Alistair didn’t answer Gray’s question for a moment. He just simply stared at him. His eyes squinted a little as if thinking about what Gray had just said.

"You really don’t know?" Alistair asked and raised a brow. A look of doubt and uncertainty flashed on his face.

Gray frowned slightly at that but he tried his best to maintain that confusion on his face.

"You know me, Alistair. I wouldn’t ask at all if I did."

Alistair slowly nodded his head. His arms folded across his chest as he continued to watch Gray carefully.

"I guess I’ll be direct with you, Gray." The tone of his voice remained calm, but the doubt inside it was very obvious.

"Sure."

"A few days ago, my cleaner found something in my office."

Gray felt his heart thumping inside his chest, but instead of showing that he was nervous, he only tilted his head slightly and frowned more.

"Oh?"

"It’s a company folder," Alistair continued. "A confidential one..." He paused slightly. "It was under the cabinet files."

"Are you saying it’s under the cabinet?" Gray’s mouth parted open. He looked around before leaning forward slightly. "Are you sure about it?"

"Yes." Alistair’s eyes narrowed just a little. "And you’re the only one who touched that cabinet recently."

"..." Gray stayed silent for a second, but in his mind, he had confirmed one thing.

’It’s really just suspicion. He might have been testing me throughout the day.’

"Of course," Alistair looked at him, "I didn’t jump to conclusions."

Alistair took a few steps back and took a deep breath.

"I already checked the security footage of my office."

’Shit.’ Gray’s chest tightened again at that. A few negative thoughts circulate his mind.

’I made sure that the first visit was spotless, but the second... shit.’ Gray couldn’t help but curse at it.

Maybe this wasn’t suspicious at all.

’Am I caught?’ Gray pressed his lips together. He didn’t know if he should continue this talk or ask for help already.

However, what was certain was that he wouldn’t stay unharmed if Alistair knew it alone.

"In the recordings from that day where you claimed to be helping my secretary," Alistair said, "I saw that you were going through the cabinet for quite a while." His gaze locked onto Gray again.

"But it’s strange..."

"What is strange?" Gray asked.

"Nothing looked wrong in the CCTV footage." Alistair shrugged lightly. "You simply looked like you were doing the task Steven asked you to do."

Alistair’s forehead creased even further at the mention of that.

"I also checked the footage from the meeting day. The moment you left the conference room."

’Oh shit.... This is it.’

"You went into my office. Sat down for a while."

"Huh?" Gray’s eyes visibly widened at that.

’What does that mean?’ he asked himself in disbelief. Gray’s fingers twitched slightly inside his pockets. He definitely did a lot at the time, but sitting wasn’t one of them!

"I saw that you only stayed there for some time," Alistair added, "before you went into the bathroom." He studied Gray’s face closely.

"..."

’How did that happen at all?’ Gray was just utterly speechless at what he was hearing.

"So now I’m curious," Alistair said slowly. "How did a file end up under my cabinet?"

However, Gray was just frozen in his place. For a few seconds, he did not move. He couldn’t even open his mouth to speak. His mind just went completely blank.

’What...?’

The words Alistair had just said kept echoing in his head.

’I sat down for a while, then went to the bathroom.’

That didn’t make sense at all. He still could clearly remember that day. He didn’t even sit, even for a second. So why... why would the CCTV show that?

A cold sensation crawled up his spine.

For a moment, Gray didn’t know how to react.

Did the camera malfunction?

Did someone edit the footage?

Each possibility made his stomach twist harder.

But one thing was certain. Alistair was surely watching him right now and was studying every tiny reaction on his face.

That’s why Gray could only force himself to breathe.

If the cameras truly didn’t show anything, then that meant Alistair had no real evidence.

"That’s... strange," Gray finally blinked and slowly shook his head, as if still trying to process the situation.

"Yeah..."

"But, Mayor," he said gently, "are you really suspecting me over that?"

That made Alistair silent.

Gray sighed lightly and ran a hand through his hair as if he was also frustrated about it.

"I think I know what happened." He looked toward the desk for a second before returning his gaze to Alistair.

"That day, Steven asked me to help sort through the cabinet, remember?"

Alistair remained silent at that.

"There were a lot of files there in the folder, and I was pulling them out to check them. Since Steven asked for my help, of course, I can’t just do that half-heartedly." He shrugged his shoulders.

"It’s possible that one slipped from the stack when I was handling them." Gray gave a helpless smile at Alistair.

"Honestly, I didn’t even notice. It’s my mistake," He met Alistair’s eyes again.

"But betrayal?" Gray shook his head slowly.

"That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?" His voice softened slightly as if he was deeply hurt by it.

"I’ve been helping you this whole time, Mayor. Why would I betray you like that? Why would I even help you if I’m just betraying you? Wouldn’t that make me such a bad person?" He sighed again, then he looked directly at him.

"I thought you knew me better than that, Mayor."

"Gray..." The doubt on Alistair’s face slowly faded, replaced by a trace of guilt. His gaze dropped for a moment as if he was reconsidering everything he had just said a few minutes ago.

"I admit it... maybe I was indeed too quick to question you," Alistair sighed.

"It’s fine, Mayor. I know that I’m new. I should have thought of my position."

"No, no, no, that’s not what I meant." Alistair quickly waved his hand. "I didn’t mean to accuse you outright," he added. "You know that yu’ve helped me more than enough these past months."

"No.... It’s fine, Mayor," Gray gave a small smile, but it has a hint of sadness on it.

It forced Alistair to sigh.

"I deeply apologize for it."

"It’s fine, Mayor," Gray just smiled, but inside, he was basically partying.

’It worked.’