At this point, Zachary wasn't afraid of being exposed—he was afraid of Charlie and Don Albert kicking him to the curb.

As such, when Charlie told him to expose his own wrongdoing and apologize personally to Raymond, he felt salvation.

Sobbing, he said, "Thank you for forgiving me, Master Wade! From now on, I will keep myself grounded—no more cheeky tricks, I swear on my life!"

Still, Charlie asked, "I told you to apologize—when did I say you're forgiven?"

"What…?" Zachary blurted. "B-But the way you put it, it was as if you were going to spare me…"

Charlie sighed. "You are smart, Zachary—like I said, you should use that smartness in the right way. Understand?"

"Yes, yes, I understand!" Zachary promptly replied.

"Good," Charlie said quietly. "I can understand that such plots are normal for when you worked in Antique Street, what with defrauding and deception being the rules for survival. But you're no longer working there now, so your mistake is breaking the rules.

"While Raymon