Chapter 2

Derek went ballistic, practically jumping out of his skin. His chubby finger nearly poked my nose. "Ryan, you're delusional! Who do you think you are, hitting on her? Take a good look in the mirror, loser!"

Everyone in the office knew Derek had a thing for Madison—he'd been chasing her nonstop. Hearing I'd supposedly hit on her pushed him over the edge.

"I like her? Are you kidding me?"

I frowned and shot back.

Madison looked shocked, then her eyes welled up with tears.

She gave the boss a pitiful look.

The boss's face turned stormy. He slammed his hand on the desk, cutting me off. "Enough! Everyone be quiet! Ryan, seriously? Arguing with a woman?"

His voice dripped with impatience, like I was the one being unreasonable.

Madison shot me a smug grin, her eyes full of contempt and mockery.

She and Derek left the office one after the other, trailing a sickly sweet perfume that made my stomach turn.

The boss walked over to me. "Ryan, the company's already struggling. We don't need this drama. Just let it drop."

He patted my shoulder lightly, but it felt more like an insult than reassurance.

His words made me feel suffocated.

Just because I'm a guy, I deserve to be bullied, falsely accused, and humiliated?

I clenched my jaw, swallowed my anger, and nodded. "Fine."

I turned and headed back to my desk.

When I got there, what I saw made my blood boil.

My workspace was a disaster—coffee stains and water everywhere. Disgusting.

The keyboard was sticky and smelled revolting.

Worst of all, the project materials I'd spent a month collecting were soaked in coffee. The papers were wrinkled and stuck together—completely ruined!

That was a month of my hard work!

"Who did this?" I couldn't hold back my anger anymore.

Several female coworkers who always hung around Madison started snickering.

"Oh no, who made Ryan all upset?"

"Who else? He got rejected and now he's embarrassed!"

"Tsk tsk, hitting on her and then framing her when she said no. Serves him right!"

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

I knew getting angry would only make things worse.

My eyes landed on the security office in the corner.

I walked over and knocked.

"Come in." The boss's voice came from inside, still irritated.

I pushed the door open and got straight to the point. "Boss, I need to see the security footage."

"Someone destroyed a month's worth of my work. They need to be held accountable."

But the boss just frowned and gave me a dirty look.

"Ryan, are you ever going to drop this? It's such a small thing. Is this really necessary?"

"It's just some documents. You can collect them again."

"You're a grown man. Why are you being so petty? Get out. I'm busy."

When I left the office, Madison gave me a smug look, her eyes full of obvious mockery.

She looked at me and spat out one word: "Loser."