Chapter 399

Leonard sipped his coffee, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile that carried nothing but malice.Natalie had embarrassed him yesterday, and he wasn't about to let that slide. In the Data Analytics Department, his word was as good as law. Anyone who refused to fall in line didn't last long. If he could drive those disobedient ones to quit, even better.

Leonard exchanged a meaningful glance with Marissa.

The cold shoulder only became more obvious after that.

When Hannah approached the break room for coffee, a handful of employees were laughing and chatting. The second she stepped through the doorway, the conversation cut off.

Eyes flicked toward one another, then-almost as if by silent agreement-everyone lowered their heads,

pretending to stir their drinks or scroll their phones.Not a single person turned to acknowledge her. Not one shifted to make room.

The cramped space suddenly felt suffocating.

"Excuse me." Hannah's voice was calm, measured.She poured herself a cup, turned on her heel, and

walked out.

The moment she crossed the threshold, laughter and chatter burst back to life-louder than before.

Later, she attempted to print a set of process flow documents to become familiar with the department's systems.

The printer was jammed, its red light blinking stubbornly.

A male colleague stood waiting nearby, hands in his pockets. He glanced at the machine but didn't move to help.

Hannah stepped up, opened the front panel, and began clearing the crumpled paper with practiced ease.

That was when Marissa strolled over, hips swaying, a thick stack of files in hand.

"Oh no, another jam?" Marissa's voice rang sharp and high, her gaze sliding deliberately over Natalie's fingers. "Honestly, rookies can be so clumsy.Can't even handle a printer without breaking it. Natalie, you do realize this thing costs a fortune, right? Could you even afford to replace it if you wreck it?"

Before Hannah could reply, Marissa shoved the files into the male colleague's arms. "Here, Will, print these for me. I need to hit the restroom."

She tossed Hannah a pointed look before strutting off.

Will accepted the files in silence, spared Hannah a glance, and shifted his gaze back to the printer without a word.

Hannah cleared the jam, got the machine running again, printed her documents, and walked away

without looking back.

Such incidents accumulated interminably. Hannah could see clearly that someone had issued a silent command. The department was purposefully closed off to her.

Hannah laughed quietly and icily. It makes sense why the Data Analytics Department had so many problems. Nobody had a chance here if this was how they handled newbies.

Leonard sat in his chair in his glass-walled cubicle,watching Hannah's "struggles" with a smug little curl at his lips. Just as anticipated. He desired to blunt her rough edges and make her face reality so that she would either swallow her pride and come to him for help, or she'd quit.

But Hannah's face was nothing but calm. No panic,no embarrassment-none of the reaction Leonard craved. In fact, this situation couldn't have worked out to her favor any better. The rest of the team was buried in work, too busy to notice her absence, which meant she finally had the chance to slip away to the

storage warehouse.

Discrepancies she'd spotted while reviewing system logs had been nagging at her. The numbers suggested that inventory data was being altered or deliberately delayed.That would explain why R&D kept receiving false stock levels and incorrect batch reports.

She went to Warehouse No. 3 by slipping down the fire escape.

After a brief, casual greeting with the warehouse manager-and a subtle name-drop of Leonard-she got in.

And there it was. Stacks of defective products were shoved into a corner, left to gather dust.

Hannah tilted her head slightly, her voice measured."What happens to these rejects? Do they need to be logged and scrapped?"

"Scrapped?" The warehouse manager scratched at the back of his head. "Nah. Nobody bothers with

paperwork for this junk. We just stack 'em here until the pile's too big to ignore. Saves us the hassle." He said it likeit was the most ordinary thing in the world.

Her lips curved into a thin, humorless smile. Process loopholes.

She discreetly snapped a few photos of the defective goods and their blurry labels. Then, pretending to verify stock counts, she wandered deeper into the aisles, quietly capturing shots of CCTV blind spots and the sloppy way materials were stored.

Back in the Data Analytics Department, Leonard picked up his mug and started toward the break room. While walking, out of habit, he glanced at Natalie's desk. Empty.

He paused and then smirked. Couldn't handle the pressure, huh? Probably hiding in the restroom,crying. Or better yet-maybe she'd finally accept the reality and marched straight to HR to resign.

He strolled past her desk, deliberately slowing his pace as he neared a nearby colleague, pitching his voice just loud enough for the entire floor to hear."Hey, anyone seen our newbie Natalie? Where'd she wander off to during work hours?"

The colleague blinked and then gave a helpless shrug. "No idea.Maybe the restroom?"

Leonard's smirk widened. He cleared his throat and raised his voice, dripping mockery and exaggerated sympathy into every word. "Ha! Young people these days can't handle a little pressure, can they? We leave her hanging for, what, a couple of hours, and she cracks already? No grit, no sense of responsibility! If you ask me, she's probably marching down to HR right now to-"

The door of the office opened.

Hannah stepped inside, her stride even, her voice cool and steady as she cut him off. "I apologize, Mr.Yates,for interrupting. I'm not quitting."