A Toast to Tonight

The biggest regret of my life was joining this company because of the boss' good looks. I thought I was going to get paid to admire a hot guy, but I was subjected to his indiscriminate criticism every day instead.

Zack Barlow's head was propped up against his hand, his fingers resting on the proposal I spent all night working on.

After flipping through a few pages, he glanced at me, his voice completely detached when he spoke. "Ms. Hayley Atlas, this proposal of yours is rather conservative."

I lowered my gaze, knowing he had more to say.

"It lacks anything novel, with no feasible way to implement this. It's perfectly mediocre. How did you manage to be so consistent?" he added.

I clenched my fists, wishing I could take off my heels and give Zack a proper thrashing.

However, I merely took the documents he tossed over, smiled, and said, "I'll revise it immediately."

Zack's cold gaze swept over me before he turned and tapped impatiently on the table.

William Marr immediately caught on and handed over the documents to Zack with a servile expression.

William then looked at me smugly before saying, "Mr. Barlow, I pulled two all-nighters on this. Do have a look."

William and I were from different planning teams and never got along. I couldn't help but get mad at his smugness.

I only hoped that Zack's bloody mouth wouldn't spew any niceties. Thankfully, he didn't disappoint. Zack was consistent.

"Mr. Marr," Zack began, "if hard work were a virtue, then this proposal you spent two nights on is a paragon of virtue. However… I run a business, results matter more than anything. Why don't you find another job?"

William's smile froze as he awkwardly accepted the documents Zack tossed back at him. "I'll revise this at once."

I pursed my lips and stifled a laugh.

Just as I was about to give Zack a mental thumbs up, he turned around and coldly said, "If you can't submit a proper proposal by tomorrow's end, see yourselves to HR."

This cocky prick. Forget the thumbs up.

I worked overtime until 10:00 pm before I finally finished revising the proposal.

I'd just shut down my computer when my online boyfriend, Z, sent me a message. "What are you up to?"

I typed out a series of responses. "I'm working myself to my grave for greedy capitalists. I'm furious! He tortured me verbally again, the prick.

"I bet even a kiss from him poisons his girlfriend.

"Oh, wait. The prick's a bachelor! Ha! What girlfriend?

"There are men and women, and there are creatures like him who need his own species. He stays away from people in general."

As I ranted, my screen was full of speech bubbles.

Suddenly, a transfer notification popped up. Z had given me 8000 dollars.

He then texted, "You worked hard. Go treat yourself."

All I could say was that money was the best form of self-care.

Seeing the amount immediately cleared a lot of my resentment, but what followed was confusion and bewilderment.

How could men be so different from each other? Z was someone I met via an online game, but he was now my online boyfriend.

Unlike my heartless capitalist of a boss, Z was gentle and kind, polite and generous. Plus, I got to see his eight-pack for free each day.

Compared to Z, Zack was just some guy.