“Are you going out today?” I asked.“No, I’ll be here to clear up some work. I’m leaving things on that end in Elizabeth’s hands for now until I hear back from her again,” Ace replied before showing me a warm smile. “Alright, then. Please try to make it to your meetings on time. I’ll be heading over to my project room now if there’s nothing else…” I said politely as I switched into my secretarial mode. “Good luck, Rina. Enjoy your day at work,” Ace said before he smiled at me again. “Thanks, you too,” I replied simply. The outlook for the day did not look bleak at all. Everything seemed bright enough although there were always uncertainties around us. I had a spring in my steps when I left Ace’s office to go to my project room where Richard was undoubtedly waiting for me. I told myself once again that I would work hard, do my best, and impress Richard one way or another. Seeing Richard reminded me a little of the warning that he gave me. It bothered me that someone might have mis

There were many large office buildings in the area and people take lunch break around the same time of the day, so it was to be expected and I had nothing to complain about. Just getting to have a proper lunch with my colleagues already felt great. Although it started off as quite a big challenge, I think that the lunch ended decently well, and I was kind of glad to have lunch with Richard. Maybe I could get closer to him and learn more from him just as Ace had suggested when he staffed me on this project. We were very close to the office when I felt my phone vibrating in the pocket of my suit. One look at the screen and I found out that the call was from Ace. My first thought was that the call might be about something urgent at work and that made me answer the call immediately. “Ace?” I said his name questioningly. “Where are you?” he asked, and his tone felt rushed. “Umm…” I murmured. “Where are you right now?” he repeated his question, this time with more urgency than before.

Turning on the television just made matters worse. Live broadcasts on the television and on social media channels were not difficult to find and I could watch the situation in front of my office building. It had been a while since I got home but the crowd had not thinned and there were no signs of anyone coming out of the building to address the crowd. The building’s security team was present to control the situation but that was it. I wondered if Ace was still in the office or if he had managed to use another exit to make his way out. Usually, Ace wouldn’t panic over something like this, but his tone of voice revealed that this matter had shaken him and that made me even more worried than usual. I knew by that time that I was a pro at overthinking and getting paranoid about everything; however, the sickening feeling that developed in the pit of my stomach told me that there was something lurking beneath the surface that no one knew about. What if someone is behind this sudden devel

“I’m sorry that this happened, and you have to worry so much,” Ace apologized softly.His hand moved to stroke my hair while I listened to his steady heartbeat. The regular rhythm of his hand stroking my hair and the sureness of his presence helped to calm me down. “It’s not your fault so why are you apologizing?” I asked as I hugged him a little tighter to me. “We should have been more careful, Elizabeth and I…” he replied calmly. “The photos were of that night when you two came back together, right?” I asked. “That’s right but then there are many others as well. Of course, all of them taken out of context…” Ace said before letting out a sigh that sounded so regretful. I agreed that when taken out of context the photos of them together made them look like the perfect couple. Given the history that they were engaged before, I could understand that people would have biased view when seeing those photos. Photos of them sitting together or just walking side-by-side could be misinter

“I think at his age, he’s more worried about the long-term future of his daughter. He might not be taking such a kind approach but I’m sure that he’s doing what he thinks is best for his daughter,” Ace explained calmly. “I don’t know about that…” I mumbled because I couldn’t quite agree with Ace on that point. I honestly did not like the fact that he seemed to be defending Chairman Chase even if there may be some truth behind his words. My body seemed to be boiling with anger and I knew that most of it was from the fact that Ace was dragged into this as well. The merger was one thing and the issue with Elizabeth was bad enough; however, what probably bothered me the most was seeing people get the wrong idea about my own boyfriend. No matter how hard I tried, I could never fall in love with the idea of people misunderstanding that my boyfriend was in a relationship with someone else. The fact that it wasn’t true did not make the matter easier to swallow. To make matters worse, while