The Heart System

Chapter 672: Chapter 672

She swallowed nervously and looked up at me, our bodies close in the cramped fitting room. Her back was near the mirror wall, and I was standing just in front of her, close enough that I could feel her breath against my skin.

What the shit I was doing...

"I... didn’t either," she finally admitted.

"Oh," I said, nodding slightly. "That’s... good. Thanks."

She blinked. "Thanks?"

What the hell was wrong with me? Less talking. More actual action.

So I leaned in and kissed her.

Ivy reacted instantly. Her eyes widened for half a second before she melted into it, closing them and kissing me back. One of her hands came up to my cheek while mine rested against the side of her head near the mirror.

For a while, neither of us cared how long the kiss lasted. We just stayed there, breathing hard when we finally broke apart.

"W-wow," she said, looking down suddenly. "You’re, uh... kind of popping a boner. For your friend."

I looked down too and immediately realized she was right.

Shit.

I was rock hard.

"Oh..." I said, taking a step back. "Yeah, uh... sorry."

Great. Now I felt like a complete idiot.

Fuck. She knew I was going out with Nala. Well, that was not the full truth, of course. Me going out with Nala had just been a lie I made up on the spot to explain why I was staying in that penthouse in the first place.

"We should leave before someone gets the wrong idea," Ivy said, a little too quickly. "Come on."

"Oh, yeah."

We stepped out of the dressing room together, and I cleared my throat while trying to look as normal as possible. Ivy grabbed the dress and hung it over her shoulder, then tugged the hem of her own clothes down a little before straightening herself out. I looked away instinctively, trying not to make the whole thing even more awkward than it already was.

Fuck. I really had done that, huh? Maybe if I’d been braver with Lily back then, things would have gone differently. Maybe she would not have dumped my ass. Tuck had told me I had dodged a bullet with her, and so had Ivy at one point, so maybe they were right. Still, it didn’t make the memory feel any less annoying.

"High heels, right?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yep. Uh... high heels next."

⟁ ⟁ ⟁

I put the keycard into my pocket and stepped inside the penthouse. I was tired, and the clock now showed five. The sun was already dropping despite how early it still felt, and the dark clouds had stayed over the city the whole time, hiding most of the light.

"Welcome back, Master," Minne said from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Hey," I replied with a smile. "We are not waiting for the girls?"

"No." She raised her voice slightly so I could hear her from the kitchen. "They are going to be stuck working for a couple more hours because of Anotta exposing the project."

"Oh..." I hung my coat on the rack. "Yeah. Poor them."

I walked into the living room and sat down, putting one foot up on the coffee table while I grabbed the remote and switched the TV on. I already expected Project Phoenix to be all over the news, and I was not wrong. It was everywhere. TechForge’s new project. Is it destined to fail? What does Anotta want? Why is the company hiding things? It was all over the place.

The reaction was bad, really bad, but there were also some people defending it because of Anotta’s involvement. She was one of the most famous women in the country, so naturally her followers were already flooding social media to support whatever side she chose.

Still, I could not help wondering what the point of all that had been. Why not wait until the project was ready, let it prove itself first, and then show it off to the public? Instead, she had shoved it into the spotlight out of nowhere and started a giant controversy for no reason.

"It is serious, huh?" I asked Minne. "This whole Phoenix thing."

She glanced over from the kitchen toward the TV. "Yes, Master. I hope Mrs. Nolin can fix it."

I turned my head slightly and noticed her outfit.

At first glance, it looked like her usual maid uniform. But then I saw that the armpit part had been just gone, leaving the smooth skin of her underarms exposed. It seemed to be a new model she had picked. The moment she realized I noticed, she got shy and pretended to reach up toward one of the cupboards for no reason at all.

My God. Kim and I had really created a monster.

And somehow, I felt a little sorry for her. I was pretty sure she had probably been staying up at night watching armpit sex videos on her phone and masturbating herself to sleep. Still, even then, she was not as freaky as Penelope.

"I am going to head out to the balcony for a bit," I said with a small smile. "Be right back."

"Yes, Master."

I muted the TV, got up, and walked to the balcony. After sliding the glass door shut behind me, I lit a cigarette and sat down on one of the sunbeds, staring out at the dark city while taking a slow drag.

Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out and saw a text from Ivy. Curious, I opened it and saw that she had sent a photo. She was wearing the same gray dress from the store, standing in front of her wardrobe for a mirror selfie. She had also put on the black heels I bought her, and they looked damn good on her. Her toenails were painted a deep crimson color, which I was almost certain had not been there when she first tried the shoes on in the mall.

Did she paint them just for me?

No, no. She would not do that.

At least, not the Ivy I knew.

But then again, who was this version of Ivy I was seeing now? I had never seen her that embarrassed in front of me before, not even once. It felt like I was discovering a side of her I had no idea existed, like I had stumbled into some language I did not even know people were speaking.

"Shit..."

Another text came in.

’The black one.’

Then another picture followed. This one showed her wearing a gray pair instead.

’Or this one.’

’Can’t decide. Why not wear both at the same time?’ I replied with a smile.

A few seconds later, she answered.

’Ha-ha. Now tell me. Which one?’

’Black one, I guessed. It fits better.’

I hesitated for a second, wondering if I should mention her painted toes too.

’I also like the crimson color on your toes.’

For about ten seconds, there was no reply, even though the message stayed on one tick long enough for me to know she had read it. Then a response finally came through.

’Thanks. I like that color.’

’Same.’

I almost added a smiley face, but deleted it before sending because it felt a little too corny.