C100 The Weight Of Tomorrow

I immediately shook my head. "No." Both Alicia and Chris looked at me. "That won't do." I forced a small smile. "You can't just decide to hire someone the moment you become director."

Alicia opened her mouth to protest, but I raised my hand. "Let's not think that far ahead." "You haven't even accepted the position yet." "And besides..." "I'll find my own way." She smiled gently before nodding. "I suppose you're right." Chris suddenly snapped his fingers. "Oh!" "I almost forgot." Both of us looked toward him. "Did you hear the latest gossip around the company?"

I frowned. "What gossip?" Chris leaned slightly closer. "It seems Sarah is now the second biggest shareholder of Wood's IT Company." Alicia blinked. "Sarah?" "Your girlfriend?" Chris nearly choked on his drink. "She is not my girlfriend!" "I haven't confessed to her yet!" Alicia couldn't help laughing. "Not yet." "But she came back from England for good." She smiled mischievously. "Maybe this is her way to ask you to do it for the third time..."

Chris's face immediately turned bright red. "Alicia!" She giggled. "What?" "I'm only saying what everyone else is thinking." Chris looked away, pretending to ignore her teasing. However... The smile slowly disappeared from his face. He suddenly remembered something else. His expression became serious. "And Samantha..."

I looked up. "What about Samantha?" Chris hesitated. It wasn't often that he struggled to find words. Finally, he sighed. "I heard another announcement this morning." "Samantha has officially been appointed as the company's Second Vice Director." I stared at him. He continued quietly. "She'll be working directly with Vice Director Ben."

Everything around me suddenly became silent. "What...?" The words escaped my lips almost automatically. "What did you just say?" Chris lowered his eyes. "She'll be one of the company's executives." For a few seconds... I couldn't think. It felt as though my head was spinning. "Samantha..." "Working here?" I slowly leaned back in my chair. "My boss?" Nobody spoke.

I laughed bitterly. "On top of everything happening today..." "Now a nightmare is coming too." Alicia looked at me with concern. She knew Samantha had broken my heart. But she didn't know everything. She didn't know the words Samantha had once used. She didn't know how deeply they had wounded me.

I closed my eyes. "She hated me." "She once called people like us..." I smiled painfully. "Lowly born." The words tasted bitter even now. "If she really becomes one of our bosses..." "How am I supposed to work like that?" The anxiety inside me continued growing. First... Josh wanted me to leave Laura. Then... My future in the company became uncertain. Now... My past was returning.

It truly felt as though everything that could go wrong... Was going wrong. Without saying another word, I picked up my phone. There was only one person I needed to speak with. Laura. I opened our chat and typed. "Can we meet this afternoon?" The reply came only a few seconds later. "No problem. Same restaurant?" A small smile appeared on my face. "Yes." I locked my phone and slipped it back into my pocket.

Whatever happened... I needed to hear Laura's thoughts first. Chris looked at me. "You'll tell her everything?" "I have to." He nodded. "I think that's the right decision." Alicia smiled softly. "We'll be praying everything works out." I looked at both of them. "...Thank you." Lunch eventually came to an end. Despite everything weighing on my heart... I forced myself to return to work.

The rest of the afternoon passed painfully slowly. I completed only the tasks that absolutely couldn't wait. Even then, I found myself making simple mistakes that I would never normally make. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice. Or perhaps... They simply chose not to mention it.

When the clock finally struck the end of the workday... I didn't waste a single second. I shut down my computer. Collected my bag. And hurried toward the parking area. Within moments, I was already riding my bicycle toward the restaurant where Laura and I usually met. I didn't wait for Alicia. I didn't wait for Chris. Right now... There was only one conversation that mattered.

A few minutes later... Alicia arrived outside my office carrying her handbag. She smiled as she looked through the glass door. The office was empty. She blinked. "He already left?" One of my colleagues looked up from his desk. "Mike?" "He left in quite a hurry." "Oh..." "Thank you." She quietly walked downstairs.

Outside the company building, Chris had just arrived at the bicycle parking area. Seeing Alicia alone, he smiled. "I was actually looking for you." She tilted her head. "Really?" "I wanted to ask where Mike went." Alicia looked around. His bicycle was nowhere to be seen. She smiled knowingly. "I think Laura agreed to meet him." Chris blinked. "How do you know that?"

She laughed softly. "Because I know him." "When something is troubling him this much..." "The first person he'd want to talk to is Laura." Chris folded his arms dramatically. "Hmm..." "I see." "So you understand him that well?" Alicia immediately sensed danger. "What are you trying to say?" Chris grinned. "You care more about my brother than you care about me."

She rolled her eyes. "There you go again." "Because you my dear brother keeps provoking me every chance you get." Chris laughed loudly. "You didn't deny it." Alicia pointed a finger at him. "You are impossible." "Every single day you find something new to tease me about." Chris chuckled. "It's fun watching you blush."

She sighed dramatically. "Honestly..." "One day you'll get yourself into trouble because of that mouth." The two of them laughed together. For a brief moment... The heavy atmosphere surrounding them disappeared. It felt almost like old times. But laughter couldn't last forever.

As they prepared to leave... Their smiles slowly faded. Chris watched the road where I had disappeared only minutes earlier. "I hope he'll be okay." Alicia followed his gaze. "So do I." She quietly clasped her hands together. Mike had always been the one encouraging everyone else. Seeing him so lost... Made her realize just how fragile even the strongest people could become.

Eventually they reached the crossroads where they usually separated. "See you tomorrow," Chris said. "See you." Chris rode his bicycle while Alicia got into her family car. Neither of them felt at peace. Alicia still carried the weight of the decision she would announce to her family that evening. Although she had finally made up her mind, becoming the future director of Lucia Goods still felt like an overwhelming responsibility.

At the same time... Chris's thoughts drifted elsewhere as he rode his bicycle. Sarah. She had returned from England. She was now one of the most influential shareholders in the company. The gap between them had suddenly become much wider.

He had planned to confess. He had rehearsed those words countless times. But now... Doubt slowly entered his heart. Would someone like Sarah... Still choose someone like him? Chris wasn't sure anymore.