In the end, Elena begrudgingly transferred the money to David. I aimed to love, but her wiliness stopped me.

I paused, glancing back as Elena wiped her tears away and stormed toward me, her face a mix of anger and humiliation. “You came here just to gloat, didn’t you?”

I stared at her, baffled. No matter her situation, whether struggling or facing a crisis, she always seemed to become a fighting dog, bristling with hostility.

“No one’s that bored. This just happens to be the closest route from Hastings Group back to campus,” I replied, lifting my laptop bag.

Elena faltered, clearly flustered. But she quickly recovered and smirked bitterly. “You must be thrilled, huh? I tried to ruin your chances at a job, but I didn’t expect Alex would actually go out of his way to defend you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “This situation isn’t my fault, and it’s not Alex’s either. If you want someone to blame, look in the mirror.”

“You want me to blame myself? It’s all your fault, bitch! You just can’t stand to see me happy,” Elena scoffed.

“Interpret it however you want,” I said flatly, turning away. I had no interest in engaging with her further. Work was already piling up. Between working during the day and house-hunting at night, my brain was constantly on overdrive.

And then, there was Jolene, trying to make my life harder.

It was already 10:00 pm. The office was empty except for me. I worked on reports no one else wanted to bother with, yawning as I glanced at the clock.

“Almost done! One more hour to go!” I muttered to myself, feeling almost burnt out. I was exhausted.

The sound of footsteps made me turn. To my surprise, it was Alex.

Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, he walked toward me with his usual composed demeanor, though his brows were slightly furrowed. “You’re still here?” he asked.

I nodded, motioning to my screen. “I’ll finish in an hour.”

Alex’s frown deepened. “Have you finished everything I assigned you? Why are you still here at this hour? Do you think the work you’re doing will generate enough profit to even cover your portion of the electricity bill?”

His words made my temper flare. “What’s that supposed to mean? Just because I’m a recent grad doesn’t mean you get to look down on me.”

Alex’s expression softened slightly. “Who gave you all this work to do?”

I blinked, confused. “Ms. Harrington handed it to me this afternoon. Wasn’t it from you?”

Alex looked stunned. After a moment, he walked to the water cooler, filled a cup with hot water, and returned to me. Before taking on a task, did it ever occur to you to question its scope?

I looked at him, unsure where this was going.

Alex took a sip of his water, his sharp gaze meeting mine. “Do you really think I’d assign such important work to an intern?”

Though his words stung, the clarity in his gaze made me realize what was happening. Alex didn’t assign me the work—Jolene had dumped her workload on me. “Not bad. You’re catching on,” Alex remarked as I came to a realization. He stepped closer, glancing at the content on my screen.