She was too nervous and forgot about it when Martin stared at her. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was too
nervous.
She took off the gloves in her hands and threw them into the garbage can, then re-disinfected her
hands and put on a new pair of gloves before returning to her post.
Martin looked at her neat action, and his brows gradually eased up. Joyce was capable and had never
made mistakes at work. But she had been absentminded lately.
Martin raised an eyebrow. “Stop what you are doing now. Have you had something going on lately?
You look upset.”
Joyce looked at the dark-haired teenager. Thinking of what her father had told her, she smiled with just
the right amount of distress on her face. “Just something happened at home.”
Joyce’s father blamed her for the McCarthy family’s failure to win the tender last time.
But Joyce knew Martin did not like to hear people complaining all the time, so she had never vented
her frustration in front of him for the past few days.
She was depressed inside but pretended to be nonchalant outside. “Don’t worry. Nothing big deal.”
Martin looked at her, not too convinced. “Really?”
Joyce nodded, but deep down inside, she hoped he would continue asking. She wanted to tell him
about her family’s situation and see if he could help.
To her surprise, Martin’s expression changed upon seeing her nod her head. He looked at her with his
arms crossed. “Then never make such a low-level mistake again. Or else, get the hell out of my lab.”
He yelled at her callously.
Martin’s greatest concern was his research, for which he would tolerate no one.
Even though Joyce had been his best partner and classmate, it was not impossible to replace her if she
kept being absentminded again. She was dispensable.
Joyce was stunned, her expression crashing. Things did not turn out quite the same as she had
imagined.
Martin could no longer bear it when he saw her rooted to the spot. “Do you want to leave now? Get
back to work right away.”
Joyce had always thought that she and Martin were the tag team of San Joto, and that he would treat
her differently and comfort her when she had problems, not expecting that she was nearly kicked out of
the lab.
She looked at Martin in disbelief. Seeing that he was not joking, her eyes quickly reddened, and she
returned to her post without a word.
There were a few Yamenians in the group. Because Joyce was the only female here, they were
tolerant of her.
Kevin was not too happy at seeing Martin doing this to Joyce. “Don’t you think you are going too far,
Martin?”
Martin looked at Joyce and walked up to her as if he had listened to Kevin. Afraid that she would not
hear clearly, he bent down and said in a very flat voice, “Go out there, take a rest, and come back
later.”
Joyce was flattered and looked at him. She knew that Martin still cared for her.
Her grievances got the better of her, and tears flowed out of her eyes. She looked at Martin, wanting to
say something
Kevin and a few others thought that Martin really wanted Joyce to go out and take a break, so they
looked away with satisfaction. But in less than ten seconds, they heard Martin’s thunderous voice.
“Sh*t. Joyce, your tears dropped onto the focal plane. Get the hell out of here.”
He asked her to go out because he was afraid that this woman could not control her tears.
Joyce was out of joint and looked in shock at Martin’s disdainful face. She could no longer bear the
insult, got up, and ran out of the lab.
After she left, Martin returned to his seat with an unconcealed, despiteful look on his face. As if thinking
of something, he stood up again, rushed to the door, and shouted, “Take a leave and don’t come back
for the next few days.”
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