Lisa Chen took the documents and skimmed through them. She sighed softly and rubbed her temples.
"To be honest," she said, "Mr. Sterling's ideas can be a bit… forceful."
Ethan Sterling wanted a large number of poppy flowers brought in from the market on the very day of the press event to strengthen the theme.
It sounded good—but in reality, it was extremely difficult to execute.
Ideas like that often left subordinates struggling to make the impossible happen.
Lisa smiled faintly and looked at Ava Moore.
"Ava, you still have a very pure heart," she said gently."In business, the one who knows how to turn nothing into something wins. You should remember—there's no such thing as can or can't. There's only doing it well or doing it better."
At that moment, Ethan Sterling and his team walked out of the meeting room.
Lisa patted Ava's shoulder and walked toward Ethan.
"Mr. Sterling—"
But when she clearly saw his face, she froze.
"Your face…" she began.
A second later, she quickly regained her usual calm expression.
Lisa had seen many storms in her career—but this was the first time she had seen Ethan Sterling injured like this.
Ethan ignored her reaction completely and began discussing the proposal with her as if nothing was wrong.
But Lisa's earlier words made Ava feel uneasy.
As his assistant, she should have prevented him from getting hurt.
This was her failure.
While Ethan and Lisa were still talking, Ava quietly stopped a staff member passing by.
"Excuse me—do you know if there's a pharmacy nearby?"
"Yes," the staff member replied. "But it's a bit far. Go straight, turn left, walk about three hundred meters. There's a street there. Walk to the end—you'll see it."
"Thank you," Ava said.
She picked up her bag. Seeing that Ethan and Lisa were still deep in discussion, she left without saying anything.
She didn't notice that someone's gaze followed her—until she disappeared around the corner.
Ava walked for a long time but still couldn't find the pharmacy.
Just as she was about to head back empty-handed, she noticed a small breakfast shop.
"Excuse me," she asked the owner, "do you still have any eggs?"
It was already close to noon. She wasn't sure if there would be any left.
She had heard that applying a warm egg could help reduce swelling—but she had never tried it herself.
"Yes," the owner replied kindly. "But they're cold."
Seeing the disappointment on Ava's face, the woman smiled.
"I'll warm one up for you. Just wait a moment."
Ava's eyes lit up.
"Thank you so much. Sorry for the trouble."
When Ava returned to the venue, most of the staff had already left for lunch. Only a few people remained to watch the equipment.
She looked around but didn't see Ethan.
Holding the warm egg in her hand, she hesitated.
Did he go out to eat?
If she waited too long, the egg would be useless.
"Where did you go?"
A familiar voice sounded behind her.
"Instead of focusing on work," Ethan Sterling said coolly,"why are you running around?"
Ava turned around.
He glanced at the item in her hand and raised an eyebrow.
"What? Are you that hungry? Going out before lunch to get extra food?"
His teasing tone made Ava slightly annoyed.
She was clearly doing this for him.
She was about to argue—but then she heard him cough again.
Her anger instantly disappeared.
She didn't even feel like looking at him anymore.
"This is for you," she said quietly, holding it out.
"For me?" Ethan looked confused.
Ava pulled him aside and made him sit down.
Without hesitation, she peeled the egg and gently pressed it against his cheek.
Ethan frowned and instinctively leaned away.
She quickly explained, flustered.
"I heard it helps reduce swelling. I couldn't find a pharmacy, so I bought this instead…"