Her hand, extended towards the doork.n.o.b, and all her movements stopped at once. 'What have I just said?' Her eyes widened when realization dawned on her. 'Oh my G.o.d. Did I really say it?'

Miss Yan opened the door from the outside. She was surprised to see her boss standing just before the door. If she had opened it with force, she would have hit her boss with the door.

"M-ma'am, excuse me… Would like to remind you of your meeting. They are waiting for you at the conference room."

Xue Jinxu blinked several times. Her face was pale as if she hsd just seen a ghost. "E-en."

Miss Yan led the way. They went together. Miss Yan escorted Xue Jinxu who was so lost at the moment. If she had gone alone, who knows to which corridor and room she'll end up arriving at.

Xue Jinxu was like a robot on autopilot. Her brain stopped processing what she had been doing – which was at the moment simply walking towards the venue of the meeting, and she had forgotten what's in her schedule for the rest of the day. She had forgotten the agenda of the meeting where she's heading.

The meeting was, in fact, a performance review of the departments under her.

All she could think were the five words she spoke last on the phone. "Miss you. Love you. Bye."

'There's nothing wrong with that, okay?!' She was convincing herself in her mind.

However, she felt guilty as if she had done something inappropriate. She was beginning to be agitated and restless.

She was zoning out during the meeting.

"Miss Yan, listen carefully. Make the minutes of the meeting as detailed as possible."

Of course, she could not admit that she's not listening to the meeting at all. It's her fault, she was distracted.

She checked her phone. There were at least ten missed calls by Chen Linyun. She had dropped the phone on the table. It gave out a loud thud. The attendees of the meeting looked at her, but did not comment. Who were they to share their thoughts to the COO? For all they know, the COO was not happy with their presentation. That was their interpretation of the banging of the phone. The attendees got nervous and rattled by the reaction from the COO. How would they know that it was not related to them!

Xue Jinxu cleared her throat. She's getting impatient. The person presenting with the power point paused, waiting for a directive from her.

"I'm sorry I need to cut the meeting short. I'd like to excuse myself. But from what I see, there's growth in your respective areas. Good job. However, don't be complacent. Continue to work hard as always. Keep it up! I'll further review the figures, please submit your reports to Miss Yan. I'll get going first."

"Thanks for your hard work team. Your dinner is on me tonight. Miss Yan, treat them to a sumptuous meal."

The bewildered Miss Yan answered, "O-Okay Ma'am, understood."

All the department head and key personnel were astonished as well. It was the first time that a performance review took less than thirty minutes! She used to grill them to their death. She even praised them after only seeing just a few slides!

What an absurdity was this?

Even Guangxi who was there representing the Marketing team found it odd, but shrugged it off. His sister might really be occupied at the moment.

Nonetheless, a little boost from the COO pushed the whole team's morale. They even bragged their dinner care of the COO's office to the other team such as in Finance. People in Finance griped with envy, "The CFO should also treat us to a meal! How lucky are the other departments under the COO. We also work hard, though!"

The teams under the COO had spread the news to the whole company. They were really happy that they felt they were appreciated for their hard work. It was an overwhelming feeling for them.

Little did they know that the person they were putting on a pedestal was still lost at the moment. It might not show externally, but her soul was floating above her head, and her brain had overturned itself. She went out of the office for a walk, to take in the breeze outside, most probably to clear her mind.

It was the first time those words had slipped her mouth, although accidentally. "Love you."

She had always openly said that she had been missing Chen Linyun, but never had she admitted that she loved him, no matter how many times he had asked her before.

'Did I really mean those words?'

'Have I really, thoroughly, entirely fallen in love with Chen Linyun?'

'Truly?'

"How would I know?" She said out loud. She was standing near the fountain in front of their office. All the pigeons that were peacefully resting on the ground flew. Perhaps they got scared of her unexpected babbling.

She sat by the fountain's edge and closely watched the water's movement. Oddly enough, it calmed her nerves down.

She sighed. 'So be it. Either I love him or not, no gray areas. As simple as that. I don't 'not love' him, so it means that I may probably have loved him already. Is it really love, or something else? Gosh, semantics! Words, words words! What I feel is what I feel. Does it have to be translated into words? What if it does not have a counterpart?'

She had to gather all her thoughts together, and somehow make some sense out of it.

'Okay, I have decided.'

'But is there really need to tell him? Chen Linyun, just feel it, idiot.'

'How can he feel it if he's far away? I'm more stupid.'

She closed her eyes for a bit.

When she opened them again, there was a silhouette of a man on the other end of the fountain beyond the water. He seemed to be staring at her, watching her even while her eyes were closed.