The office was quiet. No noise, no interaction, just a stillness that followed Andrew. From the moment he entered from the back entrance of the building and up to the elevator ride to his floor. No one spoke to him. Somehow, he felt a prickling sense of embarrassment.

The doors slid open, and Claire was waiting for him. She was her usual perky self and greeted him with a bright smile.

"Where's everybody?" Andrew asked to fill the silence,

"Allen was in a meeting, and the team's busy running around."

Though the damages were already done. Allen's words held more weight now as compared before. All the hard work and respect he has fought so hard to gain over the years were gone in a single night.

Though Claire kept saying otherwise.

"You already said before that Lopez Co. isn't the company, but it's the people," she said. "And no one is more respected, more loved, than the best secretary in the world."

Andrew chuckled. "Thank you, Claire."

Claire stood by his side as he packed his belongings into a carton box.

"We can drop the rest of your belongings to your apartment," she said. "You can take your time. Do you want to be alone?"

Andrew shook his head.

He cleared out his cabinets and stumbled upon the yellow notes of encouragement he has kept all over the years. Clair noticed them also, she bent down and got surprised by the sheer amount that filled his drawer.

"Wow, how come you have so many of these? Keep up the good work. You did your best today. That's so sweet. Who wrote you these notes? Some of these are already faded."

Andrew took one that read, 'I hope you know how astounding you are'.

It's funny how Andrew only realized that there was only one person in this team stuck up enough to use the word Astounding. He caressed the notes with such care as if it was the hand of the writer.

Claire enveloped her in a hug. "Don't worry," she mumbled. "We'll take care of him while you're away. We don't know what the future holds. Maybe you'll come back as Secretary Andrew, or as restaurant-owner Andrew, or just as our friend, Andrew. And you'll always be welcome here."

Andrew held her tightly in his arms. "Since when did you get so wise and mature?"

Her bright laughter echoed loudly. "We rehearsed our lines before you came. We knew you'd choose today while everyone's preoccupied."

"You guys know me best."

"Someone knows you better." She gave a knowing wink.

"The fuck?"

"Let's get this packing thing over with." She jerked her thumb to his cluttered desk. Andrew nodded with a smile on his lips. They resumed by collecting all the notes together. By the time they were done, they were still alone. There was a part of him that didn't want to leave in this stillness, without the warm embrace of his colleagues.

"We're done," Andrew rejoiced. He hauled the box in his arms. "Mind accompanying me to the back exit?"

Claire hummed. "Sure."

Andrew gazed through the small windowpane beside Allen's door. The small transparent glass where Andrew could always see Allen. He'd always wondered if their perfect positioning was merely a coincidence. His eyes swept the office floor one last time. Funny how memories work. Now that he was leaving, he couldn't seem to remember any of the bad memories he's experienced. Only the happy, fun memories bubbled up.

"Let's go," he whispered, hoarsely.

They rode the elevator down. He watched the floor numbers go down until they reached the ground floor: the lobby. The doors slid open. Suddenly, Claire pushed him out of the elevator.

A deafening round of cheers came from the sea of employees that filled the entire lobby. Even from the floors above, they lined the railings and shouted from the top of their lungs. From the top floors, they had to cup their mouths with their hands so they could be heard all the way down the ground floor. A team from the topmost floor blew out a shower of colorful confetti.

Claire pulled him to the center of the lobby where Sonna and the team circled with grins on their faces. They raised a huge banner with the words: Congratulations on being the best! His heart pumped inside his chest like banging drums. All this applause, all this cheer, this recognition, love, just for him.

Sonna bounced with excitement as she yelled, "He's here!"

Andrew didn't have the time to ask when the crowd on the second floor parted for Allen. Mike was beside him holding up a megaphone to Allen's face, but all his attention was directed to Andrew with his signature glare. His presence alone sent a hush to the whole building.

"Andrew Garcia. You have no idea how amazing you are, not only in my eyes but in the eyes of every employee here with us. They've seen you consume dozens of alcohols and fire swear words in rapid succession without a flinch, and yet their admiration and respect for you have never diminished. Why do you think the love I've kept for you for six years will? I love Secretary Andrew, but I love Andrew Garcia the most."

"What the fuck?" He whispered to himself. His face became flushed with redness and his whole body was hot. There was a loud beating inside his chest, but he couldn't help the small curl on his lips.

Allen grinned widely and almost maniacal. "Every time we went through that entrance behind you. I have always dreamt of declaring my love for you in front of everyone. But doing it from the 2nd-floor balcony will suffice for now. And now that you are not my secretary anymore. I will make sure to clean up Lopez Co., so I can come back to you and make you love me too. Now, go have your well-deserved vacation!"

The crowd went wild. Andrew's flustered response and shy demeanor sent waves of laughter from the crowd. While Andrew himself wondered why everyone wasn't embarrassed by the usually stoic boss' ridiculous confession of love. Claire had this smug grin on her face which, if it wasn't for the box he was carrying, he would have smacked out her face.

Sonna snuggled up to him. She whispered, "You should go before the press arrives. I know you aren't going to sit down. So, I'll text you an important detail you should know. Oh, and stop blushing."

Andrew elbowed her before he snorted and gave the middle finger to Allen. Contrary to the shy smile and redness of his face. Allen replied with a pleased smirk.

Andrew drew in a long breath and huffed. He turned around and walked away with the cheers of his fellow employees pushing him forward. He hadn't imagined walking out of Lopez Co. with so much pride in his chest.

Out in the street, he received a message from Sonna:

The photos were sent to a group of Lopez Co. employees past midnight.

Then it should have been in the morning news programs, but it wasn't until noon that it popped up. That meant the person behind this must've expected the employees to tattle, but they didn't. Which means he had to send it to the media himself. So, this person had three things: the numbers of the employees, the private photos, and a hatred for Allen Lopez.

Andrew wished it was one of the employees, but there's only one group of people who had a digital copy of the photos. And one of them will reap the benefits when Allen doesn't become CEO.

A black car parked on the street rolled down its driver's seat window. Whose driver was none other than Luiz Lopez.

"I know what is on your mind right now, Secretary Andrew, but I beg of you to listen to me. So, would you please drop the terrifying glare? You are frightening me."

Andrew was unimpressed. He raised an eyebrow at the younger fellow. He didn't want his hunch to be correct. Luiz sensed the situation and scampered out of the car and opened the passenger's side door. He cleared his throat and smoothed down his pants.

"Erm, please? I was not the culprit behind this atrocity. I have proof."

Andrew lit up. "Why didn't you say so?" He happily hopped in the car and placed his box in the back seat. Luiz circled in front and when he got in. He took a deep breath and uttered his last words carefully.

"I suspect that the origin of the spread photos was from my lost phone. And you can confirm this." He leaned forward and took out an old model laptop from his glove compartment.

"What time did we arrive back home?" He asked with bulging eyes.

Andrew scooched back in his seat. "Um, past midnight?"

"That is correct." He thrust the laptop to Andrew's Lap. "And before that, you and I were on our way home, and according to the time stamp the images were sent?"

The laptop screen displayed a collection of screenshots of a message containing a link. They were all sent before midnight. Then a map where the last location of Luiz's phone was Lopez Co. at past midnight.

Andrew ruffled Luiz's hair with a relieved cackle. "I'm sorry for doubting you. I just thought that you realized that this was the easy way to dethrone Allen then you can just buy the majority of the stocks for yourself."

Luiz stared at him in horror.

Andrew shrugged. "What? I've watched worse things happen in your family business. Anyway, so you've been digging around with Sonna?"

Luiz hid the laptop and nodded. "With Claire, Mike, and Allen. Everyone's helping. It was sent initially from the staff with some officers sprinkled around, including Sonna, until it made its way to the top. I hope you understand what Human Resource had to do."

Andrew shook his head. "Don't worry. They were only doing their job. Besides, this is for the better of Lopez Co. for now."

"What are your plans moving forward, Andrew?"

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around everything. A lot has happened. Your brother and I were screaming at each other from the top of our lungs just two nights ago. Then I woke up with those fake photos plastered at every news outlet. Now Allen." Andrew didn't finish and fell silent.

Luiz huffed, glancing at Andrew. "If you do not have plans. Allen requested that I take you home."

Andrew was already lost in thought. Luiz took that as his response and headed for Andrew's apartment.

"I'm going to mess him up," he hissed.

"Please don't hate my brother too much."

Andrew wasn't talking about that slimy bastard. He was talking about the mastermind of this whole shenanigan. Andrew was going to mess him up. No one messes with Secretary Andrew. He slouched in his seat. "Luiz, what do you think is the similarity between all the people who initially received the link?"

"That they all should attend a seminar about sharing personal information?" Luiz shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. "To be quite frank, we do not even have any information whether the link was sent to other people."

"But what if it was someone who had legitimate access to Lopez Co. data? Like a spy or something."

Luiz glanced at Andrew. "An inside job? Then they would have sent it to all employees. Not a specific group of people. It took a while to compile, but I have a list in the backseat in a folder. I was informed by Sonna that you should know all those by name. Quite impressive but I'm not surprised."

Andrew jolted upright and lunged for the only folder in the backseat. He studied each name and their accompanying information. Luiz must've seen something change in Andrew's expression.

"What is it, Andrew?" Luiz frowned. "Have you figured it out?"

"TBA. To be honest. No," Andrew replied, dead serious. "But I do know these people. These names are familiar, but I can't recognize where I've seen them. There are literally thousands of people working inside that unstylish building."

Andrew wracked his mind for what these names meant. Though he hated to admit it. He was confused and clueless. Not because he was dumb, but because of Allen's stupid public stunt.

"Curl up and die," he mumbled as he leafed through the pages. But moments before he gave up, he saw Sonna's name written in the end. Which lead him to a small epiphany. He smacked his forehead, frustrated.

"Of course."

"What? What? Out with it," Luiz rushed him.

"Luiz, let's go to prison tomorrow."

A pause before Luiz says, "What is it with you and putting us Lopez siblings in the prison system?"