Elton Pavilion, Villa No. 44.
As soon as William reached the door, he heard noise coming from inside. It sounded like a party, and the voices were familiar—people from the studio. But he clearly didn't remember any party being planned.
He opened the door and saw a living room full of a festive vibe. The big TV wasn't showing any program. Instead, the screen was split in two, both sides white with numbers. They looked similar, but there were slight differences.
99,857,241
99,910,326
"Come on! 2048!"
"Go! Happy Match Mania!"
"Victory is ours!"
…
The eight people from the studio were split into two groups, cheering for their favorite game.
When he got closer, William finally saw the game names in the top corners of the screen. On the left was "2048," on the right was "Happy Match Mania."
Not only that, the two groups supporting the two games had even put on matching merch shirts. No one knew when they were made—William had never heard of any merch plans in the company before.
Cynthia, who had stood up from the sofa, noticed William. "Back from your date?"
At once, everyone else turned to look at him.
William felt a little awkward under their stares and explained, "It was just a normal business talk."
"Oh~"
Cynthia dragged out the sound.
The others also showed a look of sudden understanding.
William decided to ignore them and changed the topic. "So why is everyone here?"
Cynthia tugged at the logo on her shirt. "Our first batch of merch samples just arrived. And with the two games breaking one hundred million downloads so fast, I gathered everyone to celebrate."
"Oh, and you'll reimburse us, right?"
William glanced at the table full of soda cans and food trays. From the sound in the kitchen, it seemed the head chef from Magnolia Restaurant was cooking as well. This party would easily cost tens of thousands.
When he didn't answer right away, the mood in the room shifted. Cynthia's smile faded, and she said more seriously, "I'll cover it."
With that, she walked toward the kitchen with a dark look.
"Wait." William stopped her. "Good thing I came back early today. If I had been later, would I not even know about your party?"
"So what?" Cynthia turned back with a calm face.
"So do you even see me as your boss anymore?"
"Boss, actually this—" Claire tried to speak up.
"No need. It's my fault." Cynthia cut her off. "I said I'll cover everything tonight. None of it will go on the company's bill. Are you satisfied now?"
William didn't reply. He just turned his eyes to the TV screen. The moment he got the system notification, he already knew the two games had passed one hundred million downloads.
That speed had to be because players, once they saw the numbers getting close, rallied together. Not just the studio, even fans outside were watching closely.
[Unlocked Growth Path — Stable Downloads]
[Five games surpass 100 million downloads in total] Reputation +50
But the excitement that should have burst out in that moment was frozen by the cold tension between William and Cynthia. No one dared to cheer, and they even forgot the bets they had made earlier.
When William's gaze turned back, Cynthia had already walked into the kitchen without looking back, leaving only her silhouette behind.
"She was trying to surprise you." Zach finally broke the silence.
William still didn't speak. He just walked into the kitchen.
Inside, Cynthia was talking to the chef. On the counter sat a custom cake with the Earth Games logo, candles in the shape of "1" and "100M," and the names of all five games written on it.
In the middle of the decorations stood a little figure of a man in a tuxedo. The face wasn't clear, but the outfit was exactly what William wore to the charity dinner that night.
After finishing with the chef, Cynthia glanced at William, then walked to the cake, picked up the little figure, and threw it in the trash. Passing by William, she brushed shoulders with him.
At that moment, William grabbed her hand. "Do you really think me going to Tiffany's place was more important than being here with you all?"
Cynthia gave him a cold look. "And what does that have to do with me?"
"It does." William's eyes were firm. "I don't need Tiffany. I don't need Merry. I don't need WeChat Games. But I do need you."
"If you set up something and left me out, I'd feel really hurt."
"Wow! Was that a confession?"
Even though they weren't close, the whole house was dead quiet. Everyone had heard William's words loud and clear.
"Shh! This is getting good."
"Phones! Phones! Record it, take pictures!"
Cynthia's face flushed red. She didn't know whether to be angry or touched. Her heart was a mess of emotions, and for the first time in her twenty-plus years, she didn't know how to handle it.
But before she could feel touched for long, William ruined it. "Uh, don't get me wrong. I just meant that you're important to me. I don't want anything to make our working relationship distant. I thought you were mad at me for going to Tiffany's."
"My god! He's hopeless."
Anyone could see that if William leaned in and kissed her now, Cynthia wouldn't push him away. The mood was already perfect. If she hadn't wanted it, she would have shaken his hand off long ago.
At last, Cynthia shook William's hand off.
Cynthia snapped, "Yes! I'm mad! You don't seriously think I like you, do you? Relax, I'm not into you. You can meet whoever you want, don't go thinking I live here because of you. If you really believe that, I don't mind moving out tomorrow!"
"I didn't mean it like that."
"Enough, don't say another word." Cynthia didn't want to hear any more and went straight for the stairs.
The others glanced at each other, then all agreed it was best to leave. One by one, they said goodbye to William and Aunt Oliver.
With everyone gone, William had no choice but to let the head chef of Magnolia Restaurant call it a day.
After clearing the tea table, Aunt Oliver hugged Pipi, sighed at him, and went back to her room.
Now, in the big house, only William, a custom cake, and the little figure in the trash were left.
He rescued the figure from the trash, placed the cake on the piano behind the stairs, and set the little figure beside it.
Dun, dun, dun-dun…
William hadn't downloaded sheet music; he played "Mariage d'Amour" purely from memory.
If "Canon in D" shows the fullness of love, letting people "see" its beauty, then "Mariage d'Amour" expresses longing for love, letting people "see" the performer's dreams of it.
When he finished the piece, Cynthia, who had somehow been sitting on the steps, stood and walked toward him.