With that, Matthias watched as Lara turned around and left. Deep down, he knew Lara bore no ill intent and was well aware that she was being taken advantage of. However, he didn’t know why she would act this way and fall in love with him so painstakingly.
There were many secrets he noticed yet didn’t know well about, but he chose not to look into it because the truth behind such things were often too trivial for him to put his mind into.
When Nikolai saw Lara walking out of Matthias’ office with her face full of tears, he was instantly reminded of the time she had just started working for their boss.
When he saw how her tears fell so profusely, he hurried over to comfort her, certain that Matthias must have rebuked her.
“Did the president scold you, Lara?” Nikolai was clueless about what happened inside earlier, and he just wanted to cheer her up.
“No, he didn’t.” Despite her attempt to hold back her tears, they wouldn’t stop dripping down. Perhaps she wasn’t as strong as she imagined herself to be.
“Why are you sobbing so much then, you crybaby?” asked Nikolai in a calm voice, attempting to distract Lara from her sadness.
“That’s because I’m leaving. From now on, you’ll be the only secretary and assistant. You’re now responsible for everything, happy?” Lara responded with a chuckle as she beamed and wept at the same time—it was hideous.
“What? Don’t say that!” Nikolai was dismayed. Naturally, he didn’t believe that she was actually leaving.
“I’m serious. Anyway, I’ll be going. Be well, Nikolai,” she said. As she patted his shoulder like a senile woman, she realized that she felt rather attached to him.
While she stared at his face, she noticed that his appearance sort of resembled Matthias’. In fact, they even had similar qualities.
Perhaps Nikolai isn’t that bad… Lara thought to herself as she looked at him with tears streaming down her face.
Meanwhile, Nikolai panicked instantly since he didn’t know how to console her. Moreover, he couldn’t tell if Lara had resigned on her own initiative or if Matthias had fired her.
When she saw how nervous he was, Lara felt slightly comforted by it. She proceeded to ask, “Can you give me a hug? This might be our last time seeing each other.”
It was only before her departure did she understand that what she felt toward Matthias was merely infatuation, and she had been slowly noticing Nikolai’s subtleties.
Not only that, she even felt a tinge of adoration for the latter. Thanks to Matthias’ words, she was finally relieved from her secret crush of many years.
Perhaps she had truly failed in winning him over. After adoring him for so long, all she received was her crush’s disdain. As such, the more she thought about it, the harder she cried. Meanwhile, Nikolai grew flustered since he felt rather embarrassed when getting close to a female, let alone going in for an embrace.
“Don’t cry.” He held her tight in his arms. Since he had also gotten used to her presence, the man had also grown attached to her.
Since he assumed that they were going to work under Matthias’ wings for a long time, he could feel the emptiness in his heart when Lara announced her leave.
After embracing each other for quite some time, they were rather unwilling to let each other go. Words like colleagues, friends, and lovers could no longer describe what they felt about each other.
Following that, Lara looked at the items that were neatly arranged on her desk. The sight of it was rather pleasant, but she had no intention of bringing any of those objects with her because she wanted to leave as she came. She had come empty-handed, so there was no point in taking these things along with her.
“I’m not taking any of these, Nikolai. If the president finds them irritating, please discard them on my behalf. I came into the company empty-handed, and I intend to leave that way,” she said while wiping her tears. She then urged herself to be stronger, unlike the young girl who constantly wept when she first joined the Locke Group. How embarrassing of her!
Back then, she would always cry after being reprimanded by Matthias. As she reminisced about her time in the company, she felt like her career was a dream. However, it felt rather pitiful that she had been awakened from it.
“There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I’ll try talking to him.” No matter how stupid Nikolai was, he could tell it was Matthias who fired Lara.
“There isn’t, and nothing is meant to stay forever. I’ll be leaving now. Good luck.” Although she still had much to say to him, she eventually stopped herself from saying those words.
After having betrayed and deceived Matthias, she had lost her right to care about him. Although she had predicted this to happen, she never imagined that he’d show her tenderness at the final moment, allowing her to retain her last bit of honor.
The harder it was to obtain someone’s heart, the deeper Lara would fall for that person. Knowing that, she couldn’t help thinking she was a masochist. Moreover, she even remembered that she used to complain to Nikolai about how problematic and ambiguous Matthias was, but little did she know, she fell for him for the very same reason.
And so, she had admired him for a long time. There were many instances where she’d go back on her own words, and she would hate herself for it. Even Nikolai had figured out her feelings for Matthias, but the latter remained unwavered as ever. Needless to say, it was a disastrous romance.
As Nikolai watched Lara taking every step further, he knew that the woman was wiping her tears off with her sleeves. After all, she was but a young lady.
All these years, he had been observing Lara’s behavior in front of Matthias; he could tell that she had feelings for him. As such, he couldn’t help but wonder if her feelings toward Matthias had been the reason he fired her.
No way. Nikolai felt compelled to barge into Matthias’ office so that he could demand an explanation from the latter—never in his life had he been so bold. Back when he had a little interest in Heather, he was always secretive and cowardly about it, but for some reason, he was able to muster up the courage to speak up for Lara.
When Nikolai entered Matthias’ office, the latter raised his head indifferently with not even the slightest bit of surprise in his face. In fact, he was aware of the relationship between both his assistants and always wondered when the opportunity for them to realize their importance toward each other would come.
“Why did you fire Lara, President Locke?” Nikolai interrogated aggressively.
“That’s what she told you.” As if he hadn’t heard the former’s question, Matthias simply lowered his head and went through the documents on his desk.
“No, but there’s no way she would suggest her resignation, so you must have done so,” Nikolai replied furiously as he couldn’t fathom Matthias’ motive behind his decision.
“Yes, I did fire her.” Matthias spoke as if he was talking about a trivial matter.
“Are you that heartless, Matthias? Why would you discharge your secretary who’s been loyal to you all this while?” Nikolai found Mathias’s decision absurd, wondering what it was that Lara had done that deserved such treatment from him.
Although Matthias wished to reveal the truth to Nikolai, he was worried that the latter would develop feelings of repugnance toward her once he knew the full story. Thus, Matthias decided to play the bad guy.
“I no longer need her, and it’s as simple as that. Besides, she’s learned a lot since joining the company, so it’s more of a win-win situation. What has heartlessness got to do with it?” Matthias answered faintly, knowing that the more emotionless he sounded, the more furious Nikolai would become.
“If that’s really the case, then fire me as well!” Feeling vexed, Nikolai glared at his director as he had lost his patience for a parley. Since his own boss was being so ridiculous, he might as well double down on it!
“That’s very childish of you. Why are you venting your anger on me just because of a woman?” Matthias questioned Nikolai, noticing a tinge of admiration the latter had for Lara.
Moveover, there was a chance that it was actually a two-way thing. Although he wasn’t entirely certain about it, his intuition was that letting Lara go would be beneficial for everyone.
“She’s merely an insignificant woman in your life, isn’t she?” As he grew even more irritated, Nikolai was baffled by Matthias’ persisting apathy and couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly a reptile.
“What about it?” Matthias shot him a confused look. When he saw how frustrated the man was, Matthias was made certain that Nikolai sincerely liked Lara.
After all, Nikolai had always been a timid man in front of him, and no one understood that more than Matthias.
“Do you know how much effort she’s put into her job? Do you know how much pain she has gone through by admiring you?” Feeling that Lara’s discharge was unjustifiable, Nikolai felt as though the feelings Lara had accumulated these years were all in vain.
“I’m aware of her efforts, but that’s only the basic requirement of every employee. As for her feelings toward me, I have no clue about that and nor am I affected by it.” Matthias brutally spat every single word without any expression.
“Are you really not human, Matthias? Do you not have emotions? Look at how loving Heather pained you! Out of everyone else, you should be the one who’s able to comprehend the agony of having a secret crush on somebody, right?” Nikolai was thoroughly disappointed, and he was surprised by the fact that his president was so much more indifferent than he had expected. At that moment, it was as if Matthias was a complete stranger to him.
“My love for Heather was no secret, so I can’t possibly understand what it’s like to admire someone in the dark.” As Matthias voiced the words that were against his own feelings, he started to grasp the feelings Lara had for him.
If it weren’t for the repeated mistakes Lara had made, Matthias wouldn’t have been so cruel. Moreover, love wasn’t something to be forced. Who could blame him for her continuous errors?
Since Matthias’ decision was final, he couldn’t even convince himself to give Lara another chance. The best thing he could do for the lady who had been covertly fancying him was to put her far away from him.
“Fine, you’re right. Very well then, Matthias. If that’s the case, fire me as well then, okay?” Nikolai had visibly gotten more enraged. Although he had originally intended to talk Matthias into bringing Lara back, it seemed like the boss was final with his judgment.
Hence, he decided to accompany Lara in her unemployment. Suddenly, Nikolai had an outburst of tenacity to defy Matthias.
“If you think that you can’t continue without Lara, you’re welcome to join her any time.” Having said that, Matthias hoped that Nikolai could heed the hint in his words.
“Fine. I’ll leave right now.” As he spoke, he took out his phone.
With that, he quickly dialed Lara’s number and said, “Slow down, Lara. Wait for me. I’ve been fired as well.”
When she heard that, Lara was stupefied. She had been dwelling on her agony at first, but now that it seemed like Nikolai had done something stupid, she suddenly had a change of heart. As she approached the parking lot, she was hesitating between going to find Nikolai or waiting for him there.
“Are you mad, Nikolai?” she rebuked angrily, evidently against the idea of him joining her.
“I’m not. In fact, my mind is clearer than ever. I just can’t bear to continue working for a heartless man,” Nikolai claimed as he leered at Matthias. It was as if he was exhausting his entire life’s courage all at once.
“Don’t be stupid, Nikolai! Calm down, all right? My dismissal has nothing to do with the president, you dumbass!” Lara was frustrated, for she didn’t know how to explain everything to him.
