Chapter 2

Brian stormed over, fuming.

Lisa looked at me like I was hopeless. "Elaine was never that into you to begin with. Now that you've wrecked her car, you might as well wait to be dumped."

I said nothing. I just kept my eyes fixed on the woman striding toward us, step by step. I wanted to hear how she was going to explain her "busy" this time.

Brian broke the silence first, sneering at me. "What? Can't get Elaine to meet with you, so you're jealous out of your mind? How sad. I guess, as a favor to me, my girlfriend will agree to your interview next time."

I looked straight at Elaine. "Girlfriend?"

The woman, who had been silent this entire time, finally made a move. She pulled me aside and lowered her voice.

"Don't embarrass Brian. This interview is really important to him."

My chest tightened with a suffocating ache. The interview was really important to him? But what about me?

I gripped her arm, my voice hoarse and tinged with sadness. "What about me?"

Elaine froze for a moment. Realizing what I meant, she lightly scratched the palm of my hand, and her voice softened. "Let's do yours next time, okay, Luke?"

"But you promised me," I said, staring at her stubbornly.

Her expression gradually turned cold. She slowly pried my fingers loose and took a step back.

"Behave. Don't make a scene," she said, her voice hardening.

Ignoring my reddening eyes, she took Brian's hand and started toward the elevator. But Brian wasn't about to let it go just yet.

He pulled free of Elaine's hand, turned back around, and gave me a taunting smirk.

"Since we're coworkers, Luke, I'll give you one chance. Get on your knees, apologize, and admit you're a worthless bastard who'll spend your whole life beneath my feet. Then, I'll let you off the hook for wrecking the car."

I pressed my lips together and looked straight at Elaine.

"What about you? Do you think I should apologize too?"

Seeing my bloodshot eyes, a flash of reluctance crossed her face. But just as she was about to say something, Brian tugged on her sleeve impatiently.

And just like that, the words that came out of Elaine's mouth changed.

"You are indeed in the wrong this time. Just apologize to Brian, and I'll handle the rest," she said, looking as if she was asking me to do the most natural thing in the world.

Looking at her expression, I felt like something was clawing viciously at my chest. I laughed out of sheer anger.

I raised the decorative piece again and smashed it into the car window.

"You blew me off, but you showed up for his interview and somehow became his girlfriend, and now you're saying I'm in the wrong?" I asked. "Just what exactly did I do wrong?"

Elaine frowned deeply, clearly unwilling to discuss it any further.

"Brian isn't like you. He just started at the station. He doesn't have any connections or background, so all he can do is work late into the night day after day. He needs this opportunity to establish himself. You're the senior here. Isn't it only right that you give him a break?"

For a second, I thought I must have misheard her. Yet, the pain in my chest was all too real.

Every word out of her mouth oozed sympathy and concern for Brian, but who at the station hadn't started out the same way?

Just so I could spend more time with her, I regularly wrote my s late into the night. Pulling consecutive all-nighters was practically routine for me.

She clearly knew all this, yet she had never once shown me the same concern.

I used to quietly blame her for being too focused on her career and overlooking those little things. Only now did I understand. It wasn't that she didn't notice. She'd merely given all that concern and affection to someone else.

But what she seemed to have forgotten was that Brian and I had joined the station in the exact same year. And he even had an uncle who was a producer.

It was almost laughable how she was treating a privileged insider like an overworked nobody.

I was about to argue back when the station director happened to walk past. Hearing the commotion, he strode over to us.

"Two of our station's star journalists fighting right outside the front door? What are people going to think?"

As he spoke, his gaze landed on Elaine, and his face instantly lit up with a sycophantic smile.

"Ms. Crowley, you're here? Please, come inside and have some coffee!"

Brian immediately perked up. He pointed at me and started tattling.

"Sir! Luke couldn't get an interview with Elaine, so he went crazy and scratched up her car! She's my girlfriend, yet this psycho is making a scene and publicly demanding an explanation from her!"

His voice was shrill and cutting, immediately drawing a crowd. Colleagues, both old and new, gathered around and looked at me with open ridicule.

"Luke is such an idiot. Ms. Crowley is dating Brian. Of course she's going to help him instead of Luke."

"Making a scene just because he lost to Brian… How disgusting! Makes one wonder if he slept his way into all those past interviews too. He didn't succeed with Ms. Crowley this time because she has a boyfriend."

"No wonder his girlfriend of eight years refuses to go public with him. She probably thinks he's filthy!"

The insults stabbed at my head like needles, giving me a headache.

Elaine only shot me a quick glance before pressing her lips together and stepping in front of Brian. Her silence and protective posture practically confirmed every accusation thrown my way.

I clenched my teeth, but I still couldn't seem to stop my whole body from trembling.

Seeing this, Brian grew even more smug. Pretending to be all magnanimous, he said, "Forget it. We're colleagues. Everyone makes mistakes. I won't hold it against him."

The director nodded approvingly. Then, he turned to me and urged, "See that? You should learn from Brian. Your professional skills aren't up to par, and all you do is resort to cheap tricks."

I could let go of a cheating girlfriend, but I wasn't going to tolerate anyone questioning my professional capabilities.

Letting out a long breath, I looked straight at Elaine.

"Elaine Crowley, why don't you tell everyone yourself? Just whose girlfriend are you?"