Nysus City's weather report promises a clear autumn day with only a two percent chance of rain and thirty percent humidity. It's the perfect day for pet owners to take their dogs out for a walk or for lovers to go on a romantic stroll. All of this, however, is lost on the two people inside a sleek, black Maybach.
As it is another day of work, they are both in business formal attire. The blonde in the driver's seat is wearing a light gray suit over a white shirt, paired with black heels constantly switching from the brake and the accelerator. The dark green-haired passenger is in a tan suit that complements his sun-kissed skin, not a single wrinkle to be seen in the perfectly tailored fabric, but there's no warmth around him. Unlike the weather outside, the atmosphere inside the car is dark. Two people, both beauties, ride in such a heavy mood as they test each other's tempers.
"I cleared your schedule for the day," Lucy informs Damon from the driver's seat, her well-manicured nails almost scratching the steering wheel from all the tension she's holding.
Damon looks up from his tablet, unsure if he heard her right. His suspicion on why Lucy picked him up instead of the driver grows stronger, but he says nothing, waiting for her to continue.
He watches the view outside as they pass through multiple streets in silence, the mental pressure in the car increasing with each meter they travel. Damon doesn't recognize the destination they're heading to, not with the roads going towards the heart of the city, but he knows it's a different direction from the company. If they are going to the company, then they should have arrived ten minutes ago.
When they stop at a traffic light for the fifth time, Lucy reaches for the glove compartment to her right. She hands Damon a folder without looking back. Damon accepts it just as the car starts moving again.
He opens the folder at the same time that Lucy starts saying, "It's the result of the matter you asked me to look into. Unfortunately, it's a dead end. I couldn't find any clue that would link the problems together."
Damon can see that. At a glance, the report assesses all the damage that has been done this past month, their causes, and the projected losses for the next six months. Flipping to the next page, he carefully reads the full account of Lucy's investigation. It's concise and straight to the point, needing no more than a single page despite the long hours of work she toiled away.
Turning the car to the left, Lucy continues her report. "I also included a plan on how to efficiently minimize the damage. It accounts for the possible public backlash, the recent trends, and the board's insistence on selling securities."
Skimming through the rest of the report, Damon knows this is the best that Lucy has done. He's not disappointed, although it's a shame that they haven't caught even a tail of whoever is sabotaging him. After all, he never expected it to be easy.
Still, it's a bigger thorn to his side than he thought. It's not bad enough for major changes to be implemented, but it is the biggest setback in his career so far. Damon handles the Lin Finance Group because he doesn't want to be controlled by those from the main house, and he's been doing an excellent job until recently. With this mess, there's bound to be calls after calls incoming, meddling poorly disguised as concern.
"Good job," he tells her as he snaps the folder close.
There's not much he can do right now except to try and stave off the headache that's threatening to explode from the front of his head. It's a combination of lack of sleep and stress, he suspects, but that doesn't explain why gravity suddenly decided to increase its weight on his body. He has also been blanking out a lot as of late, catching his mind wandering off to nowhere—a habit he never developed even in his teens. With him regularly working out and maintaining his diet, there's no reason for him to feel like he's been put through the blender every day, yet here he is.
"One more thing," Lucy says after Damon closes his eyes to rest. She takes another folder, this time from the shotgun seat, and hands it to him like before.
He believes it contains supplementary info—or something similar in nature—but it's the last thing he imagined it to be.
No, that's not right, because not even in his imagination does he expect to see the words 'Resignation Letter' written on top.
Damon is, without a doubt, shocked. Lucy hasn't expressed any dissatisfaction with her work, except for that one time she grumbled at the lack of good wine at the company's annual banquet.
His mind is still reeling from the news when Lucy, with not a hint of emotion in her voice, says, "I already notified HR of my resignation. I'll stay until my replacement is competent enough to take over my role."
"Why?" He asks—because even though the letter clearly states her reason for leaving, he knows the excuse she wrote is simply for formality.
Lucy, of course, has a lot of reasons for leaving: she has been with the company for too long, she wants to have a fulfilling personal life, she wants to properly woo Rosa and get married, she doesn't need to work anymore, she hates Damon's guts. However, she doesn't say any of this. Instead, she stops in front of Nysus City's largest hospital.
After unbuckling her seatbelt, she turns around and looks at him for the first time that morning. Her voice doesn't waver when she says, "I am no longer qualified to work for you after this."
Damon, a man admired for his intelligence, needs no further explanation from her as he looks between her straight face and the entrance of the hospital. No decent employee will change their boss's schedule without a warning like this. In the hands of a ruthless lawyer, it can even be dramatized as kidnapping.
Lucy exits the vehicle while Damon sighs in his seat. She opens the door for him, urging him to alight. As Damon steps into the light, the bright sun warming his tired face, he wonders what it is that made Lucy sacrifice her career to bring him here.
Before he walks in to figure that out, Lucy warns him from behind. "This might be your last chance to do the right thing. I hope you don't fail."
He doesn't know it yet, but on this perfect day, her words will haunt him for the rest of his life.