Chapter 2

"Where did you go? We were looking everywhere for you!" several of my colleagues gathered around me and exclaimed in an exaggerated manner.

Subsequently, Sam patted my shoulder.

"I need to tell you something, Zane. Just remain calm and hear me out, okay?" he said with feigned sadness.

I glanced at the smirk on his face and pretended to look puzzled.

While he observed my reaction, he cleared his throat and declared, "I think you're on the layoff list this year."

Then, everyone proceeded to blame the decision on our company.

"I can't believe it! How could you be included on the layoff list? What are the higher-ups thinking?"

"She's right! You should be the last person they fire. What a stupid decision."

"Our supervisor is an idiot!"

A couple of them voiced their complaints almost simultaneously.

They were incredibly good at putting on an act. If I hadn't already discovered the truth, I would've assumed that they were actually sticking up for me.

To my dismay, the very people who were pretending to comfort me were actually the ones who got me fired. Now, their phony behavior only disgusted me.

"It's okay, Zane."

A seemingly earnest voice rang out from behind me. Upon turning around, I discovered that the voice belonged to Michael Lynch.

Michael was practically my apprentice; he'd been shadowing me since his first day on the job. Our company had a fast-paced work environment, and initially, he struggled to keep up. So, I sacrificed almost all of my personal time in order to guide him through the business processes.

I helped Michael look for housing options when he had trouble renting a home. When he hit a rough patch in his love life, I kept him company over drinks and cheered him up. He was like a brother to me, and I'd regarded him as someone I could trust.

Even if the entire department had voted to lay me off, I'd naively assumed that Michael would never cast his vote against me. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken.

After everything, I found out that Michael was the first of our eleven-member team to cast his vote. In fact, he didn't even hesitate in doing so.

He casually patted me on my shoulder and flashed me a demeaning look.

"It's just a job," he said nonchalantly. "The watchdog at my uncle's factory was poisoned two days ago. So, he currently needs someone to help him guard the place."

He continued with a condescending smile, "What do you think? If you're interested, I'll get you that job immediately."

Picking up on what he was implying, another one of my colleagues, Ben, couldn't help but chime in.

"I can't believe you're asking him to be a watchdog," Ben teased. "Have you forgotten that he used to be your mentor? That aside…"

After a moment of silence, he burst into laughter and continued, "Remember not to skimp on his salary. Otherwise, he's going to be worse off than an actual dog."

With a proud expression on his face, Michael replied, "Of course. I'll see to it that Zane receives at least 800 dollars a month. That should be more than enough to cover his basic needs."