The Exiled Alpha's Human Male Mate.[BL]

Oliver released Bryce immediately, but Vincent’s glare did not waver.

"Where do you get the audacity to start violence in here?" he demanded.

His voice was unnervingly controlled, but there was a strain beneath it, as though keeping himself composed took considerable effort.

Oliver immediately lowered his head.

"Sir, we were only playing around," he muttered, the slight tremor in his voice betraying his unease.

"Go pick up your things, clear your name, and leave."

A succession of quiet gasps swept through the group.

Oliver’s eyes widened in disbelief. Even Bryce stared at Vincent, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"Sir..." Oliver began.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

The question was enough.

Oliver said nothing more. He turned around and stepped into the elevator, his head lowered as the doors closed behind him.

The others began hurrying toward the hall ahead, where rows of chairs faced a table positioned at the front. Three chairs stood behind it, but they had barely made it a few steps before Vincent’s voice stopped them.

"And you, all of you. You watched something like that unfold and stood there in amusement, encouraging it to escalate like cowards. I could fire every one of you right now for that reason."

Silence descended.

Not one person dared to respond. Their heads remained lowered, as though none of them could bring themselves to meet Vincent’s eyes.

Vincent said nothing further. He simply turned and walked toward the open hall.

Everyone followed at a cautious distance, Bryce included. He walked beside Heather in silence, still trying to process everything that had just happened.

The hall was already packed. Rows of employees occupied most of the seats, making it obvious that Bryce and the others were among those who had arrived late.

The crowded hall did little to distract Bryce from the question that had been bothering him for the past few minutes.

Why had Oliver said the meeting was happening because of him?

Then again, there was only one obvious explanation.

The incident from the previous day.

Of course.

Once they found their seats, Bryce leaned toward Heather.

"Is this because of what happened to me yesterday?" he whispered.

"Yes," Heather answered quietly.

The confirmation immediately stirred anger in Bryce.

Why were Vincent and his wife sitting there, allowing a meeting like this to take place despite knowing exactly what had happened to him?

What were they even planning to discuss?

Bryce lifted his gaze toward the front, unable to suppress the urge to glare at Vincent.

Instead, he found three pairs of eyes already fixed on him.

Vincent sat at the front, his attention shifting between Heather and Bryce himself. Beside him sat Leah, glaring at Bryce with undisguised hostility.

And beside Leah...

Bryce’s breath caught.

His heart seemed to miss a beat.

It was the woman he had asked about Mr. Molloy that morning.

When she had answered him rudely, Bryce had returned the same attitude.

As far as he was concerned, he had said nothing offensive. He had merely pointed out that a simple I don’t know would have saved her the time she had spent lecturing him about not being part of the janitorial department and therefore having no reason to know Mr. Molloy’s office.

Clearly, she had taken offense at his response. Now, she was glaring at him.

How petty could she be?

Bryce could hardly believe she was still holding on to such a trivial exchange.

He leaned closer to Heather.

"Who is that woman?" he whispered, indicating the woman beside Leah.

"HR," Heather answered.

The woman rose from her chair, her eyes finally leaving Bryce.

"Good afternoon," she greeted.

The response came in unison from across the room.

"For those who don’t know me," she began, her gaze returning to Bryce, "I’m Amelia Brown, the head of Human Resources at Luminousloom Company. I’ll get straight to the point so we can all return to work."

She paused briefly, then continued.

"My responsibility is the well-being of every employee, because the welfare of our staff directly affects the performance of this company."

Her eyes moved away from Bryce again, sweeping across the room.

"I don’t understand why anyone who is unwell would insist on coming to work, pretend that everything is fine, and then push themselves to the point of nearly dying here while still insisting they’re fine. We care about your health and your life, but more importantly, we have a responsibility to protect the reputation of this company. We cannot have people believing that Luminousloom forces its employees to work under such pressure that they become seriously ill and collapse on company premises."

Her irritation became increasingly apparent as her gaze settled on Bryce once again.

In that moment, Bryce realized that Amelia, Vincent and Leah weren’t the only ones looking at him.

The entire hall seemed to have turned its attention toward him. Some were even stretching their necks to get a better look.

A thin layer of sweat began to form across his skin as the weight of everyone’s attention settled on him.

"Mr. Jones," Amelia called.

Bryce’s heart began to race.

Of course she was going to address him by name in front of everyone. She was clearly seizing the opportunity to humiliate him.

Fine.

"Yesterday, you left behind a very serious situation, and even now, you still don’t appear to be in good condition. Yet you came back to work regardless."

Amelia’s tone was firm.

"To prevent a repeat of what happened yesterday, I’ve decided that you will leave the company for the time being. You will remain away from work until you receive a call informing you that you may return."

No.

The refusal screamed through Bryce’s mind.

He needed this job. He needed the money. What Amelia was saying amounted to suspending him indefinitely, and to Bryce, it sounded dangerously close to being fired without actually saying the words.

Before he could protest, Vincent rose from his chair.

Bryce’s attention snapped toward him.

Vincent clearly had something to say, and judging by his expression, he was not pleased.

Bryce’s stomach sank.

That was it.

He was going to be asked to leave, just as Oliver had been silenced without being given a chance to explain himself.

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