Chapter 1

A man in a white shirt and black cotton pants was walking briskly down a long hallway decorated with wooden walls decorated with abstract paintings. The man's face looked cold and hard, seemingly wrestling with his thoughts.

Elliot Hester. His head was currently filled with questions about his salary at the office. He had just gotten the news of a raise from the company's employees, but he didn't get it at all. His wages were still the same as last time.

"Tom." Elliot knocked on the door of the office of the leader of the company he worked for, before finally opening the door.

The man named Tom in the room gasped at Elliot's random entry into his room. "Hey, you can't just walk in." He got up from the chair, putting on a stern face. "Here, I'm the boss."

Tom didn't like Elliot's casual behavior, disrespecting him as the leader of the company. Although they had been friends for a long time, but in the office, Elliot was no more than an ordinary employee like the others and the rule of respecting superiors was absolutely necessary.

"Yes, I know. Sorry for that." Elliot raised his hand in apology. "I wonder why I'm the only one not getting a raise?"

He should question that at a time when the company's employees were getting 10% to 20% raises, but he was not getting the same. Even though he's the one who has worked the longest since the company was created, which is 8 years ago.

Elliot and Tom had known each other for a long time because they came from the same college. Even so, the fates of the two were different. Tom was rich, while Elliot was not. Elliot was able to attend college because he received a scholarship.

"They get 10-20%." Elliot protested. He had a troubled look on his face, but his voice remained calm. "I, on the other hand, didn't get a dime raise at all."

Tom's eyebrows shot up one side, watching the man before him with a casual look as if he wasn't surprised by that.

"Oh." Tom sat back in his cushioned chair, signing some papers on the table. "So, you came here just to ask that?"

"It's not just that." Elliot pulled out a chair and sat opposite Tom. "I've worked hard, shouldn't you give me a raise too?"

Tom's hands stopped moving when he heard that statement come out of Elliot's mouth. He closed the document, staring at Elliot with his hands interlocked.

"Too bad, I can't." Tom's words took Elliot by surprise. But Tom had already guessed how the dark-haired man in front of him would react.

"Why?" It was the only thing that could come out of Elliot's mouth from the many questions that had been running through his head.

He couldn't wait to hear Tom's answer. What was it that made him unable to get a raise like the other employees.

Tom raised one eyebrow with his lips slightly pursed forward. "Because today is your last day of work." His voice was low and friendly but the meaning of his words was sharp. "You were fired."

Until that clarified sentence made Elliot completely shocked by it. Her body felt weak when she heard that sentence come out of Tom's mouth. His head hurt like it had just been hit by a baseball bat.

"Why, what's wrong?" Elliot tried to stay calm even though he felt like yelling and cursing. "I've never done anything wrong. I always try to do my best for the company."

Although the look on his face seemed calm, but the look in his eyes was deep and sharp, even the aura of annoyance from the man's body was very strong.

"It's your opinion, but in reality your skills are very poor." Tom emphasized that sentence to Elliot, ignoring the reality of what was actually happening in the field.

"Are you kidding?" Elliot sighed. "I've always done other work too. This is so unfair." Elliot never even complained about being treated like an office boy by the other employees to make coffee.

"Whatever you say." Tom raised both hands up, looking at Elliot with a condescending gaze. "But this is my absolute decision."

This was really an unfavorable decision for Elliot. A look of annoyance now appeared on the man's calm face. He had never complained about being paid less than his coworkers, even when the other employees got extra money for the new year, Elliot had never questioned that his wages had still not increased.

It was only natural for Elliot to be annoyed with Tom at this point. The man before him had never even treated him as a friend. The work Elliot did was even more and harder than the other employees, so it was him who should get the raise.

"You can't do this to me, Tom. We've been friends for a long time." Elliot expressed his disapproval of Tom's decision.

"Shut up!" Tom pounded the table very hard, pointing his index finger in Elliot's face with a fierce glare. "You can't oppose me. You're just an ordinary employee, you don't have any right to oppose any decision I've made. And you, I fired without getting any severance pay."

Tom's words were even more shocking to Elliot. "This isn't fair, Tom. You treat me lower than an office boy."

"Yes, you really are that low!" Tom shouted so loudly that the veins in his neck stood out.

Elliot's brow furrowed deeply at the harshness Tom was increasingly showing him. Elliot was already familiar with the man's character, but never had he been so harsh that Elliot didn't understand what he had done wrong until Tom fired him.

"You are indeed lower than an office boy. Your skills aren't even better than the trash shredder at the back of this company. You're useless!" Tom cursed at Elliot. His grumpy nature was even more obvious and even more arrogant than before.

"Oh, so you've forgotten how hard I helped you all these years?" Elliot tried to remind him how he struggled a few years ago to increase the company's turnover.

The company, Barrel Corp, had been in trouble to the point of near bankruptcy a few years ago. All the shares invested by the investors suddenly plummeted and made the investors ask for compensation. Of course, it made the company frantic to return the funds that had been given by the investors.

Elliot worked the hardest of all, handling a lot of inner technical work and management at the same time, causing him to lose sleep and often fall ill. But despite this, Elliot never missed work. Even in a shivering body with a fever of 39.7 degrees Celsius, Elliot still went to work to help Tom who he considered a friend, but in reality it turned into a sharp knife that stabbed him deeply.

Tom walked out of his desk and approached Elliot with his chest puffed out defiantly. "You think it's all because of your ability? Not at all. You think you're so great?"

Tom laughed right in front of Elliot's face, spitting sideways on the premium quality thick carpeted floor. He didn't even see all the work Elliot had done for the company.

"You're a useless piece of trash." Tom tapped Elliot's shoulder with the tip of his index finger. "My company is booming not because of your help but because of my intelligence. In addition, many investors of my father's acquaintance helped out." He seemed to pride himself on that. In reality, Tom was doing nothing but ordering.

Elliot shook his head in disbelief. "You really are cunning."

"What did you say?" Tom grabbed Elliot by the collar. "Don't say anything bad about me because you're no better than a sewer rat, damn it."

Tom threw Elliot's body roughly into the bookcase in the room. "Get out of here. I don't want to see your face anymore."

Elliot's jaw hardened. He squeezed his hands together tightly. The anger in his chest welled up, wanting to kick the blond man's ass, but his mind control was good enough. He didn't want to cause big trouble.

Elliot relented, exiting Tom's room with a loud slam of the door. He wrung his hair, upset by this betrayal. He had spent all his time for the company, but the company did not appreciate his efforts at all.

Elliot rubbed his face roughly, after spending a long time in front of the company, he finally decided to really get out of there. But his steps were halted when he saw a woman walk past him.

"Hani." Elliot muttered under his breath. He intended to come over, but Hani didn't seem to notice his presence. Elliot's forehead was deeply furrowed. "What did she come here for?"

That woman was his wife. Elliot thought it was possible that Hani had come here to meet him and bring him a lunch box, but that had never happened before. So, what did she come here for?

Filled with curiosity, Elliot followed Hani from a distance. The woman continued to walk into the underground parking lot with her head filled with questions.

"What is she doing there?" Elliot was getting more and more curious about what his wife was going to do.

Elliot noticed Hani's neat appearance. The woman was even wearing perfume. The makeup on her face was even thicker than usual.

Hani glanced at her watch, like she was waiting for someone. It made Elliot feel impatient and wanted to find out immediately who his wife was going to meet.

Not long after, Elliot heard the sound of clattering footsteps. Her heart was racing. She looked like she was waiting for a time bomb to explode.

Elliot's sweat began to drip down his temples as his two senses of sight widened, seeing a familiar figure. "Tom."

Tom approached Hani with a friendly smile that Elliot had never even seen before. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No." Hani shook her head, playing with the loose ends of Tom's tie. "I just got here."

The two embraced each other, making Elliot's blood flow heat up. She squeezed his hand, hitting the wall as they kissed passionately in front of him.

Elliot's chest felt hot as if it was on fire. Her hands were clenched tightly into fists. The man could no longer stop himself from standing there.

"Bastard." Elliot's scream startled Hani and Tom and immediately broke their kiss. "Bastard. What have you guys done? Asshole!"

Elliot's gaze was so sharp looking at Tom. His body quickly jumped up, giving Tom a hard punch on the cheek. Suddenly, Hani shouted in surprise.

"What are you doing, damn it?" Hani pushed Elliot's body away from Tom. He immediately embraced his lover's body with a panicked look on his face. "Are you okay?"

Hani held the corner of Tom's lip which was bleeding from Elliot's punch. Elliot snorted in annoyance at what was happening before his eyes.

Instead of giving an explanation or reducing her husband's anger, Hani ignored Elliot's presence and focused on the wound on Tom's lip.

Hani gave Elliot a wide-eyed look. "To be honest, I'm already very tired of being with a poor man like you." She pointed at Elliot, showing absolutely no respect for Elliot who was Hani's husband. "It's lucky I didn't carry your child for a year. If not, my life will be even more ruined."

Elliot really couldn't believe what his wife had just said. He thought this couldn't be happening. How could they be playing with fire behind his back? In fact, they had only met once, three months ago at the company party.

"Since when did you guys have an affair behind my back?" Elliot felt sure that this wasn't their first time because of the way they acted like they had been in a relationship for a long time.

But instead of answering Elliot's question, Hani looked at her husband with a smile.