"Ms. Collins, what do you think of Mr. Smith?" asked Adam's blind date, Chris Hall.

Adam is handsome, wealthy, and charming. He's the perfect candidate for marriage.

But I couldn't control my mouth. "Mr. Smith is mean, sharp-tongued, petty, and a stingy capitalist. You'll probably end up with nothing if you marry him!"

Chris looked at me in surprise. "Ms. Collins, what do you mean? I had dinner with Mr. Smith and found him generous and cultured."

I covered my mouth, trying hard not to make a sound.

"Ms. Collins, go on. Speak up!"

"He's faking it. The other day, the elevator broke, and I had to climb 18 stairs. I was one minute late, and he docked me fifty dollars.

"Last week, I worked overtime for a whole week. He complained I was using too much water and electricity, and I had to argue just to avoid paying extra utility bills.

"And I covered a hundred dollars for his takeout the week before. He still hasn't paid me back."

"Oh, three weeks ago, I accidentally spilled coffee on him. He deducted five hundred from my pay for dry cleaning. What kind of cleaning costs five hundred? That's robbery! My clothes only cost fifty.

"Adam is a scheming miser. Marrying him won't end well for you."

I couldn't hold back. It all just came out in a rush.

"I didn't know you had such a good memory, Ms. Collins," came a familiar voice from behind me.

I froze. At that moment, I felt like my career as Adam's assistant was over.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hall. I just took a call and have some work to handle, so I won't be able to see you out," Adam said politely. He adjusted his tie.

"Alright," Chris nodded, raising an eyebrow at me before turning to leave.

"Scheming miser?" Adam looked at me with a half-smile.

I knew I was in trouble, and my salary was probably going to take a hit again.

"If I hadn't taken that call, I wouldn't have known you had so many opinions about me," Adam said. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and put on an air of mock seriousness.

"Mr. Smith, let me explain. You didn't want to go on this date, right? I was helping you! You might have shame, but you gained peace and quiet!" I argued.

"Besides, I was just being honest. You still haven't paid me back that hundred dollars for the takeout!" I wanted to bite my tongue. I swear I didn't mean to say that. I just couldn't hold it in!

Adam seemed both amused and annoyed. "Ms. Collins, are you trying to get fired?"

"I've been wanting to quit for a while. Your demands are so exhausting that I check job sites several times a day. If it weren't for the high pay, I would've ditched you as my boss long ago."

"Oh my God! Why do I keep blurting out the truth?"

"Joanna! Do you realize what you're saying?"

I could practically see Adam's temple throbbing with anger.

"Mr. Smith, I might be sick. I've got a disease that makes me spout nonsense. No, wait! I mean, I've got a condition that makes me tell the truth!" I said, on the verge of tears, covering my mouth.

This truth-telling condition is going to cost me the job I've worked so hard at for the past two years!

Adam looked me up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. His eyes seemed to be contemplating something.

"So you can only tell the truth right now?" he asked.

I covered my mouth. I warily looked at him, shaking my head frantically.

Adam reached out. He pulled down my hand that was covering my mouth, and calmly said, "Speak."

"Yes."

"It seems like you've been cursing me a lot. What have you been saying?"

"Every day. I call you a dumbass boss, a control freak. You don't pay triple for overtime and bombard me with texts on holidays. You ask for files on Monday but start rushing me by Wednesday like you won't survive until then."

Adam's face darkened.

"This month's bonus is gone," Adam said before getting into his car and driving away.

He left me standing alone in the underground garage.

The next day, I arrived at the office early, hoping Adam hadn't taken my words from yesterday to heart.

Adam came to work with his usual expressionless face. He glanced at me without showing any extra emotion.

I walked into the office with the coffee I had bought.

"Mr. Smith, your favorite Americano." I placed the coffee in front of him with a smile.

He glanced at it. He took a sip and continued looking through his documents. His expression softened a bit, and said, "Hmm."

"So, about this month's bonus..." I said, hinting gently.

He lightly tapped the desk. He raised an eyebrow at me and then pushed the coffee aside. "I only drink freshly brewed coffee. Take it away."

I was stunned.

"You didn't seem to mind the coffee just now. This stingy boss is just looking for an excuse to dock my bonus!"

I was furious, but I couldn't show it.

"You don't seem too convinced, do you?"

"No," I instinctively denied it. But I forgot about my condition, and the truth slipped out. "Of course, I'm not convinced! Why should you dock my hard-earned money just because I cursed at you? What boss doesn't get cursed by their employees? When I'm off work, I do two jobs a day. I curse the security guards while delivering food during the day and curse the delivery drivers while being a security guard at night. Did I complain about that?"

When I realized what I had just said, I saw Adam looking at me. He was slightly stunned.

"Adam, my craziness is acting up. Please just ignore me."

But as soon as I opened my mouth, I said, "You're just a capitalist bloodsucker. You deserve every curse I throw at you. You really deserve to die!"

I covered my mouth. I determined not to let another word slip out. My eyes darted around nervously, avoiding Adam's gaze.

"Get out."

After a long silence, I only heard two words. It was suppressed with anger.

"Okay then." I quickly nodded, scrambling out of Adam's office and closing the door behind me.

But in my hurry, one of my shoes fell off inside.

I went back. I opened the door and met Adam's gaze. He was holding the coffee he had just rejected, with traces of it on his lips. He must have drunk some.

There was an awkward silence. I pointed at the shoe on the floor. "It fell."

"Oh."

Then I quickly put on my shoe and left the office, saying as I closed the door, "Adam, that coffee was 36 dollars."

The café had a buy-one-get-one-free deal this morning. The cup I drank was the free one, so Adam's was the one I bought.

I quickly received a 36-dollar transfer from Adam. But despite all this, he still hadn't reimbursed me for the 100 dollars I covered for his takeout last time.

I texted him the message: [Thanks, Mr. Smith.]

Adam replied: [Get out.]

I asked: [Mr. Smith, can I ask you a question? I know you're very busy, but this issue is troubling me. I think only you can offer some constructive advice.]

Adam replied: [Speak.]

I asked: [What would you do if someone owes you money but refuses to pay?]

Adam replied: [Court summons.]

I asked: [What if the amount is too small for a case?]

Adam replied: [The people I know aren't likely to owe such a small amount.]

I asked: [Is there any chance you owe someone money?]

Adam replied: [No.]

I asked: [How about you think carefully? One hundred dollars.]

Adam replied: [?]

I asked: [I mistakenly sent an extra hundred dollars. My input method messed up.]

Adam replied: [What exactly are you trying to say?]

I said: [You asked me to cover your takeout beforehand.]

After receiving the transfer from Adam, I felt a lot better.

That evening, I returned to the apartment I shared with Tiffany. I bought wine and ordered the burgers, planning to vent about the past few days.

"Tiffany, there's something wrong with me," I said seriously.

She replied casually, "I know. If you weren't, we wouldn't get along."

"No, I'm seriously not well!" Tiffany still thought I was joking.

"I get it. Who isn't a bit crazy from working?"

"Listen to me, I've caught a disease where I can only tell the truth!"

"What?"

I told her about how I'd been insulting Adam the past few days.

Tiffany stared at me. "Wow!"

"You help me figure something out now. If this keeps up, I'll be fired sooner or later." After all, my resentment toward Adam after two years of working for him is almost supernatural.

"But seriously, I think he likes you. Huh, you've been like this, and your boss hasn't fired you yet?"

"Pfft!" I spit out the wine before I could swallow it.

"Oh, the bossy CEO's sweet assistant." Tiffany started wiggling her eyebrows.

"Are you okay? Have you been reading too many novels?" I rolled my eyes.

"You read plenty of them back in school too!"

"Get real. There's no such thing as CEO romances in the real world. If this were a novel, I'd just be the overworked assistant. Besides, the boss is so cheap!" I paused. "Hey, maybe his mom will throw ten million dollars at me to leave him?"

"I have a friend who confessed to her boss. It didn't work out, but she started coming in late every day and slacked off for two months. Her boss was too embarrassed to fire her. Your boss is handsome and rich. If you confess and succeed, you get ten million dollars from his mom. If you fail, you get paid to slack off. It's a win-win!"

"I'm telling you, the only outcome is getting kicked out." I harshly interrupted her fantasy.

"Don't be so hard on yourself!"

"So I go up and say, 'Adam, I like you,' and he asks what I like about him. I say, 'I like your money.'

"Also, I admit Mr. Smith is good-looking. But when I see his face, I don't feel romantic. Most of the time, I just want to punch him."

"You've got a chance, but you just don't take it!" Tiffany said, taking a sip of wine.

"By the way, have you ever cursed me behind my back?"

I shook my head but didn't say a word.

Tiffany squinted her eyes. Her gaze turned dangerous. "Speak!"

"I have, I have."

"Why did you curse me? What did you say?"

"Because you like jerks. I called you a lovesick fool. Even zombies would laugh at you."