2. The Scandal

"Then what Mark said is true," Aileen muttered as she tapped her pen on the desk.

          

With her eyes still occasionally fixed on the file, she picked up her cell phone and dialed the man's number.

"Yes, Ms. Aileen?" a voice asked from the other end of the line.

"Could you come to my office, please? There's something I'd like to discuss with you," Aileen replied, ignoring her reluctance to ask the man to come to her office as if they were partners who always got along well.

"All right, I'll be there in ten minutes." The man on the other end of the line then ended their conversation.

Aileen was surprised to find herself reaching for a small mirror from her bag to correct some makeup on her face. She tried to catch her breath so as not to look too nervous.

"Come on, Aileen. Why do you look so tense to meet him, huh? Damn!" She cursed herself for being so out of control.

She was not used to being awkward around men, especially when the man was below her in the office. But Mark Miller was different. From the beginning, Aileen felt that there was something special about him. Something about him seemed too wow to be called an ordinary marketing employee.

She called for him to come in when there was a knock at the door. Mark swaggered towards her very stylishly. In his office attire of navy blue shirt and black pants, his managerial aura shone through even without the suit.

"Have a seat," Aileen said, trying to get a handle on the situation. She didn't want to be overwhelmed by the man's charisma in her room. It was like saying this was his 'cage'. That was supposed to elevate him, she thought.

Mark sat with his eyes fixed on Aileen. As Aileen grew hot and cold, she wanted to shiver but was too reluctant to move even a little. Damn, Mark always managed to make her feel so strange.

"I checked the sales report sent to the headquarters, and there are many irregularities. There are many discrepancies with the actual reports from my marketing department." Aileen began to discuss the issue.

"Well then, what conclusion can Ms. Aileen get from this?" As calm as ever, the man questioned Aileen as if waiting for the right moment to accuse the woman in front of him.

"I can't be sure yet, but obviously, we need to find the right data. How about asking Mr. William directly?" Aileen asked hesitantly.

Of course, she was hesitating. How could she question a suspect about a possible act of sabotage?

"I think that's crazy!" commented Mark, surprised by Aileen's thoughts.

It was clear that Mark had already concluded in his mind that Mr William had sabotaged the mission. There was no doubt about it!

Aileen swallowed hard as her throat suddenly felt tight.

"So? Where are we supposed to investigate? Professionally speaking, my job is to report to Mr. William, right, to solve a problem? Especially since this is a problem that affects the headquarters, not just the branch," Aileen replied, expressing what made her hesitate.

Mark snorted angrily. He had expected Aileen to be precisely what she was, to go to the extreme of exposing William's sabotage and not care about her position at all. His assessment of the girl was a bit off. She is very deliberate and tactically prepared, Mark thought later.

"Things are not that simple, Ms. Aileen. If we ask William, he'll have plenty of opportunities to deny it, of course."

"So, should we report directly to headquarters?" Aileen raised the second possibility.

Mark shook his head. His gaze was suddenly sad as if a great weight was on his shoulders at that moment.

"If we go directly to headquarters, they will immediately fire us or close the branch. That will undoubtedly hurt hundreds of employees, Ms. Aileen.”

We also have to think of the hundreds of heads that depend on this office," Mark replied later.

Startled, Aileen realized the possibility. Yes, what Mark had said was true. If this branch were closed, hundreds of employees would lose their jobs. Including her!

The perpetrator was only one person, or maybe with a few henchmen. The others were affected. Yikes! This can't be allowed to happen!

"What should we do then? We can't just stand by and let this go on, can we?" asked Aileen skeptically. She had yet to figure out what the right course of action was other than to report to the headquarters.

"We must first expose everything, along with the evidence. Only then we can force William to admit his actions and resign along with his minions. That way, this branch will continue to run well without having to be shut down by the central CEO," Mark finally replied. The man's brow furrowed as he thought of something complicated.

For a moment, the room was silent. Both were struggling with their thoughts.

"Where is William right now? Who knows if he's dealing with a sneaky buyer? Let's start investigating!" Mark took the initiative.

"Uh, his secretary said earlier that he was in the conference room, meeting with clients." Aileen tried to remember what Laura had said.

The man got up from his swivel chair and hurried to the conference room. Aileen hesitated for a moment before grabbing a copy of her marketing department report. Of course, this was the weapon she would use to expose Mr. William's crimes.

She hurriedly walked behind Mark, who had almost reached the meeting room with his long strides.

Laura, the secretary, seemed to be keeping Aileen and Mark from entering.

"I'm sorry, but Mr. William has an important visitor. He's not to be disturbed until his guest has left," Laura said in a firm and unapologetic tone.

"Guest? Who, if I may know?" Mark looked deeply into Laura's eyes this time. It was as if he wanted to find out what the secretary was hiding.

Of course, such a piercing look made Laura shiver slightly with fear, which seemed to reveal to Mark and Aileen that she was hiding something that was not right.

"Is it someone from the buyer's team?" Mark asked bluntly.

Laura seemed to flinch. Aileen thought the girl's frightened expression was becoming increasingly apparent.

"I... this is none of your business. Please go back to your room. I'll call one of you when Mr. William is finished with his guests," Laura said a little hesitantly, though she tried hard to hide it.

“Oh, no way! We'll go in and catch your boss in the act of sabotaging the buyer. Isn't that right, Laura?" Mark wasn't going to back down now.

Suddenly, the door to the Director's office burst open, and Mr. William came out with a grim expression on his face.

"What's all the fuss about?"