then April heard a giddy female voice squealing from the inside.

“Oh, would you look at her? She’s scared silly she couldn’t even move. Do you think she will piss right in the middle of the road?”

April gnashed her teeth and did not resist glaring at the rude passengers. 

“What are you looking at, darlin’?”

A kind auntie patted her back and whispered. “Calm down girl, that’s the mayor’s son. Just let it go if you can. Once he sets his eyes on you it will be a lot more dangerous.” The girl is a rare brown-skinned beauty. Looking at her dress, she seems to be working in one of the firms here but alas, the opponent is the notorious local bully.   

Holding on to the milk tea cups, April calmed herself. She knows when to take a step back, anyway this is just a small incident. 

“Is there a problem here?” From the Audi not five meters away, a tall guy in a black suit came out. 

“What’s in it for you?” Linsy Miles, the owner of the Hummer, sneered.

“My boss saw what you did.”

“Do you fucking know who I am?”

“Yeah, what a truly enlightening experience to see the son of a public servant acting like this.” Jacob emphasized ‘public servant’ to his face.

“The hell—”

Jacob did not let him finish and dialled a number. He thought the guy in the suit was just bluffing when he mentioned his father’s name. He was smiling mockingly when Jacob shoved the mobile to him.

“Talk to him.”

The rude man grabbed the phone and snickered, “Hey you clown, whichever fucker you are—”

“You damn useless bastard! What have you done…” it was his father’s furious voice with background music of his mother’s crying.

His father wasn’t even halfway yet when he began to shudder in fright from head to foot. 

The owner of the Audi is on his way to meet his dad and just cancelled! If he remembers correctly, his dad wanted to win over the favour of a certain business for his campaign next year. His eyes involuntarily went to the Audi on the left side. Then that person is...? 

April looked at Jacob embarrassedly and uttered a sincere thank you. 

“It’s only a small thing.” He said with an impersonal smile then returned to the car. 

Just a moment ago his boss was still contemplating whether or not to accept the mayor’s invitation. Who knew heaven would give them such an opportunity? 

The green light lit and vehicles started to move except for the Hummer.

“What’s the matter? Your dad?”

“Shut up.” Linsy snapped at his companion.

The girl trembled in shock. “Baby, don't worry. Your daddy will only scold you.” 

Linsy frowned and looked at the girl with a sharp pointy chin in displeasure. 

The girl now regretted egging him to bully April. It’s just that she really couldn’t hold back hating it when she saw her again!  

After resigning from the spa, she thought April would end up jobless but looking at how she’s dressed smartly the same as those sophisticated career women, her jealousy went out of control. Why can a dirty immigrant like her land a good jb while she was stuck out here pleasing unsavory men> 

April should just return to that backward country of hers.

On the other side of the road, a white Maserati pulled over and a beautiful face poked out from the driver’s window. April hurriedly opened the co-pilot and got inside giving the milk tea to the lady.  

“Fuck…” Linsy trembled again. “S-Sena Erde.”

The girl didn’t know what got him so terrified all of a sudden he forgot to start their car.

 

Night came to the capital… 

Yi Ran the twenty-seven-year-old top agent of Hollyhock Brokerage, plastered a huge smile as he stretched himself on the lounge chair after a long day of work. 

He was ecstatic when three offers came for the house at Emerald Drive. After informing the owner, the other day he immediately took the first client for a tour on the property. They said they need three more days to decide, but Yi Ran already knows, from the way they are satisfied they will proceed to buy the house. 

He will inform the owner of the good news soon, and he can just sit tight and wait for his commission.

Truth to be told, his boss invested quite a lot on this house because the decor and arrangement were kind of ugly before. The furniture used for staging was gorgeous, it cost more than sixty thousand dollars too. But with a house that big, you wouldn’t be able to sell it if you don’t put props in it. It has to be groomed to satisfy the buyers taste and if they’re satisfied, they purchase it along with the furniture as well or everything will be reimbursed after the sale. 

“Happy?” Two white hands came from behind crawling from his shoulders to his chest. 

“You kidding me, babe? Of course, I am. Look, your hard work paid off.” He said with a chuckle.

The woman moved to his front wearing a very thin silk robe tied loosely. From the knees up, Yi Ran looked at her smooth skin hungrily. Far from the clean good girl image she usually shows, Niko in front of him is flamboyantly bold in her nightwear. 

“There is a party at Ren's mansion next Sunday.”

Niko’s mood plummeted. “Who’s going to be with you?”

“Baby, you know we cannot afford to be seen together.” He reasoned. “I can’t skip this party either because there are plenty of big shots in there. I heard Yuya Ren invited his friends. You know how it is, in our job we have to know who’s who and widen our network to stay at the top of the game. Please, baby. I— we need this.”

He gently held her hand and sat her on his lap. Niko never recovered her good mood since this morning hence her expression was nowhere near pleasant. She knew that right now she has no right to complain because her position is still precarious. However, Yi Ran and the company boss’s close relationship bothered her. She’s already in the mire and yet she saw him come out of that cougar’s house when she went to Suncrest this afternoon. 

The stolen listings, plus Sena sending her to a faraway errand then she would suddenly see her boyfriend kissing the old hag? How could she still be in a good mood?

It’s too much!   

“The list I gave you…” she trailed while observing his reaction.

“Of course the two of us will work on it. Slowly, so that we do not alarm the people of Diamond.”

Niko snuggled towards him and spoke softly, “Then, wait for my transfer before giving the list to the boss, okay?” She had to make sure to win the deal. 

On the other hand, Yi Ran cursed inwardly. 

Fuck. He already handed it as soon as Niko gave it to him. Why is she suddenly asking for it? Well if she has a plan to pull out then he only needs to talk ‘nicely’ to the boss to keep it for the time being. It won’t be a problem. 

For now, he badly needed to vent. The boss invited him this afternoon but he couldn’t enjoy it with her compared to his girlfriend. Niko’s body is young, her skin is supple and she smells fresh. Although the boss has good maintenance, she is already forty-five years old and had eaten several men. 

Yi Ran started to put his hands on the sensitive areas of Niko’s body. “Baby, what do you say we celebrate early? Tomorrow is going to be a big day for all of us.”

Three hours later while in the middle of a wild session his phone rang. He had no intention to pull out his soldier from the battle just because of a phone call, unfortunately, his soldier was affected by the bad news that it wilted instantly.

His hand on the mobile shook, “If, if you pull out your property now, what about the whole cost of the staging?”

Niko squirmed under him feeling the loss of his energy. It seems the problem is serious. She had never seen Yi Ran looked so panicked. 

“You’ll pay for it? A-Alright… alright, uh… uhm. But we already have a buyer and they liked your house very much.”

The phone call ended in a couple of minutes despite his skilful negotiation. Yi Ran sat on top of the bed, very naked and looking devastated. It was as if a the whole world abandoned him. 

“Who called?” Niko asked suspiciously. 

“Emerald Drive.” He replied somberly. “The seller cancelled the transaction.” 

 

Inside a French restaurant, Sena just finished her aperitif when a couple two tables away from her started kissing. A few minutes ago, the woman dialled a number and spoke briefly while crying and laughing. 

She smiled looking at the middle-aged uncle from the cafe and the house owner of Emerald Drive rekindled their old flame. She had no chance of witnessing it before but she had the privilege of hearing the sweet story. 

The marriage of these two reached a stagnant phase that eventually led to divorce. Both of them stayed away from each other’s lives for five years but after the separation, they found out that they couldn’t function well without the other. Although the uncle met a young woman from a dating site later it did not last long. The scene she saw at the café was him being harassed by that tacky looking sugar baby. 

She had been pestering the uncle even after separation because she knew he had money. Sena was only sure their story would follow the original track when she witnessed the scene at the café. Now here they are reconciling at the same French restaurant they told her before pulling out the deal.  

As for Yi Ran and Niko. Karma came too early. 

It wasn't even six days when Sena told the team about the good show. 

The following day the agents noticed that Hollyhock no longer displayed the house in Emerald Drive. They had been so proud of it before. Some people were extremely puzzled so they did a lot of digging and found out it wasn’ sold but withdrawn.

Yi Ran came to the executive’s office very early and had his ears peeled off from shouting and scolding from their boss. Agents who just clocked in can already hear the shrill scream from the inside before crossing the threshold. 

While the other side was in chaos, Diamond Realtor’s end was very peaceful. Well, maybe aside from a few things.    

The attack of flowers came relentlessly, for three days someone from Flora Aura would come to deliver her a bouquet making it known to the whole building that someone is courting the young boss upstairs. 

What made it even more intriguing was the note attached to it with repeated messages: “I’m sorry.” 

Who is this mysterious person who would spend thousands of dollars on flowers? 

Why did the person ask for forgiveness? 

Did Sena quarrel with a lover? Who is it?

To all these questions raised Sena only laughed coldly. 

 

Sophie, while busy cooking up a scandal she’s also busy hunting for Leo but days went by quickly and there is still no shadow of him she became suspicious and furious. Isn’t he supposed to come home after a week of a honeymoon? 

Sena told her before they wouldn’t go far because it’s the busiest period for the company. A month has passed since the wedding but they did not show up… violent madness churned in her heart. 

The person she loved all her life is somewhere out there with another woman! 

She searched like blind this entire time and felt like her plan was getting nowhere. Asha and Zhang Min are both useless to her now when they are quarrelling. Against her better judgment, she swallowed her burning ire and called a person.

In the office, Sena couldn’t take it anymore and took a day off. She called April to fetch her with a taxi. April hurriedly helped her dizzy boss, walk out of the elevator along with Niko. 

“I didn’t know it would worsen.” Sena reasoned when April asked how she turned like this with only pollen allergy. 

There were plenty of people in the lobby at this hour, they saw Miss Erde being held by assistants and grew curious. 

“Who on earth was that malicious person who kept sending you flowers knowing you have severe pollen allergies? Is he trying to kill you?” April grumbled. 

Achoo! It exploded like a firecracker. 

Sena wiped her nose with a tissue. “I don’t know… maybe a psycho who thought of a brand new way of torture, hehe.”     

Her red nose and watery eyes made people feel bad for her. It’s probably very itchy that her small face looked like a ripe tomato. 

“Look at you overworking yourself and getting sick. If only boss Leo is here,” Niko blurted out. 

“What could big brother do?” Sena asked innocently. “They’re not coming back soon because they're still on their honeymoon.”

Niko paused. Is the couple still on that island!?

Sena sneezed again, “Bugger. When big brother returns perhaps I can ask him to punch the idiot who kept sending these abominable flowers— whoever that is.”

“Didn’t the flowers come from your… you know…” Niko trailed mysteriously. 

“My what?”

April opened another box and scoffed indignantly. “Suitor? Admirer? If he is the boss's admirer shouldn’t he at least know that she is allergic to pollen before sending his weapon of mass destruction?”

“W-Well…” Niko’s tongue froze.

“He caused her so much inconvenience. Boss has to meet up with clients and now she has to cancel.”

It was such a big of a deal?! The passersby were dumbfounded. So these flowers weren’t exactly a token of appreciation but a new form of harassment instead. Who knew little incidents like this can cause transactions to blow up.  

Niko glared at April, “You don’t have to exaggerate.”

“You can tell that to the client.” 

Sena raised a thumb’s up in her heart and praised April’s wit. 

“Anyway, I don’t care who he is. I only hope he stops torturing me.” 

“I think the person needs a punch to make him stop,” April added. 

Everyone in the lobby made an awkward face. What they thought was a fairy tale romance turned out to be a comedy. And they were so curious who Sena's persistent suitor was! 

Turns out, it wasn’t an admirer but a blind idiot. How sad. 

Niko gnashed her teeth angrily. Sophie asked her to help sabotage Sena’s image to everyone. Naturally she agreed because she had her own grudge against her since she hired April. Anyway, she is going to leave this damn company so why not give them a parting gift? She does not particularly like Sophie Qin but it so happens that they loathe the same person so she compromised. Besides, Sophie pays her handsomely for little things like giving out the bosses schedule. 

But by the looks of it, this plan is not going to work.

 

When Sena and April went to the outpatient of the nearby hospital she was prescribed antihistamine. 

Of all the people suffering from these symptoms, she was the only one who could still smile so widely. Why not? She did have allergies, not because of pollen but perfume. 

She purposefully aggravated a reaction to counter Sophie’s trick. The flowers were sent to her to be used in the scandal later. The barrage of flowers became famous in the building then someone will ‘accidentally’ leaked out that Leonard Tang was the one who ordered them in secret to be sent to her as an apology.

Suddenly receiving a bunch of flowers left her puzzled at that time and her reaction perfectly coincided with the rumour Sophie wanted to create. Since Sena didn’t know the sender, naturally she will not accept it. She threw them all in the bin but their colleagues thought it was another form of rejection. 

Behind Sena’s back, her image changed into a bitter and furious mistress. 

Rumors about her and Leo started sprouting in the office. Their closeness was then questioned and viewed maliciously by people. 

No rational explanation from both their parts could quell the fire it caused and she became a pariah overnight. A person anyone can sneer at. 

It was said Leo’s marriage to Linda caused them to quarrel and as a token of apology Leo had to send her flowers every single day. 

Sena who recalled all that could not help but shiver in disgust. It was such a poor tactic yet they fell for it. 

However, with her allergies now, the flower issue cannot be put on Leo’s head because it will be impossible for him not to know she has this severe condition. And because she accepted the flowers they would only think it came from a stranger and she was only being polite by accommodating him a bit. After the allergy worsens, it is natural for Sena to finally get impatient.

She wondered what Sophie would do now that her plan suddenly failed…  

Poor Sophie, she had been dying to locate where Leo and Linda were but no matter how she looked she would not be able to disturb them.       

 

Wednesday, everyone is gathered in the meeting room. 

“Heads up. We have clients coming to view some of the listings,” she informed everyone after reading the E-mails on her computer. “Make sure you give your potential buyers a good tour. Don’t be sloppy. I will give you their profiles, research on their wants, preferences and dislikes. Take note of their special requests but also make sure to close the deal first before making modifications.”

Sena was rapping out instructions on the end of the long table while Niko stood on the side looking very fidgety. How could everything they worked for this past half month go down the drain? She looked at the enthusiastic boss exchanging information with the rest of the agents, no stress can be seen on her face. 

Emerald Drive pulled out just because the owner reconciled with her ex-husband. Fifteen million… the thousands of dollars of commissions disappeared in the blink of an eye. Yi Ran is currently busy coaxing the boss of Hollyhock; he barely talked to her in these three days. 

Niko gnashed her teeth. If not for that damn seller and her husband.

“Shit.” she cursed out loud.

“What did you say?” Sena turned to her sharply, making her heart lurch.

Oh, no. “I-I’m sorry boss that wasn’t intentional… m-my stomach suddenly cramped.”

Everyone looked at her oddly. 

“Hurry if you need to go to the washroom.” Katya suggested kindly. 

Sena nodded in assent and excused her.

Elia only rolled her eyes. She clearly heard her curse while looking like she had eaten bitter gourd. It was easy to see for a pretentious person like her when she’s in a bad mood. That Niko is hiding something, she can tell.

“Anyway, congratulations to our newbies for getting good impressions with the seller and closing deals. They agreed to let our company advertise their properties!” She turned to the two and gave them a slow clap. “I hope you can keep this up until offers come in.” 

The two girls blushingly accepted the claps from their colleagues while feeling overwhelmed. They were introduced by the boss to the property owners. If it were just them those big shots wouldn’t take them seriously. They thought Sena would stay with them throughout the process but she only did the introduction, the rest she let them decide what to do. 

Boss is at the age where people normally exit college to find careers, but her? She had long known what she wanted to do. Her manner doesn’t show uncertainty even when facing clients older than her. How many expected them to decline? Yet the facts prove them wrong, barely a month since her return and Diamond is slowly advancing. 

One of the most effective help was the new design of their page. Boss met up with web designers lately to give their site a makeover.      

Every property had to be presented at their best to entice and convince buyers this is what they need. With the help of professional photographers and a videographer who shot cinematic pictures at the best angles of the houses, their gallery attracted plenty of attention lately.  

“At this rate with this kind of presentation, even the most difficult property to sell may get offers,” Jue said engrossed in the video of the house in his listing. Upbeat music playing in the background the daytime and nighttime view included highlighting its good points. Everything meshed in perfectly.   

“How do they take a shot at these death-defying angles?” Elia asked curiously. 

Sena tapped the screen and said one word: “Drones.”  

Jue laughed. “Now I get it. Who knew right? I’ve only seen drones used in documentaries.”

Two years from now pictures taken from drones will sweep over the internet. As for today, only those well-to-do have the privilege to use these toys. She was lucky that Chang’an has one and is friends with a future award-winning cinematographer and his crew. 

Plenty of viewers went to Diamond Realtor’s page to view the properties either to select one to buy or just merely there to watch the featured beautiful houses.  

“Would you look at this inspiration? This makes me want to work hard and buy my own house,” Yuya said, drooling on the computer screen. 

“I still feel there is still a missing element.” Chang’an remarked absently. 

All eyes went to him.

“Why don’t we hire a model next time?” He suggested after watching the footage intently. “Viewing houses this way is not bad but the audience and buyer will tire of it eventually whereas if there are people, it is easier to see the scale and how large the furniture used in the house.”

Sydney rolled the pencil between his palms. “Good point. Next time, we’ll try to find actors. Nothing raunchy because I’m guessing Miss Sena would want it to be sophisticated and professional.”  

The boys agreed in unison. Later when Chang’an phoned Sena, she readily accepted their suggestions. 

Without giving too much information, their team can easily find the good and bad points of their work then painstakingly improve it to perfection. Though she sought them first, her movement would never hinder their growth. For that, she can rest assured of their future.