In the end, Elena begrudgingly transferred the money to David. I turned to leave, but her voice stopped me.


    "Serena."


    I paused, ncing 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 she was struggling or facing some crisis, she always seemed to turn into a fight 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 myptop bag.


    Elena faltered for a second, 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 that Alex would actually go out of his way to defend you."


    I raised a brow. "This situation isn''t my fault, and it''s not Alex''s either. If you want someone to me, look in the mirror."


    "You want me to me 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 tly, turning away. I had no interest in engaging with her any further. Work was already piling up on my te. Between trying to work 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 nced 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 behind me made me turn. To my surprise, it was Alex.


    Dressed in a perfectly tailored shirt, he walked toward me with his usualposed 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 re. "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 fell silent. After a moment, he walked to the water cooler, filled a cup with hot water, and returned to me.


    "Serena, before taking on a task, did it never ur to you to question its logic?"


    I looked at him, unsure of 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 rity


    in his tone 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, ncing at the content on my screen.