It must have been eating her alive to know that a "loser" like me held her deepest secrets, because Secretary Kim suddenly didn’t seem to care about the dark she feared anymore.

Switching on her phone’s flashlight, she marched straight out of her room and headed toward my quarters.

I heard her sharp, impatient knock on the door. Peering through the window, I watched her glancing nervously over her shoulder, looking completely restless. I intentionally let her stew in her anxiety, letting her knock for a few more moments before I finally swung the door open.

"What took you so long?!" she fumed, glaring at me with a heavy scowl.

This woman’s arrogance truly knew no bounds.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice low, flat, and entirely unbothered.

She clicked her tongue in irritation. "Let me inside! We can’t talk about this out here."

’Offering to step into my room willingly? Big mistake, lady.’

I stepped aside, clearing the way for her. The moment she crossed the threshold, I slammed the door shut, grabbed her wrists in my grip, and pinned her forcefully against the door.

She gasped, utterly startled as I locked her hands over her head, staring directly into her eyes. The sudden upward jerk of her arms caused her oversized shirt to ride up, exposing the black lace underwear she wore underneath.

She crossed one thigh over the other in a tense, defensive movement. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?!" she growled.

"Having a conversation," I replied smoothly.

"Like this? Pinning me against your door?!" she spat, her eyes flashing with anger. "You damn pervert!"

"I’ve been called worse. Now, what exactly are you doing here?"

Her gaze flickered downward for a split second, and I heard her audibly swallow her spit. It was obvious she was desperately summoning the courage to ask the one question burning in her mind. Finally, she choked it out. "The things you said over the phone... where did you hear them?"

"What things?" I asked, playing dumb.

Her scowl deepened. "The things about the CEO...and me."

"Oh... you mean how you’ve been sucking the CEO’s cock to beg for a promotion?"

She clicked her tongue sharply. "You don’t have to be so graphic about it! Tsk... but yeah, where did you hear those lies?!"

Keeping her wrists locked securely with my right hand, I used my left to gently trace her cheek. She flinched slightly at my touch, but I slid my fingers down to her chin, forcing her to look me in the eyes. "Lies?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She gulped heavily again.

"Don’t lie to me, Kim," I added, my voice dropping to a hoarse, dead-serious whisper.

"Alright, fine... maybe they aren’t lies," she conceded, her tone souring. "So, what are you going to do about it? Blackmail me? Report me to the CEO’s wife? Tell Director Karen? Or is it money you want? How much, you leech??"

I let out a slow, amused chuckle. "Oh, no. I’m not going to do any of that," I replied. "I simply want... information."

She raised an eyebrow, genuinely bewildered. "Information? About what?"

"About Director Karen and the CEO, Akira. I want to know how Akira hired Karen. When? And why did he give her such a high position when she clearly lacks the qualifications for it?"

She stared at me, completely taken aback. Because I looked like a common busboy on my first day, she had obviously labeled me a clueless country bumpkin in her head. But hearing me demand high-level information about Karen and Akira changed her perception of me entirely.

"Who exactly are you?" she asked, her voice dropping.

"None of your business," I replied sternly. "But I need to know—are you up to the task? Can you be trusted?"

She fell silent for a moment, analyzing the situation. Then, a cold smirk returned to her face. "Getting that kind of personal information from the CEO is going to be incredibly difficult. It would take a lot of work and persuasion, which is honestly worth way more than your petty threats. So, nope! I’m not going through all that hassle just because you know about my little scandal—especially when you don’t even have concrete evidence."

’Damn. She caught me.’ I might have unearthed most of her secrets through mnemomancy, but I didn’t possess any physical evidence to back up my threats.

"Now, let go of my hands, or I’ll scream and tell everyone you were forcing yourself on me!" she spat viciously. "You’ll get arrested like the fucking loser you really are! You CV-less brat!"

I felt a vein pop in my forehead. This woman was pushing her luck. She was practically begging to be put on a leash, that was for sure.

She was incredibly lucky I was low on Pleasure Points right now. Otherwise, I would have used my skills to break her spirit and tame her into a loyal little fuck toy right then and there.

I leaned in close, staring down at her smug expression.

"I’m going to wipe that smirk off your face, you can count on that," I growled into her ear, my hot breath brushing against her neck. "And when I do, you’ll be crawling back to beg me like the stupid bitch you are."

She let out a mocking laugh. "Me? Begging you? If wishes were horses, you’d be an excellent rider."

Reluctantly, I released her hands and took a step back.

"Hmph... now go and fix my lightbulb before I file a report and get you kicked out for being terrible at your fucking job!"

Clicking her tongue, she swayed her hips and sashayed out of my room. I followed her out, watching as she headed toward another tenant’s room, obviously trying to avoid being near me for the rest of the night.

I proceeded ahead to fit another bulb into her room.

Although it might have looked like my efforts were entirely in vain, that wasn’t the case. When I had used mnemomancy on her, I had gained a solid grasp of office politics and the general dynamics among the company’s tenants.

They all despised each other, just like in any toxic corporate environment. Secretary Kim wanted to bring Managing Director Karen down, which meant we shared a common enemy—a valuable piece of leverage for the future.

But that wasn’t all. Josh was also actively trying to ruin Secretary Kim. Apparently, they were ex-lovers who broke up when Kim left him for wealthier men.

No wonder Loona had mentioned she’d only been married to Josh for three months. He must have married her on the rebound just to show Kim he could move on. The marriage wasn’t built on love at all; it was pure spite.

Poor Loona really had it rough. No wonder she was so sexually frustrated—her husband didn’t actually care about her.

A smirk crept onto my face at the realization. ’That’ll only make her an easier target to tame first.’

It was a perfect web of animosity. Josh wanted to destroy Kim, and he hated me. Kim wanted to take down Karen. Innocent Loona was caught in the crossfire, and I wanted Karen ruined as well.

To put it simply: Josh, Karen, and Secretary Kim were all my enemies. And I fully intended to be the one who had the last laugh.

To be continued...