The Heart System - Chapter 260
Chapter 260: Chapter 260
Eleanor.
Guy’s favorite call-girl. The woman who tipped me off about Charlotte and Emilia. She stood there bundled in a long dark coat, brown pants tucked into snow-wet boots. Her hair looked a bit messy from the wind, and she hugged herself like she’d been walking outside for too long.
I opened the door.
She looked up at me, her breath fogging in the hallway. “Evan,” she said, voice flat but tense. “You stirred up some shit.”
My eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“Did you know Guy contacted me?” She stepped slightly closer, lowering her voice. “He asked how you, Evan, you, knew about Charlotte and Emilia.”
My stomach tightened. “What did you say?”
“I told him I had no idea,” she said, shrugging stiffly. “He didn’t buy a word of it.”
“Ah… shit.” I stepped outside with her and pulled the door shut behind me so the girls inside wouldn’t overhear. “Did he do anything?”
She let out a humorless laugh. “Apart from freezing my bank accounts and taking away my apartment?” She raised one eyebrow. “Not much. Pretty tame for him if you ask me, really.”
“Damn…” I rubbed my face with both hands. “I’m sorry, Eleanor.”
“I’ve been crashing at my mother’s place,” she said. “At thirty-eight. Thirty-fucking-eight. I shouldn’t be living in my childhood bedroom next to outdated wallpaper and a closet full of old stuffed animals.”
I winced. She wasn’t wrong.
“So,” I asked quietly, “why’d you come to me?”
She exhaled slow, her breath steaming in the cold, hands disappearing deeper into her coat pockets. “I need money, Evan.”
I wasn’t a charity. And I wasn’t her savior. But she helped me take Guy down when she didn’t have to. She pointed me toward Charlotte and Emilia, and she paid the price for it. Whether I liked it or not, I owed her big time.
“You can stay downstairs,” I said.
She blinked. “What? You mean…”
“This floor and the one below are mine,” I explained. “There are two rooms downstairs. Well… we sometimes use one of them. The other one is yours until you get back on your feet.”
Her lips parted slightly in disbelief. “Are you… serious?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “But one condition.” I lifted a finger. “If you live under my roof, you’re done with prostitution. No more clients.”
She stared at me, stunned. “What even—Evan, what are you saying?”
“I know someone,” I said. “You can work with her. She’s good people. That’s the deal.”
Her expression softened—surprise mixed with something like relief. The tension in her shoulders eased a little.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, voice quieter now.
“You helped me bring Guy down,” I said. “That’s my debt paid. You helped me. I help you. Fair trade.”
She looked away for a moment, blinking hard. “I… okay. Yeah. Okay.”
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REPUTATION SYSTEM (LVL 11)
VILLAIN░░░░░░░████░░░░░ HERO
==========================
Helping Eleanor: +5
==========================
Current Reputation: Big-Hearted
– More EXP gain when making your
partner climax.
– Mystery Chest for each Sexual
Activity completed.
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I turned, opened the door again, and reached over to the drawer by the entrance. I rummaged through it until my fingers closed around an extra keycard. I stepped back out and handed it to her.
“Here. This opens the downstairs unit.” I held it out until she took it, her fingers brushing mine lightly.
Her lips trembled into the smallest smile. “I… don’t know what to say, Evan. I really don’t.”
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EVENT
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Eleanor’s Interest +5
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“You don’t have to say anything.” I shrugged with a grin. “Just drop your phone number off with Minne tomorrow. She’s the maid. I think you know her already, no?”
“I—yeah,” she said softly. “I remember her. Okay. I’ll do that.”
I nodded once and opened the door fully. Warm air spilled out from inside.
“Take care, Eleanor,” I said. “And don’t forget my condition.”
She held the keycard against her chest with a small nod. “I won’t.”
Then she walked off down the hall, coat swaying around her knees, boots leaving faint wet prints on the tile.
❤︎❤︎❤︎
I parked the car and stepped out, stretching my back as the sound of the engine faded into the echoing underground. The mall’s parking lot was huge—concrete pillars spaced evenly like a grid, each painted with yellow numbers. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting a cold, pale glow over parked cars. The floor was still damp from the melting snow people tracked in, leaving long streaks of water that reflected the lights above. Distant engines, footsteps, and occasional honks bounced softly around the cavernous space.
The girls climbed out one by one, each adjusting jackets, bags, or hair.
Jasmine shut her door and pulled up her beige knit sweater, straightening her light blue jeans. She had her hair in a half-twisted bun, strands framing her face as she bounced on her heels.
Kim hopped down next, pulling her brown leather jacket tighter around her ribs. She wore black leggings and ankle boots, her hair in a messy ponytail that made her look more tired than usual, but cute.
“Did we close the living room window?” Kim asked Jasmine.
“Yep. I closed it myself.”
“Oh, right.”
Tessa stretched her arms high above her head, her oversized black hoodie sliding up enough to expose her stomach. She wore simple grey joggers and white sneakers, smirking as she cracked her neck.
Minne closed the back door carefully, holding her own elbows shyly. Casual was new for her—soft pink sweatshirt, black skirt down to her knees, dark stockings, and her hair tied into a loose braid. She looked like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to breathe in public.
And Nala—well, she somehow made casual look high-end. Black coat, white turtleneck, dark jeans, and ankle boots. Her red hair was tied neatly behind her back, snowflakes still melting off her shoulders.
“Thank fuck we have a big car,” Tessa said with a low laugh, cracking her spine. “I don’t know how I breathed on the backseat.”
“Well, I suggested taking two cars,” Jasmine shrugged, hands in her sweater pockets. “But you guys said nooo, let’s go together, it’ll be fun.”
“Come on, stop whining,” I said, locking the car. “Let’s go already.”
“Fiiine…” Jasmine said dramatically.
We headed toward the glowing entrance sign, our steps echoing against the concrete. Automatic glass doors slid open with a soft whoosh, letting in a wave of warm air mixed with the faint smell of popcorn and perfume from inside.
We stepped into the metal detector area. One guard nodded at us lazily as we walked through—Jasmine beeping because of the ridiculous number of metal accessories on her belt. She raised her hands jokingly until the guard waved her along.
We took the escalator up, the moving steps humming under our feet as the mall came into full view. It was early in the night, so the place was packed.
Bright storefronts lined both sides of the ground floor—Nuppia, Kiko, Vierre, Lumex, all glowing with those fancy LED frames.
“Alright, girls,” I said, glancing around. “Where do we start first?”
“Nuppia,” Jasmine chirped instantly, eyes sparkling. “Now that I can actually afford Nuppia, I want new clothes from there.”
“Same,” Kim said, already scanning the brand logos. “I’ve always wanted to wear Nuppia.”
Nuppia…
The second she said it, my mind flashed back to Anotta. That laugh she let out in the meeting room—so out of character it still felt like a hallucination. The kind that sticks to you afterward, clinging like a wine stain on a white shirt.
I shook it off. She had her own problems. I had mine. And I hoped to god she stayed in whatever hole she crawled into.
“Master,” Minne whispered, pulling lightly on the hem of my jacket. “I… don’t have enough money to buy anything from Nuppia. Could I wait outside instead?”
“Oh, no you’re not,” Tessa said immediately, looping an arm around Minne’s shoulders. “I’m buying this little maid some lingerie and a garter belt.”
“E-eh?” Minne squeaked, face turning pink. “I… I don’t know… I am… I just…”
“I’m paying for your stuff,” I said with a grin, patting her head gently. “Go nuts. If I go broke, we have TechForge’s CEO here. I’m sure she can make a few calls and get us out of trouble.”
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EVENT
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Minne’s Interest +5
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“Right,” Nala scoffed with a laugh. “I’ll definitely do that and absolutely not run straight back to the car.”
The girls laughed as we stepped deeper into the mall, warm lights and polished floors welcoming us like a whole different world.
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WOMEN – INTERACTIONS
===============
Jasmine: Interest: 40 / 60★★
Kayla: Interest: 23 / 40★
Tessa: Interest: 27 / 40★
Kim: Interest: 35 / 40★
Delilah: Interest: 75 / 80★★★
Cora: Interest: 100 / 100★★★★★
Mendy: Interest: 6 /20
Nala: Interest: 100 /100★★★★★
Penelope: Interest: 5 /20
Minne: Interest: 28 /40★
Ivy: Interest: 2/20
Eleanor: Interest: 5/20
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Progress:
★☆☆☆☆ – 20 Interest: Milestone reward
★★☆☆☆ – 40 Interest: Milestone reward
★★★☆☆ – 60 Interest: Milestone reward
★★★★☆ – 80 Interest: Milestone reward
★★★★★ -100 Interest: Milestone reward
===============
Select a woman to track progress.
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