Chapter 217: Who’s Splurging on Me?

She instinctively smoothed her hair. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Someone ordered a bouquet for you from our shop. I’m in the lobby on the first floor of your office building. Could you please come down to sign for it?”

“What?” Ellis doubted her own ears. “Someone sent me flowers?”

Who would send me flowers? And to her workplace, no less!

“The card is signed. You’ll see who it’s from once you sign for the flowers.”

With that said, Ellis’s curiosity peaked. Flowers weren’t a novelty to her. When someone sent flowers without prior notice, driven by human curiosity, she wanted to know who it was from.

So, she paused her work and went down to the lobby. The florist wasn’t particularly noticeable, but the vibrant bouquet he held was quite eye-catching. He confirmed his identity and then tried to hand her the flowers. She gestured for him to wait a moment; she wanted to satisfy her curiosity by reading the card first.

She quickly picked up the card and looked at the signature. It read, “Morty.”

Morty sent me flowers? Ellis blinked in bewilderment. After reading the whole card, she was confused. What is Morty up to?

Just the other day at Petal Estates, Morty had asked in a puzzled tone if he had offended her recently. She hadn’t directly responded, thinking the issue would pass. Yet, here was a card saying the flowers were his way of apologizing. How utterly bizarre of him! He wasn’t even sure if he had offended her recently, yet he sent flowers to apologize? Ridiculous!

As the florist had other deliveries to make and noticed Ellis frowning at the card, hesitating to take the flowers, he reminded her. “Ms. Harper, the flowers.”

Flowers from someone annoying suddenly didn’t look beautiful at all. Ellis didn’t hesitate and instructed, “Just throw them away.”

She wasn’t exactly pragmatic, nor was she an outright romantic; it’s just that she was broke now, and had to prioritize practicality in the short term. It wasn’t that she disliked beautiful but useless things like flowers, it was just that the sender was all wrong, and she found it off-putting.

The florist quickly nodded, indicating he would dispose of them as requested. Indeed, he was no stranger to recipients who refused to accept flowers and asked him to take care of them. He had a mature way of handling it, taking them back to the shop to wait for another customer to buy them—a way to sell the same bouquet for twice the money.

“Do I tell the person who ordered them that you accepted them?” the florist asked.

He had taken the money and made the delivery, investing his time. The money wouldn’t be refunded to the buyer, but he needed to give the buyer some sort of explanation, and that explanation depended on what the recipient said.

“Whatever.” Ellis didn’t care how the florist explained it to Morty.

She placed the card on the bouquet, turned around, and went back up to her office.

No sooner had she sat down than Zoey came over, teasing, “Hey, Ms. Harper. I was just downstairs and saw someone...”

Of course. Zoey didn’t think the florist was Ellis’s admirer since he was clearly wearing a uniform. She guessed the flowers were from an admirer who had paid the florist to deliver them.

Hearing the word “admirer,” Ellis’s lips twitched slightly. “I don’t have admirers. The flowers weren’t from an admirer; they were an apology from someone I know.”

“You don’t have admirers?” Zoey was shocked, giving Ellis a thorough once-over. Have all the men in the world gone blind not to see a stunning beauty like Ellis?

“No admirers, why are you so surprised?” Ellis didn’t understand her colleague’s overreaction.

“Incredible! Shouldn’t you have admirers by the dozen?” In Zoey’s mind, a great beauty like Ellis should be surrounded by admirers. “Are you just ignoring those you don’t find appealing?”

Saying she had no admirers when she was a great beauty probably meant she didn’t consider those she didn’t like as admirers. Zoey thought this explanation fit Ellis’s statement.

You see, on Ellis’s first day on the job, her beauty caused a small sensation. Many had inquired about her background, including male colleagues who were immediately smitten. If not for Ellis’s unique role as the boss’s personal assistant—a position that meant annoying her could lead to dismissal or being indirectly punished—some would have boldly pursued her despite the company’s rules against office romances.

“I truly don’t have any admirers right now,” Ellis wasn’t inclined to lie about such things. Even if someone did want to pursue her, it wasn’t obvious. She was all about work these days, with no time to get close to any man.

“A beauty with no admirers, that’s not logical.” Zoey glanced at Ellis’s desk and noticed the absence of the bouquet she had seen earlier. Where are the flowers? Didn’t you bring them up?

“I threw them away.”

“You reject the apology, but the flowers did nothing wrong. Why not keep them around to brighten your mood?”