Chapter 2

I was just about to wave my hand and say I didn't need the coffee when Maxim conveniently lost his grip on the cup, and the coffee poured straight down the front of his shirt.

The move was so dramatic I almost stood up and clapped. I had this strong feeling he was about to claim I'd deliberately splashed coffee on him.

Sure enough, his voice, trembling like he was about to cry, carried through the entire office. "William, I know you're secretly upset about me taking over what should have been your work, but I realize now how wrong I was."

As he spoke, he began lowering himself, practically ready to grovel. "If you're still angry at me, I'll get on my knees and beg for forgiveness right now."

Right on cue, the bullet comments popped up again.

"If William knows what's good for him, he should be helping Maxim up right now!"

"Maxim's only throwing William under the bus because he lost his grip on the coffee and doesn't want things to get awkward. This really isn't that big of a deal. William should just play along."

"William didn't even pay for the coffee earlier. Now's the perfect chance to get on Maxim's good side. Why won't he just take it?"

Our surrounding colleagues were all watching the drama unfold. Meanwhile, I kept a blank face and stared at Maxim, who was lowering himself slower than a tortoise, and quietly waited to see what kind of stunt he was really trying to pull.

Just as his knees were about to hit the floor, a furious roar came from behind him. "That's enough!"

The crowd parted, and Charmaine stormed through, marched straight up to us, yanked Maxim to his feet, and turned to scowl at me. "I think that's quite enough. He's already apologized. Must you be so unreasonable?"

Excuse me?

I'd been dating Charmaine for over a year, but only today did I realize she wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I hadn't even uttered a single word from start to finish. How was I the unreasonable one?

After Charmaine dispersed the crowd, she whispered something in Maxim's ear. He blushed at that, nodded, and returned to his seat.

Then, before I could even speak, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the office. The moment we reached the pantry, she flung my hand away and fixed me with an icy glare. "He's just an intern. Did you really have to make things difficult for him?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Make things difficult for him? Was I the one who made him deliver those documents to you? Was I the one who forced him down on his knees? Charmaine Fitzpatrick, are your eyes and brain even functioning? Can't you see he's putting on a whole performance?"

Charmaine's face flushed red from being called out, and she sputtered, "Y-You—! How dare you talk to me like that? Fine! Starting today, Maxim will be my assistant. You can stay in your entry-level position and work on your attitude!"

I shrugged indifferently. "Sure."

She stomped her foot and stormed off.

Then, I calmly walked back to the office. Just as I sat down to continue working, the bullet comments appeared again.

"William shouldn't even try to do his job properly. He should slack off and cut corners so Maxim can shine even brighter as the hardworking and ambitious one."

"Exactly. Otherwise, how would Charmaine ever notice how great Maxim is and let their relationship bloom?"

I was speechless. These annoying comments just wouldn't leave me alone! But I had no intention of following their script. Instead, I focused on completing the work I was supposed to do.

…

The next day, I arrived at the office ready to send the completed proposal I'd prepared to Charmaine, only to find the document had vanished from my desktop. No matter where I looked, even in the recycle bin, there was no trace of the proposal.

Charmaine came out of her office, stood beside me, and tapped impatiently on my desk. "Where's the proposal you were supposed to submit today? Why haven't you sent it yet?"

Just as I was about to speak, Maxim interrupted with a snide tone. "Ms. Fitzpatrick, I'm afraid William probably can't come up with one."

I immediately sensed something was wrong. Maxim definitely had something to do with the missing file.

When Charmaine looked at him suspiciously, Maxim put on an innocent face and explained, "William was slacking off at his desk the whole time yesterday. The moment it was time to clock out, he bolted. There's no way he finished the task."

Without even waiting for my explanation, Charmaine immediately started berating me.