To Darius' surprise, the call was answered almost immediately. He raised an eyebrow at the anxious yelp on the other end of the line. "Floyd?"

Floyd gulped, feeling like he was on the verge of crying. Darius hadn't answered his calls earlier, and he thought he'd refuse to lend him money in a fit of rage. He nodded vigorously, saying, "Yes, it's me. I returned to the realtor's office earlier and heard about what happened after I left. I'm extremely sorry about that." Although Darius couldn't see the tears in Floyd's eyes, the tremor in his voice was unmissable.

He said calmly, "It's fine. You're the biggest victim in this whole matter—none of your staff followed your orders despite you explicitly telling them what to do; they have more respect for a lowly manager than they do for you."

Floyd was shocked to hear this. He could sense Darius was telling him this on purpose. Was he mocking him? What was he supposed to think of this? Several seconds later, he returned to his senses and hesi