Chapter 397

A hot surge of anger shot straight to Leonard's head.On her very first day, Natalie had somehow managed to get the IT department to call him out-publicly, in front of the whole team. He had never felt so humiliated.

With a sharp bang, Leonard slammed his palm against the desk and lurched to his feet, his bulk quivering with fury. He jabbed a finger at Natalie,ready to explode. But then, his eyes met hers.Calm.Steady. Unflinching.

Something in his chest gave an unexpected jolt. For a split second, he almost faltered. What the hell? Why was he intimidated by a damn newbie? The thought reignited his confidence. No way. If he didn't shut her down now, how would he ever keep control of the team?

Leonard pulled his mouth into a thin, mocking smile.

"Oh, come on, it's just a system permission. No need to get bent out of shape." Dropping back into his chair, he added with forced casualness, "I'll take care of it. Right now."

He shoved his chair closer, unlocked his computer,and began clicking around at a snail's pace. Each pause between movements was so exaggerated that it looked like he was solving some cosmic equation.

Minutes crawled by.

The air in the office thickened-awkward, heavy suffocating.

Hannah didn't urge him. She simply sat at her cluttered desk, quietly flipping through documents,patient and unbothered.

Finally, with only ten minutes left in the workday,Leonard let out an overdone "Aha!" and clicked his mouse with a flourish. "Oh, so that's the button.There we go. All fixed. You've got your access. Time to get to work."

Hannah glanced at her screen, confirmed the access was live,and gave a quiet, detached reply. "Okay."

Ten minutes later, she powered down her computer,gathered her things, and made for the door.

Several employees stared after her, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, Leonard sprang up from his chair, voice booming. "Natalie Preston! What the hell do you think you're doing? Leaving already? Did you even finish your work?"

Hannah stopped at the doorway and slowly turned.Her face stayed composed, her voice even. "Mr.Yates, you didn't activate my access until ten minutes before the end of the day. That delay came from your negligence, not my ability. By any reasonable measure of work hours, there was no way I could finish the task before leaving. You are to blame for this incident."

Her gaze lingered on his flushed, contorted face. She spoke each word with quiet precision. "You're not qualified to be a supervisor."

"You-" Leonard sputtered, pointing a trembling finger at her. His face flamed crimson, yet no words came out.

Beside him, Marissa stiffened. She wanted to speak up and back him, but something in Natalie's commanding presence forced the words back down her throat.

Without sparing them another glance, Hannah turned, clocked out, and pushed open the door. Just like that, she was gone.

In the VIP room of the Gilded Restaurant, Claude had arranged to meet Hannah for dinner. The room door left slightly ajar.

"Try this." Claude slid a plate toward Hannah,butter-poached halibut crowned with a drizzle of lemon beurre blanc. His gaze lingered on her with quiet amusement. "I know you've been craving this for a while."

Hannah cut a small piece, lifted it to her lips, and let the silky, citrus-bright sauce coat her tongue.Her

eyes fluttered shut as she savored it. "Mmm." She leaned back slightly, her voice soft, almost content."That's exactly the flavor l've missed. I couldn't find it anywhere overseas."

For the first time in more than a year, the tension coiled tight inside her had loosened, just a little.

They ate and spoke easily between bites, the atmosphere warm with the familiarity of old friends.

Hannah recounted her day at the Data Analytics Department-the poisonous culture of hazing new hires, Leonard's deliberate obstruction, Marissa's eager piling-on, and the petty "access permissions"trick designed to humiliate her.

Claude's expression cooled, his fork pausing mid-air."Do you think either of them is behind the leaks? Or tampering with the supply chain data?"

"I'm still watching," Hannah said evenly, though her eyes sharpened with focus. "That department isn't as straightforward as it looks."

Hazing newcomers might have seemed like tradition there, but Luminara Group upheld a strict zero-tolerance policy against it.

Just as she was speaking, faint voices carried in from the hallway outside the private room. "Let's take this one.It's quieter."

Hannah's hand stopped mid-air, fork quivering like a compass needle caught in a magnetic storm. That voice... Even muffled by walls and buried under the hum of chatter, she could still pick it out-sharp as glass after more than a year. Vincent.

She had sworn she'd braced herself for the day their paths would collide again. But the moment had arrived sooner than she'd bargained for, and in a place that felt almost too ordinary for such a collision.

Next door, in the hush of another private room,Vincent had just eased into his chair, surrounded by his circle. They were toasting Bobby's return from his latest trip abroad, the wine flowing as freely as the conversation.

A few rounds later, Bobby sauntered back from the restroom, amusement tugging at his lips. Leaning on the table with a crooked grin, he drawled, "Vincent...I could swear l just spotted your ex-wife. She's sitting right next door."