The Heart System Chapter 868

Nala gave her an exhausted look. "Har-har." She then leaned forward and rubbed her thighs with both hands. "My God, I’m so... wow. I need a shower. No, a bath. A bubbly bath, because I don’t think I can recover from this on my own."

Minne was standing near the dinner table, carefully putting down the last plate. She glanced toward Nala and spoke in her usual quiet voice. "But the dinner is ready. It’ll get cold."

Nala looked toward the table, then toward the hallway. Her expression became genuinely conflicted. "I don’t know if I can stand up."

"You’ll survive," Jasmine muttered.

"You don’t know that."

I chuckled as I walked toward the table. Then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Thinking it was one of Esme’s updates, I quickly pulled it out while taking my seat. Instead, I saw Mendy’s name on the screen.

Apparently, she’d called me earlier and I hadn’t heard it. Looking at the time, I realized she’d called while I was with Cora. I must have missed it completely.

I opened the message and typed back. ’Hey. Sorry, been a busy day.’

A few seconds later, her reply appeared.

’About the girl Jasmine told me about? Cora.’

I sent her a thumbs-up emoji.

’Yuck. Are they okay now?’

’Hope so. Sorry I missed your call, though.’

I put my phone down for a moment as Minne walked over and poured me a glass of cold lemonade.

"Thanks," I said, wrapping my fingers around the glass before taking a big sip.

My phone buzzed again.

’Oh, I just called you to chat. I’m sick, actually. Burning up.’

I frowned at the message.

’Really? Is Penelope with you?’

’Yep. She brought me a soup she made but...’

A throwing-up emoji appeared beneath the message.

I couldn’t help but grin.

’Not much of a cooker, huh?’ I added a laughing emoji before sending it.

Her response came almost immediately. ’Not at all, Evan. Not at all.’

"She is sick?" Tessa asked from behind me. "Tell her I said hi."

I nearly jumped when I realized she had somehow managed to read the conversation over my shoulder.

I turned around and looked at her. "Are you looking through my texts, Tessa?"

"Yep," she replied without even looking guilty.

"And I don’t even know your phone password."

Tessa shrugged casually. "It’s 6969. I thought everyone knew that. I’m not even hiding the screen when unlocking the phone."

"You have a fingerprint scanner, idiot," Jasmine called from across the room as she stood up. She stretched her arms over her head before heading toward the master bedroom. "And yes, everyone knows the password."

I looked at Tessa. She looked at me. "Except me, apparently."

Tessa grinned. "Now you know."

Jasmine disappeared down the hallway, into the master bedroom, and a few seconds later, we heard the bathroom door close.

Nala was still sitting on the couch, rubbing her legs as she looked over at me. "You said someone is sick?" she asked, reaching for her towel again.

"Mendy," I replied. "Penelope is torturing her with the soup she made. Poor girl."

Minne’s expression immediately became concerned. "I can make a chicken soup for her," she offered as she sat down beside me. "Also the salad my mother used to make when I got sick."

I looked at her, then thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. We can visit her after dinner." I glanced toward the clock. "It’s kind of late, though."

Nala stood up slowly, supporting herself against the couch as she stretched her back. "Yeah, sure. Let’s go visit her."

"Sure." I shrugged. "Let’s do it."

Nala looked toward the hallway and raised her voice. "Hey, Jasmine!"

The only response was the sound of running water coming from the master bedroom.

Nala’s face fell. "Guh." She put both hands on her hips and stared toward the hallway. "She told me she was only going to wash her face. I was supposed to take a shower first!"

Tessa snickered. "Sucker. I thought CEOs were supposed to be on alert all the time for stuff like this."

Nala turned toward her with an offended expression. "You’re enjoying this way too much."

"Absolutely."

Nala sighed and glanced toward the other bathroom. "I guess I’ll use the common bathroom."

"Nope!" Kim suddenly jumped up from her seat and hurried toward the bathroom. "Sorry. Byeee, Ms. CEO!"

The door closed behind her.

"Aw, come on!"

Tessa stretched her arms above her head before pointing toward her room.

"Use my shower. They fixed the sink, finally."

Nala’s expression immediately softened. "Thank you."

Tessa nodded. "Just mind the hair in there. I just showered Mik there."

Nala slowly lowered her towel from her shoulder. She stared at Tessa for a moment, then rubbed her face.

"Great," she muttered, already walking toward Tessa’s room. "Just great."

⟁ ⟁ ⟁

I pulled over to the side of the road and engaged the handbrake. Jasmine, Nala, and Kim were completely pooped and had decided to stay home, but the rest of us had made it. Tessa was sitting in the front passenger seat, using the side mirror to touch up her makeup while Minne sat in the back, completely absorbed in her phone. She had the container of soup and the salad resting carefully on her lap, and she didn’t even seem to realize that we’d already arrived.

I opened my door and stepped outside, followed by Tessa. A few seconds later, Minne finally looked up from her phone, realized everyone else was already out, and quickly shoved it into her pocket before climbing out with the food.

I had to admit, seeing Minne wearing normal clothes still felt strange to me. I was so used to seeing her in that maid outfit that seeing her dressed casually almost made me do a double take. Maybe I should do something about that eventually. That maid outfit had to be uncomfortable after wearing it all day.

Then again, the fact that I felt weird whenever I didn’t see her wearing it was even stranger.

Why the hell was she so attached to that thing anyway?

I’d already told her she didn’t have to call me Master, and I’d even suggested she wear something casual when we were at home, but she had stubbornly refused every time. Apparently, the maid outfit wasn’t just clothing to her anymore.

I closed the car door and looked toward her.