"Corporate responsibility! Hahahahaha!"
Max burst out laughing the moment he heard the news, his voice echoing through the room as if Adam had just told him the punchline to the best joke of the year. He leaned back in his chair, barely containing himself, and then stared at Adam with wide, incredulous eyes.
"You? Corporate Responsibility Director? Come on, man—Co-director or not, this has to be a joke. Wouldn't it make more sense to just come work with me? Look at what you're doing now! This... this is such a blatant insult to your qualifications!"
Adam didn't say a word at first. He simply looked at Max—his so-called friend who never failed to find comedy in his misfortune—and let out a long, weary sigh.
"Are you done with the task I told you to do?" he said coolly, arms folded across his chest. "Or are you going to keep dragging your ass until I have to step on your tail to get you moving?"
That shut Max up, but only for a second. His smirk didn't vanish completely, and his eyes still twinkled with barely contained amusement as he grabbed the file from the desk and tossed it toward Adam with a dramatic flair.
"Here. The stage is all set," he said, chuckling under his breath. "Let the show begin, Mr. Corporate Hero."
Adam caught the file with a sharp nod, flipping it open just enough to skim the contents. A slow, satisfied smile crept onto his face.
Robert Collins thought he could use Saira to bring him down. Thought he could corner him in a trap of scandal and sabotage.
Let him try.
Because now Adam had the upper hand.
He closed the file with a gentle snap and laid it back on Max's desk like it was a crown jewel. Then, with a smile that was all teeth, he looked Max dead in the eye.
"I need to submit a proposal by end of day—something on reducing our carbon footprint, waste, and energy output. You know. Corporate stuff."
Max blinked. "That's... actually a tough job," he said sarcastically
But Adam nodded slowly, then tilted his head, studying Max like a professor handing out a surprise pop quiz.
"Then have it sent to me by 3:00 PM."
Max's mouth dropped open like a trapdoor. He stared after Adam, stunned, as the man turned on his heel and strode out of the room without another word.
"Wait, wait, wait—hey!" Max scrambled to his feet, pointing after the disappearing figure. "What do you mean have it sent to you? I'm your assistant in this company, not your... your... paperwork minion! This isn't part of the deal!"
No response. The door clicked shut behind Adam like the curtain falling at the end of a scene.
Max glared at the empty doorway, chest heaving with disbelief. He slumped back into his chair and groaned, resisting the urge to bang his head against the desk.
"How the hell did the joke flip on me?!" he muttered to himself, eyes narrowing at the file like it had personally betrayed him. "He is the corporate director but I'm stuck writing about... carbon emissions and biodegradable waste? Great. Just great."
***
When Adam returned to the office, he realized that the rumor mill had already started to churn—and it was only the first day of Saira entering the building. Robert Collins really did know how to work quickly.
As he walked past clusters of hushed conversations, he caught the sneaking glances of the employees on the floor as well as pieces of whispers—how, in the past, he had been obsessed with her to the point of stalking.
Some even said he used to wait near her apartment, always showing up where she was, like he couldn't take a hint.
Others were already saying that she was a gold digger, claiming she was sleeping with Robert Collins for favors and that is how she had become the director here.
Another person said she had him wrapped around her little finger, while yet another insisted Robert was just protecting her—from his own grandson, no less.
Apparently, there were stories now that something had gone down between Adam and Saira years ago—something serious enough that Robert had to step in to keep things quiet.
Some even muttered that she'd disappeared back then because Robert Collins had vowed to protect her from his own grandson.
Adam clenched his jaw as he neared her office. It had started again—and this time, it felt even uglier. And he didn't have to wonder who would become the loser in the end. It would be... him. Because that is what Robert Collins had planned.
Adam stopped at the door to her office and knocked once, before entering as he asked," You summoned me?" He made sure to keep his voice loud so that anyone who was trying to listen in would know that he had not gone inside off his own accord. He watched her stiffen and knew she did not like what he had done.
But, without a word, she gestured for him to take a seat opposite her and he did, closing the door behind him slowly.
He hadn't even settled fully into the seat when she reached forward and pressed a button on her desk.
The transparent walls of her office began to tint, the glass frosting over as the blinds quietly slid into place, shutting out the watching eyes of the office floor.
Adam raised an eyebrow. "Trying to fan the flames of rumors a little more, are we?"
"Since when were you afraid of rumors, Adam? You were the poster boy for reckless indifference, remember?"
"Hmm. That was before everything happened. Or have you forgotten the price I paid for those rumors? After all, it was you who... weaponised them and left me to burn."
Saira sent him a bitter look then and even as her hands clenched under the table, she asked softly," If you really hate me so much, then why did you come looking for me? Why did you give me hope that you would save me?"