Rosaline skimmed through all 204 emails, her anxiety quickly shifting into a slow, simmering rage.
What on earth is this?! These are all from HR. Her deep blue eyes widened in disbelief; her lips pressed into a thin line of frustration. She knew the company liked making employees wear multiple hats, but she never imagined HR would be tasked with "proofreading" every single email.
To Ms. Rosaline: You misspelled the company's address in the quotation. It should be 'Block 16,' not 'Blocg 16.' This makes our company look unreliable. Please improve.
To Ms. Rosaline: Why are the font sizes for the product names inconsistent?
To Rosaline: Even for internal documents, a sales signature is required every time. We must follow company protocol for the sake of professional unity.
Ms. Rosaline...
Ms. Rosaline...
And so, it went on and on.
Adrien, catching a glimpse of her mounting fury, remarked softly, "You look like you're in a bad mood."
Of course I am! she thought. Aside from the fact that she wasn't even the one who wrote them, most of these were trivial nitpicks that had nothing to do with sales. However, a few were actual problems—like a customer requesting a 60-day credit increase despite a history of late payments. An oblivious Edgar had simply processed the paperwork without checking, and accounting had clearly shredded her for it.
"Just... a bit," Rosaline managed to reply.
Adrien continued typing as he spoke. "...About a week ago, Flora placed an order for the wrong item. It cost the company about fifty thousand Pure."
"And?" Rosaline didn't see where he was going with this.
"As for HR... they showed up late after a night of heavy drinking and got flagged by upper management," Adrien added, turning to give her a provocative, playful smirk. "Unlucky timing, wouldn't you say?"
Are you telling me they're using me as a scapegoat to distract the executives? Rosaline realized.
"It's just a conspiracy theory," Adrien said, as if reading the hunter's mind. "Just sharing some idle gossip. But right now, to them, you're the perfect 'decoy.'"
"...Then what should I do?" Rosaline asked after a moment of reflection.
Adrien's hands stopped. His red eyes flickered with a mix of shock, amusement, and surprise, before settling into a small grin, as if he had just thought of something fun.
"First off... don't make mistakes. After that, everything will fix itself," he said simply.
The hunter felt a strange pang of disappointment. She had been expecting a little surprise, some clever trick, but it never came.
Back to work, then, she told herself, opening her customer emails to begin drafting new quotes.
"I'm heading out around noon. Do you want anything?" Adrien asked. Seeing her confused look, he continued, "I have to meet a client and drop off some deliveries."
"But you're a Tele sales rep, aren't you? Deliveries aren't your job," she pointed out.
"Well... we're understaffed," Adrien replied. "Besides the Boss, I'm the only male employee left. By the way, Rosaline, are you feeling, okay? Did you forget that another person from our department resigned last week? Now it's just me, you, the Senior, and the Boss."
Great. Is there anyone left who isn't about to quit? Rosaline sighed at the company's utter failure to retain staff. "Do I have to go on delivery runs too?"
"If you can drive, you might have to," Adrien said before leaning into whisper, "And Rosaline... no matter what you hear, don't be the one to strike first."
If he's warning me like this... something is definitely brewing, she guessed.
With that, Adrien returned to his work and didn't speak to her again until lunch. He left for his meeting and deliveries, mentioning he'd eat out and return in the evening.
…
…
Rosaline sat in the breakroom with the Senior female colleague. Leslie had prepared her lunch as usual. He was currently cramming for exams and staying up late, yet he still managed to keep the household running perfectly.
"Rosaline, keep your wits about you lately," the Senior said with genuine concern. "In this place, if they smell weakness, they'll kick you while you're down. Don't trust anyone too much—not even the Boss."
The hunter had expected to be scolded for bringing heat onto the sales department, but instead, she received nothing but kindness. Feeling a small prickle of guilt, Rosaline nodded. "Are you planning to resign too, Sis?"
The Senior gave a weary smile. "If it weren't for my father, I'd be gone. I have to take him to the doctor often. At least the Boss understands; anywhere else would have turned on me for taking three or four days off a month."
Rosaline had heard her father was quite ill. Despite having several siblings, they had all shoved the burden onto her, claiming they had families to look after while she was the only one still single. Though the hunter never offered direct help, she understood her colleague's struggle, having dealt with illness in her own family.
"Hang in there," Rosaline said simply. She finished her meal quickly and headed down to the nearby minimart for a soda. The elevator was taking too long, so fearing she'd be late returning from her break, she took the stairs instead.
"She's nothing but a... troublemaker."
Rosaline caught the sound of voices from the accounting department. She would have ignored it if her name hadn't been the very next word.
"That Rosaline girl... she doesn't even have that much work. Why couldn't she just read properly before sending?" Flora's voice rang out from a room with an open door. "How do newbies these days even function?"
"I saw her resume; she only finished middle school. What do you expect? How could someone with a middle school education work like someone with a bachelor's degree?" another accountant chuckled.
"How did our company even hire someone with such low qualifications? She talked a big game when she started, but now look at her," a third voice chimed in.
"I guess I'll have to 'teach' her a few lessons," Flora said with a tone of malicious satisfaction. "People from that kind of background... I get it, they aren't precise. Her parents probably neglected her, which is why she's so careless."
Rosaline stood outside the room, arms crossed, silently tapping her index finger against her arm.
Oh, so that's how it is, she thought. She continued down to buy her soda and returned to work.
Her mind was racing... thinking... calculating...
And she was thinking that Adrien... he knows way too much.