Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress novel Chapter 1322

Chapter 1322: Second date

[Miller’s Company]

Open invitations lay scattered across Haines’s desk, his face grim. He had opened them only because they came from Penny’s "legal team." Assuming they were important invitations Penny needed him to attend, he checked them all. But alas, they were just birthday invitations.

There were a total of thirty.

"Uh... Haines." Just then, Charles’s voice reached his ears.

Charles was holding the door open, seven invitations in his hand. "Do you happen to know what these invitations from Gracie are about?"

"..." Haines glanced at the invitations in Charles’s hand and compared them to the ones on his desk. Charles had received far fewer. "How many did you get?"

"Seven," Charles replied with a nod. "All of them are birthday invitations from Gracie. Is this some kind of prank Penny came up with?"

"It must be," Haines said, his voice colder than usual as he gathered the invitations on his desk, intending to throw them away later. "Just ignore them, Charles."

Charles furrowed his brows as he took in the sheer number of invitations on Haines’s desk. "Why do you have so much junk on your desk? Did Grace send you all of those? How come you got more than I did?"

"If you want them, you can have them, Charles."

Deep lines appeared between Charles’s brows as he noted the deliberate coldness in Haines’s tone. Although Haines was generally quiet, he was rarely this cold. Not that he was the friendliest person, but something was clearly bothering him.

"Is everything alright, Haines?" Charles asked, his concern evident. "You seem... off."

"I had an hour stolen from me. And another fifteen minutes today," Haines muttered, pushing the invitations onto the floor before facing Charles. "I am not satisfied with this."

"Uh... I guess you’re fine, then." Charles smiled and raised a brow briefly. "I’ll be heading home after my meeting in an hour. Are you coming?"

"No, but I’ll be there later—for Nina."

Charles’s smile widened. "Of course, you would. You should."

With that, Charles didn’t linger and left. He had only stopped by Haines’s office to ask about the invitations, having received them as soon as he stepped out of the meeting room.

Meanwhile, Haines, now alone in his office, pinched the bridge of his nose. After dropping Grace off that night, he hadn’t heard from her again. He had thought—hoped—that she had finally snapped out of whatever ridiculous idea she had in her mind.

But days later, here she was, sending out birthday invitations.

[I’ll catch up to you real soon.]

Those were her words, and now, Haines could only see these fake birthday celebrations as her way of making good on that promise.

"How troublesome," he whispered to himself, exhaling heavily as he leaned back in his chair.

Not only had she successfully stolen an hour of his time that night, but she was also stealing more. Because now, he couldn’t focus on work. Not because he was flattered—but because he was deeply bothered.