Chapter 2

No one had expected Yvonne to publicly turn on me for Dylan's sake.

Dylan looked even more smug, shooting me a provocative glance.

I shrugged and stood up to leave.

"Fine. Go ahead and process my termination today."

My complete indifference surprised Yvonne, and Dylan's face turned ugly. All his achievements were stolen from me. Without me as his safety net, he had nothing.

"Wait! Yvonne, firing him is too extreme."

Then, Dylan went to my desk and carried my computer into the conference room.

"How about we just teach him a lesson he won't forget!" In front of everyone, he lifted my computer high and slammed it onto the floor, shattering it. "I'm warning you, no more slacking off and goldbricking!"

The loud crash silenced the room. My computer was a pile of scrap metal. Everyone stood up, their faces alight with anticipation for the drama.

"He smashed his computer! Austin's life here is going to be miserable now."

"People are dying to get a job at this company, and Austin doesn't even care about being fired. You think he's just playing hard to get, trying to make Manager Sterling beg him to stay?"

"He's been a bottom-rung employee for a year. So pathetic. There's no way Manager Sterling is actually into him..."

Shards of my computer landed at my feet. That was a custom, top-spec computer I had built overseas for ten million dollars. I looked at Dylan in his cheap clothes and said calmly.

"You smashed my computer. Can you afford to replace it?"

Dylan sneered. "You're just a regular employee. How expensive could your computer be? Just go get a backup computer from the storage room."

I turned to Yvonne. "Are you just going to let an intern act this arrogantly? First, he steals my contracts, and now he smashes my property?"

Yvonne moved to stand right beside Dylan, looking down on me.

"He's being merciful by not having me fire you and letting you stay here to earn a paycheck."

"Dylan smashing your computer was for your own good. He wants you to be more ambitious."

I shook my head, a cold smile on my face. The line on my gaming headset had gone silent. My hot-tempered dad and grandfather were fiercely protective. They were probably already on a private jet heading back.

I had no energy to argue anymore. I crouched down to pick up the motherboard, but Dylan lifted his foot and stomped right on it.

"Still trying to salvage it so you can keep playing games?" he said, grinding the motherboard under his shoe. "Yvonne is showing you mercy, and you're still not sorry?"

"You're slacking off in public, ruining the company's hardworking atmosphere. You deserve nothing more than the oldest backup computer we have!"

"Also..." He produced a stack of project reports. "This data you prepared has a massive error in it! If I hadn't caught it in time, you would have cost the company a fortune!"

His words caused a stir in the room.

"Oh my god, Dylan really is our company's lucky charm! He can even find errors like that!"

"Look at Austin, so shameless. Without Dylan's blessing, his project would have failed ages ago, and now he's talking back and giving him attitude!"

"He's doing it on purpose, trying to win back Manager Sterling's heart. As if he's got what it takes!"

I picked up the report and realized it was one Dylan himself had prepared a while ago. He'd just replaced his name with mine.

"I didn't do this." I shrugged, tossing the report on the floor. "I might play games all day, but I still meet my targets. I'm not stupid enough to make a mistake like this."

"Only an intern would make such a rookie mistake, don't you think?"

I gave Dylan a mocking look. His face paled, and he pointed at me, fuming.

"Austin, you play games at work all day! Why wouldn't you make a rookie mistake? Your name is on it. Just admit it!"

"Don't make me pull out the evidence and completely humiliate you!"

I stared at his guilty face and found it hilarious. The once-clueless intern was now the company's tyrannical 'lucky charm'.

"Evidence, you say?" I made a call. "Hey, could you come over right now? I need a handwriting analysis and a review of some security footage."

"You think you have the right to conduct a private investigation in our company?" Yvonne frowned. "Don't think we'll believe the results just because you hired some shady people off the street."

I ignored her, sat back down, and went back to my game. The Vice President's expression grew even darker.

"What's the meaning of this, Austin? If you're wrong, you're wrong! Are you trying to cause a scene? Security, don't let any unauthorized personnel into the building!"

"No need to bother security. We're already here."

Everyone turned toward the voice, and a collective gasp filled the room.