Alex stood so close behind me that I could feel his steady, warm breath brushing against my scalp. It sent an unexpected shiver down my spine, leaving me momentarily flustered.


    "This reportbines data from the first and second quarters. You need to separate them. It''ll be faster that way," he said, leaning slightly over my shoulder.


    "Oh, but don''t both quarters need to be sorted anyway?" I muttered, nodding as heat crept up my cheeks.


    "Dummy. The first and second quarters focus on entirely different business priorities. Merging them only makes the data harder to interpret," Alex replied bluntly, his critique as sharp as ever.


    Realizing he was right, I immediately adjusted my approach, following his advice.


    Thirty minutester, I stretched with a satisfied sigh. "Finally done! You''re amazing, Mr. Hastings. You spotted the issue right away."


    I shut down myputer and stood to turn off the lights, only to see Alex exiting his office with his jacket in hand.


    "Mr. Hastings, are you getting off work too?" I asked politely.


    He paused, raising an eyebrow at me. "There''s no one else here but the two of us. Are you sure you still need to be this formal?"


    There was a flicker of disappointment in his gaze, and surprisingly, I felt a pang of guilt.


    I hesitated, fumbling for words. "Uh... Al? Want to walk out together?"


    His expression didn''t betray much emotion, but the tension in his brows eased slightly. He took a step forward. "Let''s go. I''ll drive you home."


    "Oh, okay." I nodded reluctantly, then quickly came to my senses. "What? That''s not necessary. You don''t need to do that!"


    "I''m the boss here. You stayedte working. It''s my responsibility to ensure your safety. What if something happened to you and you med it on me?" Alex said, stopping to look at me. Then, he casually slung his expensive jacket over his arm.


    I nodded. I took his jacket from him and fell in step behind him, feeling like his minion.


    As we walked, he nced at me. "You''re graduating soon. Have you found a ce to stay yet?"


    I shook my head. "Not yet."


    For a moment, I thought he might offer his home or suggest I return to the Hastings residence. I had already prepared polite rejections in my head. But instead, Alex said nothing.


    ...


    The next morning at work, I was in a good mood. Jolene, however, was the opposite. The report she had forced me to do had turned out wless, leaving her with no grounds to criticize me.


    поо


    "You just got lucky," she muttered after scrutinizing it for half an hour without


    finding a single mistake. Finally, she snapped, "But don''t think you''ll always be this lucky!"


    I nodded, unwilling to argue.


    "Serena, Mr. Hastings wants to see you," one of my colleagues called me over.


    "I''ll head over now," I replied, turning to leave.


    "Stop right there!" Jolene''s sharp voice rang out.


    I turned back to her with a frown. "Mr. Hastings asked for me."


    "I''m not deaf. What kind of tricks are you using to seduce Mr. Hastings? Otherwise, why would he treat you so well? Jolene shot a re at


    Alex''s office as she crossed


    her


    arms and rose from her chain She


    stood proud, her tone dripping with venom.


    Jolene''s cruel and cutting words were expected from someone hardened by the corporate world.