Part 1

The tall stack of papers instantly distracted the eyes of a man who had just finished stretching his muscles.

That man was Michel. A private employee who works in one of the large and well-known companies in the city where he lives today.

Although Michel's position is only limited to ordinary employees just like the others, there are still some employees in the place where Michel works who still feel jealous of the man.

The reason is, every time the director comes down to their company to check on the performance of all of them, it is always Michel who is always praised by the director.

When Michel had just taken a break, he was surprised by the arrival of the manager in his room. Moreover, the manager's gaze looked unusual at Michel.

"What is this data? How can you input all the numbers in there with the wrong numbers? Can't you work properly?" Rio, the manager, gave Michel an unhappy look when the man made a mistake.

Michel furrowed his brow, he was very sure that he had done everything well last night.

"No, sir. I apologize in advance, but I feel I did the best I could. Mr. Rio can double check again." Michel suggested, which made Rio's face even less relaxed.

"How dare you say that to me! Huh?" snapped Rio angrily.

Soon, the sound of the door opening revealed the director and James, they stepped closer to Michel's desk.

"So, how's James?" asked the Director right in front of Michel.

"All done by Michel, sir, after giving the assignment, I immediately left to go home. Michel takes care of everything."

James seemed to be testifying, and it made the Director who heard it sigh. His gaze fell on the disappointed man who had always been his pride.

"With this, you are guilty of corruption. There is nothing that can make you evade, the evidence and witnesses are already there."

Michel looked at his friend. However, James seemed to deliberately avert his eyes.

"What are you saying, James? You know yourself that I input all the data there correctly. Why are you accusing me too?" Michel stared in disbelief at James, he then turned to look at Mr. Director. "I swear by everything, sir. I would never be corrupt. I always want to give the best for this company." Michel tried to defend himself. He even now straightened his body.

The director shook his head in disbelief. "Now, I want you out. Don't ever come back here again."

"No, sir! Please don't fire me. I've never made a mistake, I've just done what Mr. Rio told me to do." Michel tried to defend himself, but it seemed to be in vain.

"James delivered that stack of papers before nightfall. You should be able to finish it quickly, but you only finished at midnight. Doesn't that indicate that you intended to slow down so that you could change the amount and no one would suspect you?!"

Michel shook his head, trying to remain defensive, "James, tell Mr. Director that you gave the file late at night." Michel pleaded, looking back at James.

James shook his head slowly, "No, Mr. Director. Mr. Rio is right, Michel must have lied on purpose. He must have intended to commit that corruption."

Michel gave James an incredulous look. "James, what do you mean? Since when did you ...."

"Enough, Michel! Don't make excuses, didn't you hear what the Director said? You'd better go and pack your things." Rio cut in not giving Michel a chance to defend himself anymore.

Hearing what Rio said made Michel clench his hands into fists. His gaze looked at the man sharply, not accepting what had just been said.

Michel was sure that someone was trying to set him up, and the people who did it were none other than Rio and James.

"Looks like you guys are working together to set me up." Michel finally said.

Rio shook his head, looking displeased at Michel who still wanted to defend himself. "You're not that important, Michel, you're just ...." Rio immediately stopped his words when he saw Mr. Director giving instructions for him to be silent.

"I don't want to hear your arguments anymore," said the director who still looked disappointed. "And you, Michel..." Mr. Director focused his gaze on Michel who was now swallowing saliva. "Pack your things and get out right now."

Michel then sighed, it seemed that defending himself would be difficult, especially since no one was on his side.

"Alright, I'm out now."

Michel left his office feeling devastated. His thoughts were increasingly undirected, making him no longer able to distinguish between right and wrong.

"What should I do?!" Michel asked himself in a frustrated tone.

"Shit! Why did all this have to happen? Even James is on Mr. Rio's side. Argh, asshole!" Michel ruffled his hair in frustration. He really had been stupid for trusting that jerk too much.

With a grim expression and tired steps, Michel walked back to the apartment on foot. I don't know what he will tell his wife later, what is clear is that for now Michel's only destination is the apartment.

Arriving at the door of his apartment, the man who was still wearing the shirt let out a long sigh several times, trying to put on a smile in front of his wife later.  Then, he turned the door knob and found the living room empty.

"Is Elera asleep?"

Michel had a feeling that his wife might already be asleep.  Therefore, he headed straight for their bedroom.  However, as he got closer to the door, he caught the sound of laughter that he rarely heard when he was with her.

 "Erick, please stop!" Her laughter echoed loudly.  "I can't take it anymore! I'm ticklish!"

 Michel's heart was beating fast. Outside the door, Michel could hear a man's voice joking with Elera.

Erick? Who is Erick?