The clock struck 08:00 AM, and for many, it was time to wake up and start their day. But for Liam, it was time to enter his workplace and face the music known as his boss's complaints.
He did not want to enter the looming gates in front of him, but Liam was left with no choice but to step through the door.
As Liam had expected, his boss was not here… yet. The man had asked Liam to come early just to harass him. Liam could have shown up later and avoided it, but there was one problem with this approach—the camera his boss would inevitably check to create trouble for Liam later.
So Liam waited for about an hour in the freezing office, with only his half-charged phone to keep him company.
When his boss, Edward, finally showed up, he looked a little flabbergasted to see Liam waiting for him at the entrance. But his surprise was quickly replaced by annoyance as the huge man walked over to Liam and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"So, you finally decided to show up? I knew you were lying about the hospital, so don't even bother showing me the doctor's note. Get back to work and have the report on my desk by the end of the day."
Edward's loud and annoying voice grated on Liam's nerves, but he knew better than to talk back.
There was only one response for Liam to give in this situation.
"Of course, boss. You got it!"
Liam quickly agreed and went back to work. He knew fully well that he wouldn't finish everything today, but he had a plan: to involve the other employees in his tasks and divide the workload to finish quickly.
It was a well-thought-out plan, and under normal circumstances, it would have worked. But this time, things were different.
People around Liam were giving him angry looks, and Liam decided to stop avoiding the issue. He asked his co-worker what had happened.
The co-worker gave him an even angrier look, as if he couldn't believe Liam had asked the question.
"Fucking hell, man! What kind of person are you to even ask this? Do you know you broke Natasha's heart when you asked her to get out of the house in the middle of this weather? That girl told us all about it."
The co-worker's loud voice attracted the attention of others, who turned toward Liam with interest in his business.
Liam felt like a criminal being judged by the intense gazes of his peers. His temper flared, and his sharp senses detected the faint sound of something cracking.
[Warning: User's fluctuating emotions are causing an upset of balance. User is asked to calm down before a disaster happens.]
The system's warning snapped Liam back to his senses. He took a deep breath and tried to correct the misunderstanding (or slander) Natasha had spread about him.
"Oh! Is that what Natasha told you? Then she must have also mentioned how she cheated on me with my ex-best friend for a long time? I'm sure that was a fun conversation you had with her."
Liam spoke confidently, and his words made his co-worker flinch.
And just like that, no one could suddenly meet Liam's eyes. They quickly left him alone, which was fine with Liam since he knew most of them were two-faced.
At least he could use their momentary guilt to get their help.
Liam somehow managed to finish his work with his co-workers' help and picked up the report to take it to his boss—Edward.
The huge man sat at his desk with a grave look on his face. As soon as he saw Liam, Edward stood up, trying to intimidate him.
"You have the report? Let me see it."
Liam handed over the report, having triple-checked it to avoid redoing it.
But as soon as he handed it over, he could tell Edward wasn't going to accept it.
"This is all wrong. Redo it, and make sure it's right this time."
Edward gave no explanation for his claim; he just demanded Liam redo the work that had taken him hours.
At this point, Liam was exhausted and wanted to leave. His tired brain impaired his judgment, leading him to ask his boss a foolish question.
"Boss, can you indicate what's wrong with this report? If you can, I'll know what to change—"
A huge fist slammed into the table in front of Liam as Edward tried to intimidate him further.
"Don't ask stupid questions. If you can't figure out what's wrong, then redo it on your own. I won't take no for an answer!"
Liam's temper flared. Exhaustion dulled his ability to control his emotions or his magic.
[Warning: User is in an agitated state. Minor magical incidents may occur.]
The system warned, but Liam's emotions didn't listen. He heard the sound of something cracking.
Edward, unaware of the danger he was in, continued testing Liam's patience.
"Now head back and finish your work… What the heck is going on here?"
Edward's voice turned shaky as the building around him began to tremble.
It felt like an earthquake, and Edward tried to rush past Liam to escape, but the door wouldn't budge.
A minute passed, and the tremors didn't stop, convincing Edward that his end was near.
Liam, the likely cause, finally calmed himself enough to push his powers back and stop the quake.
Edward noticed Liam once the shaking subsided, his eyes flashing with rage.
"You. Did you do something? Is this your fault? Fuck! I should have realized you were bad news even since the first time I saw you. No wonder Miss Laurels warned me about you a few days ago. It turns out she was right."
Liam's brain paused as soon as he heard those words. That name sounded familiar and his brain took a minute to remember that Laurels was Natasha's last name.
It seems like co-workers were not the only people Natasha had opened her mouth in front of.
"Fuck, so it was Natasha after all. I should have realized that she won't stop at just my co-workers when slandering me."