Free Web NovelChapter 48: Everyone Has a Weakness
The afternoon sun hung low over the city as Liam stepped out of Harper Linguistics’ office building. A familiar blue screen flashed across the edge of his vision.
[Mission Complete]
Objective: Secure the partnership with the French delegation.
Reward: $40,000
Monica Trust +10
Hidden Objective Completed
Harper Linguistics has become a long-term strategic partner.
The corners of Liam’s lips lifted ever so slightly. He dismissed the notification with a thought. Forty thousand dollars had never been the true reward.
A company rescued from the brink rarely forgot who had pulled it back. One day, Harper Linguistics would become a valuable ally, and that relationship would be worth far more than a single payment.
He adjusted his jacket and walked toward the sidewalk. The business district was beginning to quiet down. Office workers poured out of nearby buildings in small groups, chatting about dinner plans or complaining about endless meetings.
Cars crawled through the evening traffic while the golden sunlight reflected off the glass skyscrapers.Liam was about to hail a taxi when something caught his eye.
A young woman sat alone on a bench near the entrance of the building across the street. She held a cardboard box tightly against her chest. Inside were a coffee mug, a small potted succulent, a framed family photograph, several neatly stacked notebooks, and an employee nameplate.
Liam slowed his steps. "...Grace?"
The young woman looked up. For a brief moment, surprise flashed across her face before she hurriedly forced a smile. "Liam?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
He walked over and stopped in front of her. "I just finished helping someone with a business meeting."
Grace nodded absentmindedly. "I see..." Her voice lacked its usual warmth.
Only then did Liam get a better look at her. Her eyes were slightly swollen. Even with light makeup, he could still see the faint redness around them.
She had been crying. The smile on her face looked more exhausting than comforting.
His gaze shifted toward the cardboard box resting on her lap. He immediately recognized what it meant. People only left an office carrying their belongings one way.
"You resigned?"
Grace instinctively lowered her eyes. "...Yeah."
There was a long silence. Finally, she laughed awkwardly. "It’s actually a good thing. I’ve been thinking about changing jobs for a while. The workload was getting tiring anyway." She tried to sound cheerful. She failed.
Liam already knows she lying.He quietly sat down beside her. Neither of them spoke. People walked past without sparing them a glance. A breeze drifted through the plaza, rustling the leaves of the small trees lining the sidewalk.
After nearly a minute, Liam finally spoke. "Grace."She hummed absentmindedly.
"Look at me."Grace slowly turned her head. The moment their eyes met, the smile she’d been forcing finally disappeared. Her lips trembled.
She looked away almost immediately. "...I’m sorry."The apology caught Liam off guard. "For what?"I don’t know...She laughed weakly. "I just didn’t want anyone to see me like this."
Her shoulders shook slightly. She tried taking a deep breath. It didn’t help. The tears she’d been desperately holding back quietly rolled down her cheeks.
"I really tried," her voice cracked. "I really did."
Liam remained silent. Sometimes silence was kinder than interruption.Grace wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I thought if I worked harder, if I stayed late, if I just endured a little longer, things would eventually get better." She laughed bitterly. "They didn’t."
Liam’s expression slowly became stiff. He already had a guess who this was about. Still, he let her tell the story in her own words.
After a long pause, Grace finally whispered, "...It’s Harrison."
The name confirmed Liam’s suspicion.
Grace lowered her head, staring at the box in her lap. "After... after you helped me get my salary back, he never forgave me. He said I embarrassed him in front of everyone. And after that, everything changed." She clenched her fingers around the edge of the cardboard box.
"He started assigning me work that normally took three people. When I finished it, he’d say it wasn’t good enough. When I couldn’t, he called me incompetent. He criticized me during meetings, in front of everyone."
Her voice became quieter with every sentence. "If another department made a mistake, it somehow became my responsibility.
If a deadline was missed, it was my fault. I stayed until midnight almost every day, but somehow it was never enough."
Liam didn’t interrupt once. His eyes remained fixed on the street ahead. Calm. Almost frighteningly calm.
Grace continued in a trembling voice. "He even started taking credit for my reports. When the managers praised the work, he told them he’d rewritten everything himself." She laughed softly. "It wasn’t even true. I wrote every word."
Grace lowered her head even further. "My coworkers knew it wasn’t true. But no one said anything. They were afraid of offending him." She smiled bitterly. "I don’t blame them. Harrison’s been with the company for years. He has connections. I’m just... an ordinary employee."
She fell silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "There was one day he called me into his office."
Liam finally turned toward her.
Grace’s fingers tightened around the edge of the cardboard box until her knuckles turned white. "He closed the door. Then he looked at me and said"
"You think you’re special now because you found someone to stand up for you once? Don’t forget who signs your performance reviews. As long as you’re in this company, I decide whether your career lives or dies."
Liam’s eyes darkened.
Grace continued. "He told me. No one is going to help you forever. One day that boy will get tired of playing hero.’" She bit her lip. "’And when that happens, you’ll come crawling back and apologize.’"
A tear slipped down her cheek. "I never wanted to fight with him. I just wanted the salary I’d already earned. He made it sound like I’d committed some terrible crime." She laughed quietly, but there wasn’t a trace of humor in it. "I started dreading every morning. I couldn’t sleep. I’d wake up wondering what I’d done wrong, even when I hadn’t done anything."
Liam’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.
Grace took a shaky breath. "Last week he handed me three departments’ worth of work. I stayed until almost one in the morning. The next day he threw the file back onto my desk. ’Do it again. It’s garbage.’" She looked down at the box in her lap. "I hadn’t even eaten that day."
Another long silence settled between them. The sounds of traffic seemed strangely distant.
Finally, Grace whispered, "So I resigned. It was the only thing I could do. They processed the paperwork this afternoon.
She gently brushed a thumb across the little potted plant inside the box. "I thought I’d feel relieved. But I just feel like I failed." She laughed through her tears. "Maybe I’m really not good enough.
The words hung in the air.
Liam slowly closed his eyes. In both his lives, Grace had always been like this. She worked harder than everyone else.
She endured more than everyone else. Yet when everything fell apart, she blamed herself. Never the people who had wronged her. Only herself. It made something cold settle inside him.
After a long moment, he finally spoke. You didn’t fail. Grace looked at him.
"Harrison did." She blinked. "He failed as a manager. He failed as a leader. And most of all, he failed as a human being."
Grace stared at him silently. Nobody had ever said those words to her before. For weeks she’d listened to Harrison tell her she wasn’t capable.
That she wasn’t smart enough. That she wasn’t professional enough. Little by little, she had begun to believe him.
Liam stood up. Then, without another word, he reached down and took the cardboard box from her hands.
Grace blinked. "L-Liam
"I’ll carry it. You’ve carried enough."
Her eyes became moist again. She hurriedly looked away so he wouldn’t see. "...Thank you."
The two of them walked side by side toward the roadside. Neither spoke. They didn’t need to.
After a few minutes, Liam hailed a taxi. He placed the box carefully inside before opening the rear door for her. Grace hesitated. "What about you?"
"I’ll head back later."
She nodded. Just before getting into the taxi, she looked back at him. "I don’t know if I’ll ever find another job.
Liam met her eyes. "You will."
She gave a weak smile. "I hope you’re right."
"I am." His voice was calm. Certain. "So don’t think about work tonight. Go home. Get some rest.
Grace assumed he was simply trying to comfort her. After all, what could Liam possibly do? Harrison had been climbing the corporate ladder for nearly fifteen years. He knew executives. Managers. Clients. People like him didn’t simply fall.
The taxi slowly pulled away. Liam stood on the sidewalk until it disappeared into the evening traffic. Only then did the warmth leave his expression. His eyes became calm and Calculating.
He murmured the name once. Then turned and walked toward the subway station.
Not with anger. With purpose. Because Liam had learned something in both lives.
There were people who deserved forgiveness. And there were people who only stopped hurting others when they had lost the ability to do so. Harrison belonged to the second kind.
