When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie)

After uncovering the mole within the company, Jade leveraged her extensivework to access the office surveillance footage.

Located at the entrance of the Design Department, the camera quickly revealed that Hank had sneaked back into the office late at night the day before the data mishap, meddling with the computers.

Given the shared nature of many projects within the Design Department, merely logging into the company's account allowed for modifications, explaining why Jade hadn't initially caught on to the issue.

Moreover, taking advantage of the team's celebration over a successful project bid, Hank had sneaked into the office, plugging a USB drive into Jade's computer. Though he had attempted to disguise his actions, the birthmark on his left hand gave him away.

Fuming, Jade gritted her teeth. "That son of a bitch, Hank! After all I did to cover for him last time, he backstabs me like this!"

I held her hand, urging her to calm down. "Jade, you must realize something. The material Hank stole was for your boss." That was the real kicker. Hank was merely a pawn, and her boss was the true villain. Tall poppies were the first to get cut down.

Jade's exceptional capabilities earned her colleagues' trust after joining the company for less than a year, as evidenced by the team showing up for her bid presentation. However, such prominence often made one a target of their superiors' envy, especially in a family-run enterprise that had hired her on a high salary, presumably with ulterior motives.

While clutching her fists in anger, Jade's eyes reddened. "No, Melanie, I can't let this slide. It's not my fault, and I'll clear my name even if they fire me."

Her voice was hoarse, but her anger was palpable.

I looked down, inwardly agreeing with her stance.

The designers' work was without compensation, a clear case of leveraging cheap labor.

When Jade and I returned to the company, her team gathered around. Plugging the USB into the conference room computer, the video of Hank altering and stealing data was unmistakable. All eyes turned to him.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Hank instinctively looked to his current boss, who sneered at Jade arrogantly. "So, Miss Scott, I heard about your data mishap almost derailing the project. What's this about now? This footage is so grainy. You're not suggesting Hank stole your data, are you?"

"What else?" Jade's voice was raspy.

The truth was in front of everyone, yet some refused to acknowledge it.

When the boss arrived, his fury was evident. "Jade, what's this? Didn't I tell you to go home? This project belongs to the company, and you're a company designer. What's wrong with using your designs for the team? Starting right now, you're out of the Design Department. You'll be working in logistics from here on out."

It seemed they had planned to dispose of Jade under the guise of her recent illness.

As Jade was about to protest, I stepped before her. "Most of this

solo work Although she's an employee, she hasn't got

project's core designs were J

compensation for her work, and the company has no right to use her designs without compensation."

The other party scoffed, "Go ahead and sue. When it's settled, the project will have long finished. Let's see what you can do then."

Realizing they intended to play dirty,

several colleagues and I held Jade back, preventing her from

confronting them. I had anticipated this scenario. Such a shameless boss had likely planned to fire Jade.

But these fools hadn't realized Hank hadn't copied the core Design Department files. They were still gloating over their perceived victory.

"Fine then. The company needs to put out a statement saying this project has nothing to do with Jade anymore, and she won't be held responsible for

it."

"Fine!" The boss seemed almost excited by the challenge, sweeping his hand dramatically, "Well, if that's the case, Jade no longer needs to stay with the company."

I was about to reason with him when Jade, through gritted teeth, said, "Fine."

She gave me a resigned look, then shook her head. At that moment, I realized she had lost faith in the company. Staying on was pointless.

Back home, I received a message from Eliana, who had reviewed the footage again and discovered Hank hadn't just tampered with data but sold a wealth of company information to Kayla.

I quickly called Lina, who sent me the Design Department III project files.

Jade immediately noticed something was off. "Why are these designs, which I discarded, now with the Patterson Group? Did Kayla buy my designs from Hank?"

After pondering briefly, I stood up, grabbing my coat. "Jade, get your documents ready. We're going to the police."

Even Jade's discarded designs

weren't up for grabs. It seemed

Clyde had intended for Kayla to take over the Design Department III, and she was eager to make her mark. Unfortunately for them, ignorance in one field didn't translate to skill in another.

When we arrived at the Patterson Group with the police, Kayla was still sweet-talking Clyde.

"Clyde, the L brand just released a new handbag. They called me about it. Let's go and check it out later?"

Kayla reluctantly let go of Clyde's hand as the secretary ushered us in.

The police officers turned to Kayla. "Ms. Kayla, you're under suspicion of stealing business secrets. Please come with us."