CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77: SECRET WEAPON

The midday sun pours in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Holly gently pushes open the office door, and there sits Blake Sinclair on the sofa by the window.

Hearing the sound, he looks up, stands, and walks over with a smile, taking her hand as they walk inside.

As Holly follows him, she can’t help but sneak a glance.

Blake Sinclair’s office style is similar to his bedroom’s, with a gray and white color scheme, clean lines, and a simple, grand atmosphere.

Especially the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a panoramic view of Beldon, as if the whole city is at his feet.

She places the "carefully prepared" lunchbox on the coffee table, then takes each one out and arranges them neatly.

Blake opens it beside her, "Thank you for your effort, especially for coming over."

Holly remembers the "wooing talk guide" from the internet, purses her lips, and tries to make her voice sound sweeter and softer.

"As long as you like it. I wasn’t sure what you love to eat, so I prepared a bit of everything."

See! It conveys care while subtly showcasing "thoughtfulness" and "versatility," perfect!

Holly secretly gives herself a thumbs up in her mind!

Blake’s eyes flicker slightly, pretending not to catch her meaning, as he continues opening the lunchbox.

When the third box is opened, Holly’s mouth twitches.

Uh-oh, I was too busy dumping takeout and didn’t notice the mix of cuisines—it’s both Cantonese shrimp dumplings and Hunan-style stir-fried pork...

She forces an explanation: "Uh... I’ve been... studying innovative fusion dishes between Hunan and Cantonese cuisines, trying something new."

Blake leisurely nods, looks at her with a knowing smile in his eyes, "Really? Holly is quite impressive."

Feeling embarrassed, Holly decides to confess, "Alright, alright, they’re actually takeouts."

Blake chuckles, picks up a shrimp dumpling, and feeds it to her, "Hmm, I like takeouts too."

As long as it’s from you.

Holly’s face warms up, chewing the shrimp dumpling, pretending to organize the food cartons.

While accompanying Blake for lunch, Holly’s gaze involuntarily follows him.

She’s chewing the dumplings he just fed her and gets entranced.

Why didn’t I notice before how gracefully Blake eats? Elegant, truly elegant!

She watches, lost in thought, until Blake looks over, and she retracts her gaze.

Only then does she realize she was just ogling him,

She quickly averts her gaze, looking around, but her eyes unintentionally land on some documents on the coffee table, getting caught by the title page.

"Is this... a wedding planning proposal?" she asks, pointing.

Blake nods and hands the planning proposal to her, "See if there’s anything that needs change."

Holly takes it, flipping through, becoming more astonished with each page.

Whether it’s the wedding theme, venue process design, or even the detailed planning for the honeymoon, everything is meticulously considered and perfected, leaving nothing to critique.

She recalls planning a wedding by herself before, all the effort and trouble, only to end up thanklessly.

Looking at the proposal and the man beside her, recalling the internet’s wooing scripts, she blurts out: "My husband is just amazing~"

"This wedding planning proposal is simply perfect!"

"Blake Sinclair, how can you be so awesome?"

She praises him one sentence after another, waiting eagerly for his reaction.

But Blake just gives a faint "Hmm," takes a sip of soup, without further comment.

Holly sighs inwardly, a little defeated.

Sigh, Blake Sinclair is really hard to win over.

However, she doesn’t notice that the moment she looks away, Blake’s lips curve a little, almost fumbling his spoon in the soup.

In the following days, Holly stubbornly follows online posts to "strategize" winning over Blake Sinclair, with little success.

In the morning, Holly feels the mattress move as she drifts between sleep and wakefulness.

She groggily opens her eyes to see Blake Sinclair, already washed and dressed, tying a tie by the bed.

Sleepiness overpowers her brain; she glances once before quickly closing her eyes again.

But in the final second before drifting back to sleep, she jolts upright!

Blake’s hand, paused in tying the tie.

Holly, her hair a mess, looks at him drowsily.

Blake lowers his voice, "It’s still early, sleep a little more?"

He’s been enjoying her clumsy "pursuit" over the past few days, in a great mood, spending last night stubbornly playful with her until late.

He sees Holly, clearly struggling with heavy eyelids and appearing adorably confused from the lack of sleep, his heart softens entirely.

He sits at the bed’s edge, gently arranging her hair, his voice even softer, "What’s wrong?"

Holly turns her head, her eyes landing on his not-quite-tied tie, and speaks hoarsely, "I... I want to help you tie your tie."

Blake Sinclair: "...."

The amusement in his eyes deepened.

Holly Crowe squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake off the sleepiness, but couldn’t help yawning several times.

She wasn’t fully awake yet, but the "pursuing someone tactics" in her head were unusually clear. "All natural intimate actions help to bring people closer, like tying his tie."

Yes! Tie the tie!

But... I’m really so sleepy...

She reached out and grabbed one end of the tie, gently tugging it towards herself.

Blake Sinclair’s eyes were full of indulgence as he leaned towards her, practically placing his upper body into her embrace.

He lowered his gaze, watching her squinting with effort and awkwardly trying to tie the tie, feeling as if his entire heart was melting.

"It’s alright, I can do it myself," he coaxed softly.

"I’ll be done soon... soon..." she mumbled, her voice growing softer and her hands moving slower.

Before she could finish speaking, her forehead softly bumped against his chest.

Holly ultimately couldn’t overcome the overpowering sleepiness, and with her head lolling to the side, she fell deeply asleep in his arms, still holding onto his tie.

Blake Sinclair chuckled, gazing tenderly at the person in his arms, his chin gently resting on the top of her head, his heart full of almost overflowing affection.

Holly, you actually don’t need to do anything.

I’ve been yours from a long time ago.

From long ago, indeed.

After several failed "tactics", Holly felt a bit dejected.

Celia Stiles confidently analyzed after hearing about it: "That’s because you haven’t really put in the ’tough’ effort, sis! Just wait two more days; the secret weapon I’m preparing for you will arrive soon."

Secret weapon?

Tough effort?

Before Holly could fathom what she meant, she was forced to go on a business trip.

The plan to pursue was reluctantly put on hold.

Marinus hosted a pottery exchange exhibition, and Holly participated as a representative of the Lunar Lotus Studio.

The exhibition lasted three days and two nights, filled with setting up, exchanges, and seminars, so Holly became so busy she forgot all about "pursuing Blake Sinclair."

On the last night of the exhibition, she had just taken a bath and lay down when she received a message from Celia:

[Sis! The ’secret weapon’ I sent has arrived at your home! Make sure to open it as soon as you get back! I promise it’ll be useful!]

Secret weapon?

Package?

Home?

Home!!

Holly suddenly sat up in bed; Blake Sinclair was at home too!!

She quickly opened the chat box with Blake Sinclair to find that her screen was filled with messages he’d been sending her one-sidedly over the past few days:

[Links to restaurants near the exhibition; these have things you love to eat.]

[It’s going to rain tomorrow, remember to take an umbrella.]

[The exhibition has strong air conditioning, remember to bring an extra jacket.]

As for her, she hadn’t proactively sent him any messages for three whole days!

It’s over!

All efforts wasted!

They’re definitely wasted!

With the mindset of grasping at straws, Holly tried to salvage the situation, quickly drafting a message.

She bit her nails and carefully edited a message to send: [Good evening! Are you done with work? I’m heading home tomorrow! [Cute bunny waiting.jpg]]

After waiting a while, there was no reply.

She sent another message: [Moon]

Still no response.

It’s over, it’s over...

Desperately, Holly performed some stretching exercises by the bed and suddenly thought of something, sending another message:

[By the way, I’ve got some packages delivered. If it’s convenient... could you open them for me? [Cute bunny hands together, pleading.jpg]]

This time, her phone vibrated quickly, but instead of a reply, it showed a video call request from Blake Sinclair.

Holly’s heart skipped a beat. She hesitated for a few seconds before pressing the accept button.

The video connected, and the first thing she saw was a firm set of abs.

Water droplets that hadn’t been wiped off were drizzling down along the V-line, slowly sliding downwards, evoking endless imagination...