Chapter 3
667words
"Don't worry. All our candidates have been carefully pre-selected, and you don't have to worry about your privacy being leaked."
I sighed after reading the message. Then, I slipped the toy into my work bag and left.
Less than five minutes after I'd successfully completed my mission yesterday, Bianca had called me again. She apologized and told me that she'd misheard Dr. Ferrell. He'd been talking about a different patient, not Grandma.
In other words, Grandma was recovering well at the hospital. She could soon be moved to a regular ward after a few more days of observation.
Also, apparently, I had received an anonymous donation, and it had been specifically for me.
Could it be that these were all my "rewards" for completing the mission?
In any case, I just had to continue believing that the app was legit even if I didn't want to anymore.
…
There wasn't much for me to bring away from my original desk, so I quickly moved my things back to the trainee team office.
Soon, it was time for work.
Office employees began shuffling in one after another. I recognized many old faces looking at me jeeringly as they came in, some even mocking me for being here. I didn't dare to even hold eye contact with any of them.
"Oh? What's Nathan doing back here with his things?"
"Did the Editorial Department kick you out?"
"Hey, Derrick! Your little ex is back!"
Since Mr. Dawson had only announced my departure in the Editorial Group, HR still hadn't circulated the announcement to the rest of the company yet. So, it wasn't surprising that the other trainees didn't know that I was demoted.
"Pfft!"
The familiar scoff came from behind the monitor screen at the center, mocking me in contempt. A shiver ran down my spine, and my fingers shook uncontrollably. I was getting restless.
Half a year ago, with the exception of Felix, about a dozen fresh new faces were brought to the company as trainees. Derrick was one of them.
He was young, handsome, and had a good sense of humor. Many of us took a liking to him at once, and everyone eventually voted for him to be our Team Leader.
Initially, I had also been quite popular among the ladies. They said that I looked like the most well-behaved nerd they'd ever met. They would even praise me for my fresh looks and blemish-free skin. I would always blush whenever they praised me like that, and they would always end up laughing.
Some time later, Derrick asked me out for dinner and a movie. And then, he confessed to me at the office, with everyone watching us.
Since I'd been through many hardships since young and hadn't exactly been on the receiving end of such affection before, I found myself accepting his confession without really knowing what I was getting myself into. Derrick just had a way with his words to convince me.
The trainee team was entirely made up of youngsters like me, and everyone was very accepting of our relationship, especially since Derrick was involved. Nobody dared to say anything bad about him.
However, our relationship only lasted for three weeks.
Once we got together, I realized Derrick wasn't all that he'd made himself out to be at work.
He would criticize my clothes for being outdated, call me bland and boring, and make fun of my upbringing, causing my self-esteem to plummet.
Also, he kept making inappropriate jokes about me at work with the other guys, saying that I was born to be a slut despite my goody-two-shoes appearance because I had the figure for it.
He talked about me like that so naturally and nonchalantly that I suspected they were fantasizing about me in private.
