It happened on a normal afternoon.
Deadlines were tight. Everyone was tense.
And one employee—
Looked like she was about to cry.
Lina noticed immediately.
"Hey… are you okay?" she asked gently.
"I—I'm fine," the woman said quickly, wiping her eyes.
"You don't look fine."
A pause.
Then the truth came out.
"I messed up a report… it's due today… and if the CEO sees it—"
Lina nodded.
"Okay. Let's fix it."
"What?"
"I'll help you."
"But—this isn't your job—"
"It's okay," Lina smiled. "Two heads are better than one, right?"
The woman hesitated.
Then nodded.
They worked together quietly, fixing errors, reorganizing data.
Time passed quickly.
And just before the deadline—
"It's done…"
"You did great," Lina said.
"No—we did," the woman corrected softly.
From across the room—
Adrian had seen everything.
The way Lina didn't hesitate.
The way she helped without expecting anything.
The way she smiled like it was nothing.
Later that day—
The corrected report landed on his desk.
Perfect.
He looked up.
His eyes instinctively found her.
She was laughing softly at something someone said.
No pride.
No need for recognition.
Just… genuine kindness.
"…Strange," he murmured.
But this time—
There was something warmer behind the word.