C98 A Choice That Broke Me

When I arrived at the office, I acted as though everything was perfectly normal. On the outside, I remained calm. Inside... My mind was already exhausted. As I walked through the corridors, I could hear whispers coming from every direction. "That's him..." "So the photo was real." "I wonder who the girl is." "I heard she's someone's daughter." Everyone seemed busy gossiping about me. Normally, I would have cared. Today... I simply ignored them.

I walked straight into my office, closed the door behind me, and sat in my chair, hoping for at least a few moments of peace. Unfortunately, that peace lasted less than a minute. A knock came from the door. "Come in." The door slowly opened. Alex and Bright walked inside together. The moment I looked at them, I noticed the worried expressions on their faces. Neither of them looked like they had slept well. Bright was the first to speak. "Nerd..." "We made a mistake." I looked at both of them.

At first, I thought they were talking about work. "What happened?" "Do you need my help with something?" Bright immediately shook his head. "No..." "This isn't about work." He lowered his head before speaking again. "Please don't be upset." "The day before yesterday... I saw you at the shopping mall with a girl." I remained silent. Bright continued. "You know I like gossiping." "So... I secretly took a picture of the two of you."

His voice became quieter. "I honestly didn't mean anything bad." "I simply sent it to Alex and asked him if he knew who the girl was." "I even joked that maybe she was the reason Miss Mooney didn't come to pick you up." He sighed deeply. "I never imagined it would become this big."

Alex stepped forward. "I received the picture..." "But I didn't know who she was either." "So I asked someone else in the office." He looked down guiltily. "And somehow..." "The picture spread." "We're really sorry." "We never meant to expose your private life."

For a few moments, I simply stared at them. I didn't know what to say. Part of me wanted to be angry. Another part realized they genuinely regretted what had happened. The damage had already been done. Getting angry now wouldn't change anything. I let out a long sigh. "You two..." They immediately looked up. "In the future..." "Never do something like this again." "Not to me." "Not to anyone." "People's private lives are meant to stay private."

Bright nodded so quickly that it almost looked painful. "We're sorry." Alex nodded as well. "It won't happen again." Seeing that I wasn't yelling at them, both of them looked relieved. After apologizing one last time, they quietly left my office. The room became silent once again. I leaned back in my chair. For a moment, I considered messaging Laura to tell her that Bright had accidentally exposed the photo.

Before I could even unlock my phone... Another knock came. This time, the door opened before I answered. Josh walked inside. He wasn't carrying any documents. He wasn't here to discuss work. Without saying a word, he closed the door behind him. My heart skipped a beat. Judging from the look on his face... He already knew.

He slowly pulled out the chair opposite mine and sat down. The room suddenly felt much colder. He looked directly into my eyes. "Mike." "We need to talk." His voice was calm. "Man to man." "No lies." "Just the truth." I swallowed unconsciously. He folded his hands together. "Tell me." "What exactly is happening?" "Since when have you become so close to my daughter?"

For a moment... I couldn't find any words. Then I remembered something. The day I had solved the company's major cyberattack... Josh himself had invited Laura to have lunch with us. Judging from the way he spoke now... It seemed he had completely forgotten that day. I took a deep breath. "Team Manager..." "I honestly didn't know Laura was your daughter." "We met a couple of weeks ago." "I had gone to an electronics store to buy some upgrades for my computer." "She happened to be there buying games." "We met by coincidence." Josh remained silent.

After a few seconds, he asked a question I never expected. "Now that you know she's my daughter..." "What do you plan to do?" The seriousness in his eyes made my hands tremble slightly. "I..." "I don't understand." He continued staring at me. I forced myself to answer. "I love your daughter." "And..." "She loves me too." Josh suddenly laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. It was filled with disbelief. "So..." "You're telling me you still intend to date my daughter?"

His voice became colder. "My daughter is still young." "She's still in university." "And you think she's ready for love?" I lowered my head. I couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes. He continued. "The first day you joined this company..." "I welcomed you with open arms." "I trusted you." "And this is how you repay me?" "You go behind my back." "You approach my daughter."

His words struck me one after another. I quickly shook my head. "Mr. Tryon..." "That's not what happened." "I never approached Laura because of you." "We met." "We got to know each other." "And somewhere along the way..." "We fell in love." "I don't have any bad intentions." His voice suddenly rose. "You met her without telling me." "While I kept treating you like my own child..." "You were busy getting close to my daughter." His eyes were filled with disappointment. "You've truly disappointed me, Mike."

Those words hurt more than I expected. Because from his point of view... He wasn't entirely wrong. I should have told him. I wanted to tell him countless times. But every opportunity disappeared before I found the courage. Now... It was too late. Josh slowly stood up. "If you still want to remain on my good side..." "You already know what you have to do."

I looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" He looked at me one last time. "My daughter is too young to be in love." The meaning behind those words hit me instantly. I stared at him in disbelief. "You mean..." "You want me to break up with her?" He didn't answer. He simply nodded once. Then he turned around, opened the door, and walked out of my office.

The room became completely silent. I sat there motionless. Unable to think. Unable to breathe properly. Break up with Laura? How could I possibly do that? She hadn't done anything wrong. She trusted me. She loved me. How could I suddenly become the one to break her heart? I covered my face with both hands. My chest tightened painfully. Then... Without warning...

Old memories came rushing back. Samantha. The day she left me. The day she chose Ben. The sleepless nights. The endless loneliness. The depression I had fought so hard to escape. I remembered locking myself away from everyone. Pretending I was fine. Smiling while silently falling apart inside. It had taken me years to climb out of that darkness. Then Laura appeared. She slowly brought light back into my life. She made me laugh again. She gave me hope again. She made me believe that maybe... Just maybe... I deserved to be loved.

And now... I was being asked to throw all of that away. My hands began shaking uncontrollably. I wasn't only afraid of losing Laura. I was afraid of failing her. Afraid of becoming the reason she cried. Afraid that she would look at me with the same confusion and pain I once carried after Samantha walked away. Most of all... I was terrified of what would happen to me afterward.

If I let Laura go... Would I survive losing the person who had saved me from my darkest days? Or would I fall back into the same depression I had fought so desperately to escape? For the first time in years... I didn't know what the right choice was. And that frightened me more than anything else.