Desire Me If You Can-Chapter 27

"Is the final winner Dane?"

It was when everyone had the same thought that suddenly someone remembered a forgotten fact.

"Wait a minute, then who won this match?"

The atmosphere suddenly shifted. This couldn’t be brushed off.

"Obviously, it’s Dane. Miller cheated."

"Cheated? How?"

"I don't know, but anyway, Dane couldn’t lose to that guy. He must have done something cowardly."

"Well, that makes sense. If it's Miller, he wouldn't hesitate. He's a psychopath, after all, an extreme alpha."

The people who had been freely exchanging opinions now turned their focus toward Dane.

"Right? What happened?"

"That guy couldn’t have beaten you! He must have used some underhanded tactic, for sure!"

"Come on, tell us, Dane. We believe you."

"Yeah, there's no way you lost to someone like Miller. The opponent was Dane Striker, after all!"

Everyone united in unison, raising their voices together. Dane turned his eyes away with a reluctant look on his face. Grayson Miller was still in the same spot. It almost seemed like he was watching to see what Dane would say.

Sighing deeply, Dane opened his mouth without hesitation.

"I lost."

"Well, no surprise there, huh?"

"What? What did you just say? You lost?"

Ezra, who had nodded as if it were a given, suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. Diandre, too, was flustered, repeating the same words several times. Dane rubbed the back of his head, speaking in a tired tone.

"You all saw it. I came in late. That guy won, just like you saw. Nothing’s going to change."

"But... but he cheated, right?"

Someone hastily asked. His voice was shaking with anxiety as he stammered repeatedly, and the others chimed in with their own words.

"Yeah, if it was fair and square, you wouldn’t have lost. You're our ace, after all!"

"Be honest, Dane Striker. Were you threatened? That's what happened, right?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"Dane wouldn’t fall for threats, unless it was money!"

"What? Did he pay you off? How much? Hey, I’ll give you the money! Just be honest!"

"I'll pitch in too! Our pride’s on the line here, we can’t let this go!"

"Me too, me too!"

They all eagerly awaited Dane’s words, their eyes bright with anticipation. It seemed like as soon as he spoke, they’d dig into their pockets and empty them out. It would probably amount to about $423.82 at most.

Of course, Dane couldn’t give them the answer they wanted.

"I’ll say it again, I know how you all feel, but this is reality. I lost. Grayson Miller won."

The last glimmer of hope that everyone had was dashed. The grand plan to take down that annoying guy crumbled. Dane repeated the same words once more.

"I was late. He came in first. So Grayson Miller won."

Dane pointed at himself with one finger, then directed it toward Miller. As a group of gazes followed his finger, Grayson, who was standing there, smiled widely and waved his hand, as if saying "I won." Of course, no one among the gathered crowd smiled at him.

The women employees who had been watching up until that point finally spoke up one by one.

"Too bad, Dane. Still, you must have made some kind of mistake, right?"

"It doesn't look like you got hurt too badly, so that's a relief. In the end, some of it comes down to luck."

A few words of comfort were offered to Dane, but suddenly, Valentina shouted.

"Grayson’s buying drinks. Who’s coming?"

It was almost quitting time. The perfect timing split the response exactly in half. The women waved their arms happily, while the men glared at him with twisted faces.

"We can't lose."

Wilkins gritted his teeth and called the male employees over.

"I’m paying for this. We’ll drink until we throw up, got it?"

"Yeah!"

The men shouted with excitement. When Dane raised his hand as if he had something to say, Wilkins immediately made a stern face.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"No, no excuses today. Even if you blame it on your cat, you’re not getting out of this. I know you'll just be drinking beer at home anyway."

"It’s not an excuse, really. My cat’s waiting for me..."

"Don’t make me laugh. That cat can find food just fine without you."

"Yeah, besides, you’ve got paid leave. Two whole days. You can’t get out of this."

Ezra chimed in. Dane furrowed his brows in displeasure but had no choice but to lower his hand. And just like that, as soon as work ended, they all headed to the bar together. With his colleagues practically forming a scrum around him to prevent his escape, Dane was dragged to the bar, unable to do anything about it. Wilkins, however, had to endure a tremendous scolding from the chief before all of this.

With a loud bang, the chief slammed his fist onto the desk, causing Wilkins to jump in shock. The chief glared at him with a furious expression, breathing heavily.

"Why the hell are you doing things I didn’t even ask you to do, huh? Got nothing else to do? Are you bored? Why don’t you go volunteer at the school down the street instead!"

"I’m sorry, Chief."

Wilkins lowered his head and apologized in a voice that didn’t match his size, his tone meek. But he didn’t have nothing to say for himself.

"But Chief, it was my last resort. Since that guy came, the whole team’s atmosphere has been all over the place. I needed to put him in his place just once."

"So did you succeed? Did you put him in his place?"

The chief yelled loudly, and Wilkins answered meekly with a "no" as he looked down. The chief, seemingly frustrated, grabbed his tie and shook it, pounding his chest in exasperation.

"Didn’t I tell you not to mess with that guy? Why do you have to cause trouble and make things complicated? Do you think I was joking when I told you not to touch him, huh?"

"...But we can’t just leave it like this, can we? You saw it too, Chief. Since that guy showed up, the team members are going crazy."

"You really are making my head hurt. It’s one year, ONE year! And you can’t stand that and cause all this trouble? You and your team, are you crazy?"

"Of course, I’m scared of Miller..."

"Miller is the second problem! It’s Grayson that’s the problem! He’s the one!"

The chief shouted as if he was about to lose his mind. Wilkins blinked in confusion and just stared at him. Wasn’t he just a messy, carefree guy? They say extreme alphas are psychopaths, but I haven’t seen anything like that. The confused team leader, still looking flustered, listened to the chief as he continued, this time speaking more calmly.

"Do you know what happened ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) when Miller had his interview?"

"...No, I don’t."

"Of course, you don’t. I never told you."

Wilkins looked dumbfounded as the chief’s words hit him. The chief gave him a look and continued in his rough voice.

"The questions I asked Miller were very basic. Why did he want to become a firefighter? What would he do if he became one? Had he had any other jobs before?"

Those were all standard questions for an interview, just like the chief said. Wilkins, still confused, waited for the chief to continue.

"But do you know what Miller answered?"

"I don’t know. You haven’t told me yet."

Wilkins quickly added, recalling the earlier experience. The chief glanced at him again and continued.

"His answer was perfect. I couldn’t fault it at all."

"...And?"

Still not getting it, Wilkins asked, and the chief suddenly leaned forward, placing both hands on the desk and meeting his gaze.

"That’s the problem. He said it exactly the same as the video."

"The video? ...Ah!"

Wilkins suddenly remembered, and the chief nodded, straightening up again.

"Yeah, the video we made. The training material we uploaded to the website."