My Online Lover Was the Mafia Boss Who Fired Me Chapter 03
The next day, I showed up to work with huge dark circles under my eyes.
I’d stayed up talking to Nox until two a.m.
I knew if I didn’t sleep I’d mess up at work.
But as long as my phone screen was lit up, as long as he
was still replying, I couldn’t make myself end the conversation.
No one liked me in real life.
Only in front of that dark gray moon avatar did I feel like maybe I wasn’t that terrible after all.
At nine o’clock sharp, the conference room door got thrown open hard.
I was organizing the report for the South Harbor warehouse project.
The door slammed into the wall with a loud crack.
Everyone looked up.
Elio walked in wearing a dark gray suit.
Dario and four of the family’s top capos followed right behind him.
He slammed the report down on the table.
Papers scattered everywhere, two pages fluttered to the floor.
No one dared pick them up.
“This is the report you’re bringing to the family?”
Elio’s voice wasn’t loud.
But the room was so dead silent, every word pressed
down on our chests like a weight.
“How much cargo moves through South Harbor every year?
“How many times did the cops raid it this year?
“You idiots can’t even get these basic numbers right,
and you have the balls to recommend the family buy those warehouses?”
Everyone bowed their heads.
I kept repeating to myself over and over.
“Don’t call my name.
“Don’t look at me.
“Please don’t call my name.”
“Ivy.”
Of course it was me.
I shot up out of my chair so fast..
The leg scraped across the floor, making a shrill, screeching noise.
Someone snickered in the background.
My face heated up instantly.
Elio picked up one of the pages of the report.
“You calculated the risk rate?”
“Y–yes.”
“Two percent?”
I froze.
“No.
“It was twelve percent when I submitted it.
“There should be a record in the system, if we pull it back up-
Elio frowned at me.
Those gray eyes weren’t even angry.
Just bored. Annoyed.
That annoyance was worse than yelling. It felt like he already knew I was useless, and this was just another
proof he was right.
“You submitted the file, and you didn’t check it before the meeting?”
“I did check it.”
“Then why is it two percent now?”
I opened my mouth.
I couldn’t answer.
I’d given the report to Dario last night.
When it came back to me this morning, my system access had already been revoked.
But accusing Dario to Elio’s face was accusing a core member of the Valtieri family.
I had no proof, I couldn’t open my mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
In the end, I just bowed my head.
“I’ll check it again.”
Elio stared at me for two seconds.
“What the hell are you even good for?”
My fingers slowly curled into fists.
“Almost a year at this company, you can’t even get a
basic report right.
“How the hell did you even pass the interview?”
The room was so quiet all you could hear was the AC humming.
Every eye was on me.
It felt like needles stabbing into my skin.
I knew I must look ridiculous.
Fat.
Clumsy.
Couldn’t even get out a full sentence without stuttering when I was nervous.
“I’m sorry.
“I’ll redo it.”
“If redoing it worked, the Valtieri family wouldn’t have to get rid of so many useless fucks every year.”
Elio threw the report back down on the table.
When he walked past me, he didn’t even look at me again.
After the meeting ended, everyone filed out one by one.
I squatted down to pick up my scattered report.
When someone walked past me, they intentionally
mimicked my stutter.
“I–I’m s–sorry, I–I’ll redo i–it.”
The room filled with laughter.
I pretended I didn’t hear it.
Back at my desk, I opened the original file.
The number in it was still twelve percent.
I hadn’t miscalculated.
Someone had altered the data when submitting the report.
My phone buzzed under the desk.
Nox sent me a photo of a new restaurant.
[Heard the steaks here are good.]
[Come with me when we meet up.]
I stared at Nox’s name.
The heavy ache in my chest finally faded, slow as
molasses.
I typed back.
[Okay.]
He sent another message.
“How was work today?”
I stared at the screen, and tears almost spilled over.
All I ended up sending was
[It’s been fine.]
I didn’t want him to know how much of a mess my real life was.
At least in front of Nox, I still wanted to be the Wren worth liking.