Qian Luo walked up the stairs, each step feeling more peculiar than the last. When she first headed this way, her mind was a whirlwind of confusion regarding the entire incident, but after a few steps, that confusion began to dissipate, replaced by a cold, creeping clarity.
She spun around abruptly.
The crowd of people scurrying about with documents, supervisors gulping down coffee, the continuous clatter of keyboards—she looked down at it all from the staircase.
Nothing seemed out of place.
Qian Luo scratched the back of her head. Was I just overthinking? she wondered. With Ye not around, she had no one to consult, so she could only continue upward. The upper floor was silent. She hurried to the corner and practically charged toward the so-called office, only to freeze at the door.
It was a restroom.
There was no Director’s office.
A bad premonition bloomed in her chest. Seeing someone exiting the restroom, she threw caution to the wind and grabbed their arm, asking urgently, “Excuse me, is there a Director’s office here?”
The moment she asked, she regretted it. The woman in the A-line skirt and white blouse was the very same secretary who had insulted her “compulsory education” earlier. The woman jumped in fright, then cried out in pain as Qian Luo gripped her arm, “Are you trying to strangle me?”
Qian Luo wished she could jump out the nearest window.
The interrogation didn’t stop there. The secretary, nursing her bruised arm, demanded, “Have you finished your work?”
“Actually, I—”
The secretary arched an eyebrow. “What is a typist doing looking for a Director? The Directors are on the upper floors; do you think you’re even qualified to go there?”
Furious, Qian Luo almost let her cover slip. “I’ve even been to the top—”
The secretary sneered. “Get back to work!”
Though seething with rage, Qian Luo knew she had been played. She turned back toward the stairs, thinking the people in this company were truly unbearable. She decided she would text Yin Tong immediately: The customer service at your company sucks; it’s either her or me.
Just then, the person behind her noticed something. “Hey, who are you looking for?”
Qian Luo didn’t answer. As she stood at the top of the stairs, ready to descend—
In that exact moment, from her vantage point by the second-floor railing, she saw the lobby erupt into total chaos. People at their desks leaped up; some were making frantic phone calls while running upstairs, others were whispering intensely to those beside them…
The noise level skyrocketed.
Realizing something was terribly wrong, Qian Luo dashed downstairs. She was about to ask what had happened when she caught sight of the nearest computer screen. There, in glaring detail, was a photo of the actress’s death scene!
She rushed over and discovered that the news had already hit the headlines of a major online media outlet with lightning speed. Predictably, within minutes, it would spread through the web over and over again.
And the photo in the headline… it was the exact document she had been holding!
Horrified, Qian Luo ran back to her desk and grabbed the file. To her shock, the photo on the website even captured the same creases in the paper as the copy in her hand.
No matter how slow she was, Qian Luo now understood who those two men were. They were reporters from a news site. Having caught wind of the story, they had slipped into the company and happened to witness Qian Luo being handed the assignment. Who is the easiest target? A newcomer who knows nothing about the internal workings of the company!
As she stood there in a daze of regret, the secretary strode over and snatched the paper from her hand. Being a sharp woman, she compared it to the screen and understood instantly. She gave Qian Luo a peculiar look but said nothing. Instead, she took the paper and hurried toward a supervisor who was rushing to the top floor.
“Please wait. Take a look at this.”
…
2.
Ye was currently perched in the window of the cramped attic Qian Luo used to rent, rummaging through the choking dust for something.
She had shifted back into her cat form, crawling under the collapsed bed. She dragged out an emerald-studded collar and, using her paws, managed to fasten it around her neck.
The dark brown leather strap circled her soft, jet-black fur, the deep green gem perfectly complementing her stunning eyes.
Ye’s alert eyes scanned the clutter, searching for any suspicious traces. How had Yin Tong known she and Qian Luo were moving? Had she planted something here? Though, based on the woman’s attitude, she didn’t seem to care if they knew they were being watched.
Ye snorted and continued her search.
After a while of finding nothing, Ye shook the dust from her fur, climbed out of the corner, and leaped onto the soft bed, curling up. She shifted back into her human form, lying in the familiar blankets and inhaling the familiar scent as she stretched.
Since she had no clothes on, her petite, delicate body was bare as she rolled comfortably in the soft bedding. Traveling that far had been exhausting.
Before she could think further, the door was suddenly shoved open. In her shock, she didn’t have time to shift back into a cat. She could only remain as she was—naked on the bed.
the person who entered paused in surprise, their gaze lingering briefly on Ye’s slender waist. Then, a smile that was almost doting touched the corners of their lips.
“Xiao Ye? Where is Qian Luo?”
Stunned on the bed, Ye froze for a long moment before abruptly shifting back into a black cat. She let out a soft, aggrieved sniff, leaped forward, and dove into the person’s arms.
The woman at the door, a soft lock of hair falling across her forehead, caught the kitten firmly and pulled her close. She gently stroked the soft fur on Ye’s head and whispered, “You… you always did like using these ‘accidental’ ways to seduce people.”
…
3.
Qian Luo stood before everyone, surrounded by a dense crowd of onlookers. The sound of whispering was constant.
“Is she new? Such a pretty girl, why would she leak company secrets?”
“The company isn’t exactly doing good deeds; hiding a death like that… maybe the kid just couldn’t stand it.”
“How can you say that? You eat the master’s bread, you serve the master’s cause. She takes the company’s salary and sells them out? Who would dare hire someone like that?”
Qian Luo heard it all, but she remained silent, waiting for the supervisor standing opposite her to speak.
Finally, the elderly, stout man spoke in a low voice: “Aside from the copy in her hand, does anyone else have this report?”
The secretary replied, “No.”
The man gripped the report. As a high-level executive, he hadn’t even known about the death, yet the blame was being dumped on his head from above. He was caught in a bind.
He turned to Qian Luo. “So you’re telling me two reporters used a distraction to lure you away? That you didn’t leak it on purpose?”
Qian Luo said immediately, “That’s right. I remember what they look like. If we check the security footage—”
“Enough!” he roared in anger. “Don’t you understand? At this point, does it matter whose responsibility it is? Whether you leaked it or the reporters tricked you, it doesn’t matter!”
Qian Luo was stung by his attitude. She was angry, but since her own gullibility had caused the problem, she couldn’t find a way to argue.
The man’s eyebrows shot up as he yelled, his whole body trembling. “The point is the information was leaked! Because of your negligence! Do you know this will cause millions in losses? Do you know how much the damage control will cost? Am I supposed to ask you to pay for it? How long would it take you to pay that back?”
Qian Luo finally had nothing to say. She could only offer: “I am regretful that I caused you unnecessary trouble.”
She had never realized she could be so isolated. She stood in the center of the crowd; people surrounded her, yet kept a careful distance. In the eyes of the panicked crowd, there was a glimmer of secret schadenfreude.
Qian Luo stood tall, refusing to hang her head.
Yes, she had made a mistake, but that didn’t mean she should bear the entire burden. She shouldn’t have trusted the reporters, but if the secretary had patiently explained her duties instead of arrogantly insulting her education, she wouldn’t have been so lost about internal operations. If the guards had actually checked IDs instead of letting people walk in, this never would have happened.
She was wrong—the biggest fault was hers—but not all the fault was hers.
So she stood there and said “I am regretful,” but absolutely not “I am sorry.”
In that moment of total isolation, a memory surfaced.
From her distant childhood, she remembered many of her fellow disciples standing before her just like this, looking at her as if she were a heretic.
“Master! Qian Luo released another vengeful ghost!” “Kick her out!” “Traitor!” “How can a ghost-tamer communicate with ghosts? She’s a traitor!” “Luo, you have truly disappointed me.”
But in that moment, that person… stepped out from behind her. Though her shoulders were thin, she stood straight as a ramrod in front of Qian Luo. Even though her voice trembled, she didn’t stop.
“Master. That ghost… I’m the one who let it go. It has nothing to do with Xiao Luo.” “So, if there is to be punishment, punish me.”