“I didn’t think so either…” I mumbled softly before I could stop myself.

Everyone stared at me in silence for a while as if they were waiting for me to blurt out a confession regarding the various crimes that I have committed. Of course, feeling as confused and as clueless as I was at that moment, I didn’t know what to say. The only thing that I could do was stare back at them as I tried my best not to fidget on my seat from the tension and nervousness.

“Well, now that she’s here, let’s get this started so we don’t take up so much of everyone’s precious time,” another woman on the committee said.

My eyes inherently travelled to the seat where Ace was sitting the last time that I was called into this same room. Back then, I was here because Kyle had stolen my work which was sensitive and secret information to the company. This time, instead of Ace, there was an older man seated in that seat. A sudden ache stung my heart and I realized that it wasn’t because I was scared because Ace wasn’t there on the committee to help me, but it was because I realized just how much I truly missed him and the times that we spent together.

‘I’ll try to meet up with you soon. I’m very sorry about this. Make sure that you stay out of trouble until I get back…’

This chapter upload first At NOvelUsb[.]c0m

Ace’s words came back to me and made the corners of my lips curve up a little at the thought. I could recall his teasing tone when he said those words to me to remind me to stay out of trouble. I highly doubted that when he said that he would have imagined that I would end up in the disciplinary committee room not so long after.

“Miss Karina, do you have any idea why we have called you here to meet with us today?” a woman asked before showing me a polite smile.

“No, I’m sorry but I have no idea,” I replied truthfully as I tried to control my voice from shaking.

I wondered if Ace knew where I was right now and that this was happening to me. If he knew, he might find a way to help me again just like he did last time and that was the last thing that I wanted him to do. Being a burden to Ace and making him go out of his way for me was probably one of the top items on the list of things that I hated. Especially when I knew very well that he was busy with much more important things. I sat up a little straighter as I suddenly felt a bit braver just because I knew that I had to be.

“What is your relationship with Mr. Jeremy like?” one of the committee members asked without beating around the bush.

I was thankful for his directness and the clear implication in his question. However, it shocked me that out of all the things, I had been summoned because they suspected that Jeremy and I were dating.

Do they honestly think that we’re dating?

“What’s so funny, Miss Karina?” a woman asked, and her tone was quite sharp. I think you should take a look at

That was when I realized that I had started giggling without knowing it. Just the thought of us dating made it hard for me to hold myself back from laughing and I couldn’t understand how anyone could have arrived at that idea.

“I’m sorry. Umm…it’s just that that scenario never crossed my mind before. You see, Jeremy and I are just colleagues and friends. Nothing more…” I said while trying to make myself very clear.

“To be honest, we’re not calling you here because we are certain that you two are dating or that you have broken the rules that we have in place regarding the matter. However, there’s been rumors going around that I thought that you should be made aware of them,” another woman on the committee explained.

“I see. I was not aware of that…” I replied blankly.

It never occurred to me that there would be rumors going around about Jeremy and I dating. I didn’t think that the two of us drew attention from anyone in any way and I was honestly confused about the rumors. Despite that, it was good enough for me that the committee didn’t seem convinced that we were dating because we were definitely not dating.

I wonder if Jeremy knows anything about this yet.

“Prior to inviting you here, we had a separate chat with Mr. Jeremy already and it seems like he is also unaware of the rumors that are going around,” another man added with a stern nod of his head.

The way he looked at me told me that he wasn’t entirely convinced of my story, but it was clear that without further evidence he would have to let it slide. I was too stunned to say anything for a moment and all I could do was listen to the representative of the committee recite the rule prohibiting romance between employees again as if I haven’t heard it enough times already since my orientation.

“There is nothing for you to worry about. I assure you that we are just friends and colleagues. We happened to work together on Project Alpha, and we started being friends since then,” I explained again.

“Let’s say that we believe you and we understand you. However, when a man and a woman is seen together very often when there is no need for them to be together, it can lead to rumors…” the man said before shooting a look my way. ????????????????????????????????.????????????

I still found it hard to believe that in our creative and innovative industry, stiff and extremely conservative people like him still existed. His words finally connected the dots for me as Richard’s warnings came back to haunt me. He did warn me about this, but I was just too stubborn about it all. It seemed like having pure and honest intentions were not enough for someone to survive unscathed in this world after all.

--To be continued…