The silence stretched, thick and suffocating.

Finally, a colleague laughed nervously. "Hah... Liam really is Ms. Henson's assistant. His sense of humor is getting sharper. A bit dry, though. Cold joke, right?"

The others quickly jumped in to salvage the mood. "Yeah, Liam's got a dry wit. Very funny."

When the dinner ended, I was the first one out the door.

In the past, I would have been hovering at Natalie's elbow—holding her bag, fetching her coat, checking if she had her phone. Her shadow. Her servant.

Today, I walked straight to my car.

My sudden change in behavior clearly unsettled her.

"Liam Simmons?"

I kept walking.

"Liam? Where are you going?"

I reached for the door handle. Took a deep breath, ready to drive away and never look back.

But old habits die hard. Natalie opened the passenger door and slid in before I could start the engine.

She glared at me, brow furrowed in annoyance.

"What is wrong with you today?"

I looked at her in the rearview mirror. "I'm normal. Why do you ask?"

"Normal?" She scoffed. "Dominic is the Deputy Director and the son of a board member. Do you think it's smart to talk back to him like that in front of everyone?"

Her voice sharpened. "Don't think that just because you're... with me, you can act arrogant and ignore the hierarchy. There are things in this company even I can't control."

She crossed her arms. "Tomorrow, you will go to his office and apologize."

It wasn't a request. It was an order. A scolding.

She thought I was using her status to throw my weight around.

She thought *I* was the problem.

"Natalie!"

The shout erupted from somewhere deep in my chest. My voice boomed in the confined space of the car.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Natalie stared at me, eyes wide. I had never raised my voice at her. Not once in five years.

I turned in my seat to face her directly.

"I'm resigning."

She blinked, as if she couldn't process the language I was speaking.

"What did you say?"

Before I could repeat it, a knock rapped sharply against the car window.

Natalie rolled down the window.

Dominic leaned against the frame, casual as ever, like he owned every inch of the air around him.

"Natalie, remember President Zhao from the Wuzhen conference?" His voice was silk. "He wants to discuss the AI internet project. Why don't you send your assistant ahead and ride with me?"

"Okay."

No hesitation. Not even a breath.