9-10
302 Words
9. The CEO's Inner Monologue and the First Flutter of the Heart
Though tormented, Lu Chen never exposed Yulia.
CEO's Inner Monologue: "This woman can trigger an alarm at my core data center in one second, yet she thinks I need to hide in a wardrobe. She worships a multi-million dollar surveillance camera as a 'glowing crystal ball' for warding off demons. She is a miracle."
During one instance when Yulia was "exorcising demons" for him (actually fumigating cockroaches with ancient spices), Lu Chen looked at her focused, earnest, yet awkward profile, and his sense of profound loneliness was suddenly replaced by warmth.
He realized: in a world where everyone only valued his "CEO" identity, only Yulia, this noble from the Evernight, genuinely saw him as a "weak human who needed her protection."
Her arrogance was innocence; her awkwardness was endearing.
For the first time, Lu Chen felt that "playing the servant" wasn't a disguise but an unprecedented form of relaxation. He began to enjoy being "reverse-dominated" by her.
Chapter Four: Network Collapse and the CEO's Cold Edge
10. The Fuse of the Crisis
One afternoon, Yulia tried to help Lu Chen with "work" (actually attempting to exorcise all "electronic demons" from his computer).
She placed her ancient pocket watch (the heirloom) next to Lu Chen's laptop and began chanting an old vampire incantation toward the screen.
"All glowing evil spirits, heed the command of the ancient Dracula lineage, retreat from this weak human's matrix!"
Halfway through the incantation, the energy wave from the pocket watch violently resonated with the internal microwave signals of the computer.
Instantly, the screen went black, flickered, and emitted a burnt smell. Worse, this energy directly penetrated the basement, affecting one of Aethel Group's data backup centers nearby.
The alarm on Lu Chen's encrypted watch sounded shrilly.
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