Chapter 35
I nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, yes, I understand, I understand.”
He turned and left.
I watched his back, thinking: Although… maybe I don’t need to know his private life *that* well?
Menu
Back in the room, Ann Maxwell was already awake, her usual cool composure restored. “Ms. Frost, thank you for last night.”
“You’re welcome,” I smiled.
I’ll be going now. See you at the office.” She left.
At nine, Zach, two senior executives from headquarters, and I accompanied Evan to the branch office. Ann Maxwell was in a sharp business suit, looking professional and intelligent.
At the branch office, we had meetings, listened to reports, reviewed accounts, and checked project progress… Ann arranged lunch and dinner meetings.
Zach and I were exhausted by the end of the day. In the lounge outside the dining room, Zach said, “Olivia, did you notice? Ann Maxwell is a completely different person today compared to last night.”
1
I looked at my tablet.“Last night was emotional; today is business. Professional and personal life separated.”
“You haven’t seen her when she doesn’t separate them.”
“Let the boss’s love life sort itself out,” I sighed.
“You got spooked last night, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, it was… complicated…” I thought of Evan saying he didn’t like women, and I couldn’t help but glance at Zach with a complicated expression.
Zach:“Why are you giving me that weird look?”
I looked away.“Nothing.”
Zach leaned over to look at my tablet, noticing I was looking at the factory’s attendance and payroll records.“Something wrong?”
“Something strange. The number of people on the attendance sheet matches the payroll, but I checked the attachment showing the number of people present, and two people are missing every day.”
Zach also looked and confirmed it.“No way.” Because the attendance and payroll matched, nobody would normally
check the attachment.
I said, “Only one possibility: someone’s exploiting a management loophole and getting paid without working. But who, and how, is hard to say just from this.”
Zach:“Ten years. Converted to RMB, those two ghosts have pocketed almost 6 million yuan.”
“I suspect someone inside the company and the factory are in cahoots. Nobody noticed for ten years? Unbelievable.”
“We should tell the President, but he’s been invited to a business summit tomorrow.”
“How about this, I’ll go to the factory tomorrow and find those ghosts first.”
“Good idea.”
As we spoke, someone emerged from the private room, overhearing our conversation, their expression flickering with tension and a hint of menace…
