Pretended To Crush On My Boss, He Took It Seriously

Axel wanted a promotion to the headquarters, so he asked me to temporarily take over his work. When I refused, he made my life a living hell.

Five consecutive months of non-stop overtime not only drained every ounce of my energy but also torpedoed my relationship.

I'd had enough. During a meeting, I sent a message to my best friend: "I seriously don't know how someone can be so fake."

After realizing I'd sent it to the wrong person, I saw his face darken. My brain short-circuited, and on a whim, I added another line.

"But why can't he just fake having me in his heart?"

...

I woke up in the company infirmary. The smell of antiseptic mixed with the clean, sandalwood scent of Axel's cologne filled my nose.

I snapped my eyes open and met his deep, unreadable gaze. He was sitting by the bed, his suit jacket perfectly pressed, but the eyes behind his glasses were analytical.

"You're awake?" His voice was low, devoid of emotion.

The memory of those two career-suicide messages flooded back. I remembered his shocked expression and the gossipy faces of my colleagues turning to stare at me in unison. In a panic, I had tried to stand up, but a wave of hypoglycemia hit, and everything went black.

I shot up, my mind racing. "Mr. Vaughan, I... I was..." I was possessed by a demon, my head was caught in a door, my brain was struck by lightning!

"Was it the truth?" he interrupted, his calm tone sending a chill down my spine.

The truth? The truth that I was calling him a fake, or the truth that I wanted him to have me in his heart? Both were a death sentence. Was I really going to admit that my stupid mouth was just used to trading cringey jokes with my best friend?

My mouth opened, but no words came out. Finally, I buried my face in my knees and played dead.

"Daisy," he said my name, his voice quiet but overwhelmingly intense. "Is there something you want to say to me?"

I jerked my head up, forcing a smile that was uglier than a grimace. "Mr. Vaughan, I just admire you so much. I got a little carried away and said some nonsense. Please don't take it seriously!"

He didn't speak, just watched me. His gaze felt like it could pierce through my skull and see every thought. Just as I was about to faint again from the pressure, he finally spoke.

"Get some rest."

With that, he stood up, straightened a non-existent wrinkle on his cuff, and left the infirmary.

I let out a long breath, my body slumping back onto the bed.

I survived.

I thought the incident would blow over like a passing breeze.

But I had severely underestimated the speed and power of office gossip.

The next day, when I walked into the office with dark circles under my eyes, I was greeted by suggestive looks from every direction.

"Daisy, you've been holding out on us!"

"Yeah, you're always so quiet. We never knew you had it in you to go after the 'Ice King'!"

"So, spill! What's the latest? Did he say yes?"

My colleagues surrounded my desk, their faces all screaming "Tell us everything!"

I had no defense, so I just laughed nervously. "It's a misunderstanding. A huge misunderstanding."

No one believed me.

My best friend, Maya, sent me a message: "You're famous. I heard you confessed your love to Axel in front of everyone, and he didn't say no?"

I was on the verge of tears. "I sent the message to the wrong person! It was meant for you."

Maya: "Then how do you explain the second message? 'But why can't he just fake having me in his heart?' Daisy, has all that overtime melted your brain?"

Me: "...My fingers were faster than my brain!"

No one believed me, not even myself.

What was even more terrifying was Axel's behavior.

He never asked me to work overtime again.

Once, as the workday was ending, he even walked over to my desk and tapped it.

"If you're done, you can head home early."

The entire office immediately shot me "I-ship-it" looks.

I froze, watching him walk away.

This was unbearable.

For a whole week, I enjoyed the divine treatment of a nine-to-five schedule with full weekends. The price was becoming the center of attention for the entire company. Everyone looked at me like I was the future boss's wife. Even the cafeteria lady added an extra spoonful of sugar to my coffee, smiling and saying, "A little extra sweetness, Daisy. Romance takes a lot of energy."

I was going crazy.

That night, I tossed and turned in bed, my mind filled with Axel's emotionless face and my colleagues' knowing smiles.

I couldn't just let this happen.

I had to get revenge for those five months of overtime.

I had to vent the frustration from my breakup.

I leaped out of bed and opened up Yelp.

In the search bar, I viciously typed two words: "Hit man."

The page refreshed, showing a bunch of listings for "MMA Sparring Partner" and "Boxing Experience."

I randomly clicked on one. The profile picture was a delivery guy in a helmet.

I got straight to the point: "Hi, I'm looking for someone to beat up my boss. Male, about 6'1", looks pretty built."

The reply was instantaneous: "..."

I added: "Money is not an issue."

A few seconds later, a long voice message came through. I played it, and an overly positive male voice filled the air.

"Ma'am, everything is tracked these days. Hiring someone to assault another person is a serious crime. You'll go to jail! It's not worth throwing your life away over some boss."

"Take my advice, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Quit your job, start a new life! Look on the bright side!"

Me: "..."

What a kind-hearted delivery guy.

I quietly closed the app. Violence was not the answer.

But his words gave me an idea.

If Axel was so afraid of a romantic scandal, then I would make the scandal a reality!

He wanted that promotion to headquarters, right? At a critical time like this, the last thing he needed was a messy entanglement with a subordinate.

If I played the part of the "admirer" foolishly and loudly enough for everyone to know, he would have to avoid me to protect his reputation.

Then, forget giving me a hard time, he probably wouldn't even want to be in the same room as me.

I was a genius!

A perfect revenge plan began to form in my mind.

Step one was to make my "crush" even more public.

I needed a platform.

So I went to the anonymous section of the company's internal forum and created a post.

Title: "Help! How do I win over the handsome, cold director of my department?"

I wrote the post with heartfelt sincerity, portraying myself as a humble employee, madly in love and willing to do anything. To add a touch of authenticity, I subtly mentioned a few of Axel's habits that only people in our department would know, like how he only drank pour-over black coffee and tapped his knuckles on the table during meetings.

The post blew up instantly.

"The OP is Daisy from the planning department, right? Grabbing my popcorn!"

"Whoa, is this the hero who confessed her feelings in public? I salute you!"

"A guy like Mr. Vaughan is a tough nut to crack. Good luck, OP!"

Watching the replies pour in, I smiled with satisfaction.

Now that I had the hype, it was time for action.

Netizens flocked to give me advice. The top-voted comment was: "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach! Make him a lunchbox!"

Good idea.

The next day, I woke up early and spent two hours in the kitchen, producing a lunchbox that looked... abstract. I tried to shape the rice into a heart, but it ended up as an unidentifiable lump. The broccoli was overcooked and yellowed. The only protein was pan-seared chicken breast, which was burnt to a crisp.

I stared at my creation in silence.

Oh well, it's the thought that counts. I was afraid that if I made it too well, he might actually fall for me. My goal was to gross him out, after all.

I packed the lunchbox and took it to work. During lunch, while Axel was in a meeting, I sneaked over and placed the lunchbox on his desk, complete with a sticky note adorned with a giant heart.

After my covert operation, I scurried back to my seat.

I waited for him to return, see the "lovingly-prepared" lunch, and then toss it in the trash with a look of disgust.

However, when he came back, he just glanced at the lunchbox calmly, picked it up, and walked into his private office.

The entire afternoon, there was no sign of movement.

I was on pins and needles, constantly looking at his closed door.

Did he eat it?

No way. Even a dog would turn its nose up at that.

As the workday was ending, the door to Axel's office finally opened.

He walked out, holding the now-empty lunchbox.

He came straight to my desk and placed the sparkling clean container on it.

"Thank you," he said, looking at me, his tone as neutral as ever. "It was good. A little salty, though."

I was completely dumbfounded.

Not only did he eat it, he washed the container and even gave me feedback?

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go! He was supposed to hate foolish people. Every tiny mistake I made at work in the past was met with public humiliation and a look that screamed "idiot."

Wasn't he supposed to be avoiding me like the plague?

My colleagues started whispering again, the flames of gossip in their eyes burning brighter than ever.

"Oh my god, he actually ate her lunch!"

"And he washed the box! What kind of tsundere trope is this?!"

"That's it, they're endgame! I'm shipping them so hard!"

I could feel my face burning, not from embarrassment, but from rage.

Axel! What are you playing at?!

Step one of my plan was a spectacular failure.

Undeterred, I went home and scrolled through the forum thread again.

The second most popular suggestion: "Create a 'chance' encounter! Make him think you're destined to be together!"

Fine. A chance encounter.

I found out from a colleague that Axel had a habit of jogging at night, usually around 8 PM at the riverside park near the office.

The next evening at 7:50, I showed up at the park entrance, dressed in full athletic gear. I pretended to stretch while scanning the area.

At 8:10, a tall figure came jogging from a distance.

It was him!

I immediately controlled my breathing, adopted my most graceful running form, and ran towards him.

When I was about ten feet away, I "tripped" and fell gracefully towards him.

According to my plan, he would instinctively dodge, and I would fall spectacularly in front of him, playing the victim and making him see me as a clumsy nuisance.

But to my surprise, not only did he not dodge, he reached out and caught me firmly in his arms.

My face slammed into his hard chest, nearly breaking my nose. A strong, masculine scent mixed with sweat enveloped me.

"Are you okay?" His voice came from above my head, slightly breathless from the run. It sounded... kind of sexy.

I pushed him away abruptly, clutching my nose and taking a few steps back.

"I-I'm fine, thank you, Mr. Thor"

"Call me Axel." He cut me off.

I froze.

He looked at me, his eyes shining brighter than the stars in the night sky.

"We're outside the office. No need to be so formal."

My heart skipped a beat.

The plan had failed again.

Not only had I failed to make him hate me, but I had also somehow gotten him to let me use his first name.

I went home dejected and buried my face in the sofa cushions.

Maya called. "How's it going, my hero? What drama did you stage today?"

I told her about the "chance" encounter at the park, and she laughed so hard she could barely breathe.

"Daisy, oh, Daisy. Are you sure you're trying to get revenge on him and not just reenacting a rom-com?"

"First the lunchbox, now the fake fall. What's next? You're going to get sick in the rain so he can take you to the hospital?"

Her words left me speechless.

"Let me tell you, a guy like Axel is a total enigma. The more you pursue him, the more he'll find you interesting. You're playing with fire."

"Then what should I do?" I asked desperately.

"Nothing you can do now," Maya said, gloating. "Unless you want to march up to him and tell him it was all an act and you actually can't stand him."

I fell silent.

I didn't have the guts.

I was afraid that the moment I did, he would happily reintroduce me to the joys of five consecutive months of overtime.

After hanging up, I opened the forum thread again. It had over a thousand replies, the enthusiasm of the netizens far exceeding my expectations. The latest top-voted comment proposed a new strategy, one that was getting a ton of likes. I braced myself, read it, and was left utterly speechless.