Chapter 2
Author: Vicky
last update2026-03-05 22:43:21

Immediately Liam laughed, his shoulders dropping as the tension in his muscles eased. He didn’t take the compliment with pride; it only reminded him why he pushed himself this far. Still smiling, he said, “Sir it’s my Situation that makes me work this hard. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same.”

The men around him burst out laughing. The old man slapped his knee and raised both hands mockingly.

“Situation? please go sit down and. aways take some rest. We all have one of two situations in our home!” he replied, still laughing. “But no one can fit match your work spirit, so please don't that as an excuse.”

Everybody burst out laughing again, including Liam. The air now carried lightness warm, easy laughter rolling around the group like smoke. But that calm didn’t last long.

Before the sound could fade, someone ran into the premises, panting hard and waving his hand.

“Liam! Liam!”

The tone of the voice stole the room’s laughter. Heads turned at once.

Then the man stopped right in front of Liam, breathing fast, his shirt soaked in sweat.

He spoke quickly, almost stumbling over his words. “Your wife—your wife has come!”

Immediately Liam’s lips lifted softly into a smile. “Ah, she has come?”

At that moment, he felt a blend of relief and fondness. He had been expecting her already, wondering why his food hadn’t appeared on his table as usual. Normally, Emily never delayed. She would leave the hospital after checking on his mother, come straight here, drop the small food pack neatly beside his seat, and smile before leaving.

When he didn’t see the pack today, worry began to scratch his chest. But hearing this, the worry eased, replaced with quiet anticipation.

“How long before she gets here?” he asked, smiling at the messenger.

The man looked around before lowering himself carefully into the only free chair nearby. His voice grew slower now, uncertain as if he wasn’t sure he should be saying more.

“She… she has been around since. I saw her more than one hour ago. She entered Mr Benjamin’s office… and since then, she hasn’t come out.”

The noise died instantly.

Every head turned toward Liam.

Silence caught the entire place in one long breath. Even the old man who had been laughing earlier froze mid‑motion, his hand still raised.

Mr Benjamin the manager. The man who oversaw everything here. He was powerful, respected, but known also for something else his eyes that never left a beautiful woman untouched. People had whispered about him. Some even joked, calling him “Mr Ben‑looking.”

Emily had been inside his office for more than two hours now.

That wasn’t normal.

The heavy quiet settled deeper. Eyes began darting around carefully, avoiding direct stares at Liam. Nobody wanted to be the first to say anything.

Emily was that kind of woman they all admired the steady one, kind to everyone, respectful, never loud, never proud. She was Liam’s backbone, the kind of wife that still made men believe true love hadn’t finished in the world.

There was no way, they thought quietly, she could be doing anything wrong in that man’s office.

But even with that thought sitting in their minds, the silence stayed sharp and heavy.

Liam sat still. His throat tightened slowly as his mind tried to understand what could have happened. It wasn’t that he did not trust Emily no, he trusted her more than he trusted himself but she’d never missed bringing his food before, not once since he started sleeping here for the overtime bonuses.

Now, everything felt out of place.

He rubbed his hand across his face, eyes narrowing slightly as if he wanted to see through the walls of Mr Benjamin’s office from where he sat. His heart beat faster than he wanted it to.

Just then, the instructor’s voice echoed again over the microphone. “Fifteen minutes more before work resumes!”

Some men returned to fixing their tools, trying to act normal. But Liam still sat, unmoving.

He wanted to stand up, walk back into the tunnel, focus on his job, and pretend he hadn’t heard anything but his legs refused to move.

Instead, he found himself rising slowly, gripping his helmet in one hand. He turned toward the directors’ block where Mr Benjamin’s office sat, walls freshly painted, windows tinted, door firm.

Every eye followed him, quiet and tense.

Some whispered among themselves, waiting, hoping he wouldn’t lose control if whatever they feared turned out to be true.

One of the men spoke under his breath as Liam walked past.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

The old man from earlier stood up slowly, his joints cracking as he followed the movement of Liam’s shoulder. He reached out and tapped him gently, his voice dropping low.

“Tell her not to come here again,” he said quietly. “With how you work, we will finish this job in three days if only you just push a little more, okay? We’ll all try to match your pace so we can close early and go home.”

Liam turned his head slightly, eyes still fixed ahead, the old man’s hand resting on his shoulder. He gave a single nod firm, respectful but said nothing. His jaw was already tightening.

Without another word, he started walking toward Mr Benjamin’s office.

The building looked cleaner than everywhere else walls painted in dull white, his nameplate polished like a mirror. The silence stretched longer the closer Liam got.

He stopped outside the office door, standing straight with the helmet still in his hand. For a brief moment, he breathed in and out, forcing himself to stay calm.

Mr Benjamin was not just any man. He was a B‑level citizen higher rank, higher pay, higher authority. In a world like theirs, that meant Liam had to show him utmost respect even when anger sat heavy in his chest. An E‑citizen standing before a B‑citizen had to remember his place.

But respect had limits.

Locking his wife inside the office for two hours that was past acceptable. It was wrong, and Liam knew it.

He lifted his hand and knocked gently.

Once, Twice, No response.

He knocked again, harder this time, and still, silence, his hand tightened around the knob.

“I’m coming in,” he said quietly, his voice carrying through his clenched teeth.

He pushed the door open.

The hinges creaked faintly, and the smell of perfume mixed with paper and cigarette smoke drifted out.

“I knocked four times–” Liam began, his words trailing off as his eyes landed on what was inside.

His body froze on the spot, Every muscle locked in place.

His heartbeat stumbled, loud in his ears, loud enough to drown the silence of the office.

“Emily…”

The name fell out of his mouth in shock, trembling, broken between disbelief and fear.

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