Chapter 2

"Morning."

Nobody answered.

At 8:06 AM, the only sounds in the office were the clicking of keyboards and the low hum of the AC.

I put down my bag and noticed my computer was already on. The screen was locked with a red warning:

"Your account has been forcibly logged out. Please contact the administrator."

The charging cable on my power strip had been unplugged, and there were visible nail scratches near the port.

Carter sat across from me, his AirPods in, his head buried in his screen.

I went to the admin desk to borrow a cable. When I got back, a tall cup of iced Americano was sitting on my desk.

I picked it up. I knew it was Chloe’s doing—she was the only one in the department who ordered from that specific hipster cafe.

Next to the cup was a pink sticky note. Her signature stationery.

"Avery, don't be mad! It was my fault. Let me buy you coffee to make up for it~"

I tossed the coffee straight into the trash can. But I kept the sticky note and locked it in my drawer.

During the 10:00 AM weekly meeting, Mr. Davis was writing the schedule on the whiteboard.

When he reached the marketing campaign column, he paused.

"Avery, what's the status on the Cascade Media account this week?"

Before I could speak, Chloe cut in.

"Mr. Davis, the client mentioned something to me yesterday. It seems like there was a bit of friction in their communication with Avery? I'm not entirely sure, they just brought it up casually."

Her tone was hesitant, as if she were reluctant to speak.

It was classic Chloe. Vague enough to make the boss suspicious, but innocent enough to keep her hands clean.

"What friction?" Mr. Davis turned around.

"Well... their director, Mr. Brooks, mentioned that the handoff wasn't very smooth. I didn't want to pry too much, since it's Avery's project after all."

She turned to me, her face a mask of pure apology.

"Avery, please don't hate me. I'm just telling the truth."

I stared at her, calm and cold. Her words had laid three hidden landmines for me.

"Mr. Brooks told you this? When?"

"Last Thursday afternoon. He called my cell."

"Did you call him back? Is there a call log?"

Hearing my questions, she looked deeply hurt.

"Avery, why are you interrogating me like a criminal? I didn't record the call. Who keeps logs of casual phone calls?"

Carter was the first to defend her. "Exactly. Chloe was just trying to help, and you're acting like—"

"That's enough," Mr. Davis waved his hand. "Avery, put together a detailed log of your communications with Cascade Media and have it on my desk by the end of the week. Meeting adjourned."

At 2:00 PM, I logged into the company’s HR expense portal.

The team-building expense reports were filed under the administrative module, one page per month.

March: Sushi restaurant, expensed at $4,800.

April: Karaoke lounge, $4,500.

June: Inter-department mixer, Spa Resort—$12,000.

The limit for inter-department events was $5,000.

I pulled up the original attached receipt.

It was a handwritten invoice with a blurry digital stamp.

There were faint white edges of correction fluid around the total amount. It was slightly misaligned, revealing half of the original digit underneath.

The original $5,000 had been changed to $12,000. I took a screenshot.

The exact second I saved the file, a Snapchat message from Chloe popped up in the corner of my screen.

"Avery, what are you up to? Let's go grab a drink downstairs. They have a new seasonal menu, my treat!"

She was sitting three rows away, smiling at me through the gap in the cubicle walls.

How did she know what I was looking at?

"No, thank you."

"Don't be such a loner, babes. Everyone thinks you've been acting super weird lately."

She walked over, her stiletto heels clicking sharply on the tiled floor.

She bent down, leaning close. Her voice was barely a whisper, meant for my ears only.

"Avery, some files on the portal are meant to be opened. Others... are better left alone."

Her peach perfume was suffocatingly sweet. She was so close I could see the edge of her colored contact lenses.

"I was just browsing."

"Good."

She stood up and blasted a message to the group chat: "Afternoon tea is on me, guys! Drop your orders below!"

Within three seconds, six excited emojis flooded the chat.

Nobody tagged me.

When the clock struck five, we ended up alone in the elevator.

She broke the silence first.

"Avery, those expense files you were looking at... even if there was something wrong with them, the person who signed off on them was Mr. Davis."

The elevator dinged. The doors slid open.

She stepped out, turning back to look at me, her peach-glossed lips curving into a smirk.

"Who do you think Mr. Davis is going to protect?"