Chapter 57: The Wall Slam

"I made a bit too much of this dish. I’ll save a portion for you, and I’ll pack the rest for Victoria," Julian said cheerfully.

Julian neatly packed the freshly cooked dishes into high-end takeout containers and carefully sealed a container of hot, aromatic soup as well.

Carrying the packed lunchbox, he left Rose Manor and headed straight for the headquarters of the Sterling Group.

Shortly after, Julian arrived at the ground floor lobby of the massive corporate skyscraper.

The moment the front desk receptionist caught sight of Julian walking through the glass doors, her eyes lit up instantly.

He’s so unbelievably handsome...

He was countless times more striking than any male celebrity or idol in the entertainment industry!

"Sir," the receptionist said, her tone naturally friendly and welcoming, as most people were instinctively drawn to extraordinary good looks. "May I ask who you’re looking for at our company today?"

Julian replied with a polite smile, "I’m looking for your CEO, Victoria Sterling."

"President Sterling?"

The receptionist’s friendly smile vanished in an instant, her face turning completely cold and guarded.

Another clueless, pretty boy trying to win over President Sterling...

Men like him came by all the time, hoping to charm President Sterling and climb their way to the top of society through her wealth and power. Unfortunately, their wishful thinking was doomed to fail. President Sterling was notoriously cold to men and had zero interest in romantic advances; no matter how handsome a man was, she wouldn’t give him a second glance.

"Sir," the receptionist said coldly, her voice laced with sharp warning, "if you don’t want to be forcibly thrown out of the building by security, I strongly advise you to leave as soon as possible. President Sterling is not someone an ordinary man like you can just come in and try to seduce."

If it weren’t for his exceptionally stunning face, she would have already pressed the security button to have him dragged outside.

Julian: "..."

Julian frowned slightly. He quickly recalled the original description of Victoria Sterling in the web novel—she kept a strict distance from all men, and although many rival business executives had tried sending handsome men her way in hopes of securing deals with the Sterling Group, every single attempt had ended in failure.

The receptionist had clearly mistaken him for one of those opportunistic suitors trying to charm Victoria.

"I..." Julian started to explain.

However, he quickly gave up the idea. Never mind. There was no point in explaining things to the front desk staff; even if he told her he was Victoria’s boyfriend, she wouldn’t believe him anyway.

Since Julian wanted to give Victoria a sweet surprise, he hadn’t called her directly to mention that he was coming to her office. Instead, he pulled out his phone and dialed Secretary Evelyn’s number.

"Young Master Julian, is there anything I can help you with?" Secretary Evelyn answered promptly, her tone filled with utmost respect.

As President Sterling’s most important partner, Secretary Evelyn naturally treated Young Master Julian with the highest level of deference.

Julian replied, "I’m downstairs in the corporate lobby right now. I cooked some food for Victoria and brought it over."

"Secretary Evelyn, is Victoria in her office right now?"

Secretary Evelyn answered immediately, "President Sterling is currently in an executive board meeting. Young Master Julian, shall I notify President Sterling right away that you’ve arrived?"

"No need," Julian said smoothly. "I’m planning to give her a surprise."

"Understood!" Secretary Evelyn smiled through the phone and replied, "Young Master Julian, I won’t say a word to President Sterling."

"Secretary Evelyn, could you please tell the front desk receptionist to let me head upstairs?"

Secretary Evelyn said, "Young Master Julian, I’ll head straight downstairs right now to escort you personally!"

After hanging up, Secretary Evelyn quickly left the executive floor and hurried down the elevator.

Julian waited patiently in the spacious ground-floor lobby.

His striking appearance, tall stature, and refined demeanor immediately drew the curious eyes of numerous Sterling Group employees passing through.

"Wow, he’s ridiculously handsome! Who is that guy?" several female employees whispered excitedly to one another.

"Could he be a new employee hired by our department? Ahhh, if that’s true, I’m so lucky! I wonder if he has a girlfriend yet... I need to find out!"

"Don’t get your hopes up. Look, he’s carrying a packed takeout box. He’s probably delivering lunch to one of our employees—that person is probably his girlfriend or his family."

A few curious employees even delayed returning to their respective departments, lingering around the first floor just to see who would come down to collect the food from him.

Julian stood near the entrance, idly scrolling through his phone while waiting.

"Young Master Julian!"

Because of Julian’s tall height and standout looks, Secretary Evelyn spotted him instantly the moment she stepped out of the executive elevator. She strode over quickly.

"Young Master Julian," Secretary Evelyn said respectfully, bowing slightly. "Please follow me."

"Okay," Julian nodded, following her.

Secretary Evelyn led Julian directly past the stunned front desk receptionist and straight into President Sterling’s private executive elevator.

The employees lingering in the lobby were completely dumbfounded by the sight.

"What... what did I just see? Secretary Evelyn came down to pick him up personally?!"

"Secretary Evelyn is President Sterling’s right-hand person! Anyone she greets personally must be someone extraordinarily special... Could he actually be President Sterling’s hidden boyfriend?!"

"You’re overthinking it! President Sterling has always been single and famously detests men staying near her. How could she possibly be in a relationship? That guy is probably just delivering something important for her family!"

Although a few people initially guessed that Julian might be Victoria’s boyfriend, after discussing her notoriously icy personality, everyone quickly dismissed the thought.

Secretary Eylyn personally brought Julian all the way up to the top floor and led him into Victoria’s expansive private office.

"Young Master Julian, please wait inside the office for a moment." Evelyn politely poured Julian a cup of premium tea. "President Sterling should be wrapping up her executive meeting in about half an hour.""

"Mm," Julian nodded politely.

After Secretary Evelyn left to return to the meeting room, Julian wandered around the spacious office alone, taking in his surroundings.

This was his first time standing inside Victoria Sterling’s actual office, though it had been described in detail in the original novel text. The office was decorated in a sharp, stern, monochrome palette dominated by black and white—looking remarkably cold, formal, and serious. It matched the novel’s description perfectly.

Curious, Julian walked toward the side door leading into the private resting lounge.

When he pushed the door open and stepped inside, Julian was instantly stunned by what met his eyes!

The entire walls of the private lounge were covered in photos of him!

There were photos of him sleeping soundly, photos of him leaning back while looking down at his phone, and photos of him eating dinner. There were even a few candid photos of him walking around shirtless! 📸

Furthermore, there were old photos of him as a child, along with photos of him wearing his high school and middle school uniforms.

Except for his childhood photos, every single recent picture had been taken secretly by Victoria Sterling without his knowledge.

Julian had no idea when Victoria had managed to snap all these photos of him without him noticing at all! 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

If anyone else saw this room, they would find Victoria’s stalker-like actions absolutely terrifying. But Julian didn’t feel alarmed at all. He had already been mentally prepared for this kind of intense behavior ever since he transmigrated into the novel world and was assigned by the System to be with Victoria.

She was a genuine yandere, after all—so all of this was completely on-brand for her. Besides, as long as his yandere girlfriend loved him and didn’t physically harm him, what did he have to be afraid of?

Smiling slightly, Julian walked out of the secret lounge, closed the door, and sat comfortably on the leather sofa, waiting for Victoria to return.

Back inside the executive conference room, Secretary Evelyn had returned to her seat beside Victoria Sterling.

She kept glancing at Victoria, looking like she desperately wanted to say something but was forcing herself to hold back. She desperately wanted to inform President Sterling that Young Master Julian was waiting in her office, but since Julian had explicitly asked her to keep it a secret surprise, she was going crazy keeping it in!

Victoria smoothly closed her leather-bound document folder. "That concludes today’s meeting."

"If any senior executives have additional department reports to submit, come to my office after you’ve packed up your materials."

Victoria stood up, left the conference room, and walked down the quiet executive hallway back toward her office.

Inside the office, Julian could hear the rhythm of Victoria’s approaching footsteps outside the door.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit expectant. Victoria had always harbored deep insecurity, never truly believing that he genuinely wanted to stay by her side. He wondered if seeing him come all the way to her company just to bring her lunch would give her a wonderful surprise.

Victoria pushed open the office door and walked inside.

She was in a hurry to review her remaining paperwork so she could clear her schedule and head over to Capital University to see Julian. Focused entirely on her tasks, she didn’t immediately notice that Julian was sitting on the sofa near the corner.

Seeing her walk straight toward her desk, Julian quietly stood up and stepped over to her side. Victoria was so distracted that she still didn’t notice his presence right beside her.

Smack—!

Julian suddenly reached out and slammed one hand firmly against the edge of the executive desk behind her, trapping Victoria completely in a legendary dramatic "wall-slam" posture!

Just at that exact second, several company executives, carrying their report folders, walked right through the open office door!