“THIS is the crucial evidence Samantha had given to Bruce, proving that you abused her and forced her into a relationship with you,” Henry's words echoed in August's mind as he stared at the Polaroid pictures he held. 

It was Samantha’s pictures— where she had bruises on her skin and a selfie with her face swollen as if someone had slapped her.

August had seen these images before, not because he was the one who did this, but because he had been the one to tend to Samantha's wounds whenever she sought comfort in him. 

He remembered it all—the moments he questioned his girlfriend about what had happened, only to be met with her silence every time.

Samantha never opened up to him, not even once.

‘Yet, Sir Henry claims this as evidence against me,"’ August thought, feeling a surge of madness at the accusation.

As he played the footage from the mini-camcorder that came with the brown envelope, anxiety gripped August, and he gasped when he realized where the scene in the video took place. 

Samantha’s strange reactions at this time were planned all along.

"No..." he muttered, watching in disbelief. "This can't be happening."

 He watched the video fully, although he knew what would happen there.

"Let's go, Sam,” August commanded in a slightly mad tone.

"No, I won't go with you!" Samantha's voice brimmed with frustration. "Let me go, August!"

Within seconds, August and Samantha vanished from the camera's view, yet Samantha’s screams and inaudible sounds were heard in the place. 

At first glance, everyone would assume that August was hurting Samantha. But he knew the truth behind it all.

This CCTV footage captured the moment August got the news that Samantha was flirting with someone else, igniting a surge of rage within him. 

However, he had never harmed her, never laid a hand on her. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

During that time, Samantha was inflicting pain upon herself, slapping herself and shouting loudly. August vividly remembered his efforts to stop her, but for some reason, his voice wasn’t heard in the video.

"Experts and doctors have verified it, August," Henry spoke when he felt that August was going to appeal. "You cannot deny this."

 "I... I mean, this is true," August replied, pointing at Samantha's pictures. 

He had no intention of denying their authenticity because he knows he wasn’t the one who did it. 

“But I wasn’t the one behind it, the same as this video,” August tried to explain, but it seemed Henry was no longer willing to listen. 

Henry had been the one to hire August, despite everyone’s opposition, but now, he felt humiliated for hiring him. He realized that August had merely used his sympathy to secure a position at the Sandoval Corporation. 

"As soon as Mr. Bruce Sandoval saw these pictures, especially this video..." Henry pointed at the camcorder in his hand, “he wanted you to be fired from the company this instant.”

Suddenly, August remembered what Bruce told him a while ago. When he had vowed to ruin his life, he hadn't anticipated that his job would become Bruce’s target. 

He lost Samantha, and he was on the verge of losing his job, too.

Just when he thought things would be okay, his world crumbled beneath him—crumbled in the most devastating way.

"That's unfair, sir! You're firing me based on rumors? You didn't even bother to hear my side of the story!" August exclaimed, frustration and desperation lacing his words.

"Your side? As if it even mattered," Henry replied with biting sarcasm.

"The company promised me a promotion—"

"You still have the audacity to think about your promotion?" Henry interjected, shooting August a withering gaze that silenced him. "Idiot."

"And what about my proposal—"

“The Strategy Department will continue formulating it,” Henry answered ruthlessly. "But you won't receive any credit for it. That was the condition Bruce laid out if you wanted to avoid jail."

Heartbreak after heartbreak. August could feel his chest constricting as he heard Bruce’s condition—Bruce used August’s weakness to his advantage. 

He was hurt, disgusted with himself, and above all, he realized that Bruce was right.

If he hadn't been so naive, he would have noticed that something was wrong from the moment Samantha approached him.

"I'm the one who worked tirelessly for it!" August protested, his voice laced with anger as he clenched his fists and slammed them forcefully on the table.

"And you're the one who landed yourself in this mess," Henry retorted without flinching.

Having been a hiring manager at Sandoval Corporation for over a decade, he had grown immune to individuals lacking self-control, like August.

August took ragged breaths, momentarily forgetting that the man in front of him was his boss. He no longer cared about the consequences, even if it meant going to jail. 

No one would exploit the fruits of his labor and allow someone else to claim all the credit.

"You're fired. Get out," Henry declared with finality.

At this point, August realized there was nothing more he could do. Henry was more than determined to kick him out of the company.

“Alice,” Henry called out to his secretary as two colleagues pulled August out of the room.

“Yes, sir?” Alice responded.

With a sad smile on his face, Henry reached for the phone in his right hand. “Add August Fordman to the company's blacklist.”

“Acknowledged,” Alice promptly confirmed before exiting the room.

Henry then contacted the mastermind behind it all—Bruce. 

“How did the conversation go, Henry?” Bruce asked.

“It's done. He has been fired,” Henry relayed, while Bruce's smile widened on the other end of the line. “I apologize for all the trouble he caused, sir.”

“No need to apologize. You handled it well, Henry,” Bruce praised in an authoritative tone. “Keep up the good work,” he added before ending the call.

Bruce placed his phone on the side table and glanced at Samantha, who was wearing a white robe while sitting at the edge of the bed. They were in a suite to relax.

“How was it, baby? Did you like my surprise?” asked Bruce as he smiled widely. He sat behind his girl.

Samantha nodded. Giving Bruce a peck on the lips, she spoke. “I feel relieved. I’m all yours now, Bruce.”

“No one can take you away from me,” Bruce muttered. His hands went onto her shoulder and removed the robe down to her elbow.

He smiled at the view he was seeing. Samantha’s skin was enough to make him insane. 

“Especially not him…” Bruce lay Samantha on the floor as he started kissing her, and after a while, making love with her. 

MEANWHILE, August sat motionless in front of the Sandoval Corporation, drained of both physical and mental strength. He carried only his bag, which Peter gave him earlier.

He wasn’t able to get the documents for his proposal. Sandoval Corporation would use it in exchange for his freedom.

"Fuck," August muttered silently as rain poured down upon him, and he didn’t even have an umbrella. 

At that moment, he felt like the most pathetic person in the world, constantly plagued by misfortune.

“Why did my life suddenly turn out like this?” he questioned himself, trembling from both the chill of the rain and the growing anger within him. 

The reality dawned on August—it wasn't Bruce or Samantha he was fighting against, but his own self. He had allowed the opinions of others to define him, to become his truth.

It didn't matter if people labeled him a pathetic commoner; what worsened his situation was that he believed it himself. He had accepted the undeserved hatred and insults simply because he was poor. 

But it shouldn't be that way. 

Bruce and Samantha had no right to harm him or shatter his life in such a manner.

"All of them..." August rose to his feet, abandoning his crutches.

Though his knee throbbed with pain, he endured it as the feeling was nothing compared to the anguish in his heart.

“I will never forgive them.”