One Night

Chapter 108

Audrey

That morning, I found myself sitting in Leo’s office for the second day in a row.

“Care to explain, Audrey?”

Leo leaned back in his chair, looking utterly exasperated. The jovial young man who had introduced me to the team just yesterday seemed gone now, replaced by someone who was tire and angry.

I swallowed hard and glanced over my shoulder. Through the glass door leading to the rest of the design department, the others had returned to their work-but I could still feel their judgment, their hatred,

And for something that I hadn’t done.

“I don’t know anything about what happened with that mannequin,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. “Someone else must have done it.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” Shaking his head, he tapped on his keyboard for a few moments, then turned the screen toward me there, staring back at me, was CCTV footage from my cleaning last night.

And in the video. I could be seen pinning fabric scraps to the mannequin. I pursed my lips, waiting for the moment Leo would see that I had only made a brief mockup of a design and had taken the scraps off, which I knew I did.

Bút in the video, 1 never did that

In the video, my body conveniently blocked the mannequin from view… And when I walked away, the vulgar shape that had been on the mannequin this morning was magically there. Whatever footage there had been of me removing the scraps had been cut away, making it appear as though I simply walked out.

My eyes widened, and I literally leaped out of my seat

“I didn’t do that!” I practically screeched

Once again, Leo’s eyebrow shot up. “So you’re saying that the footage was fake?” he asked, almost with an angry sort of

amusement.

“I-It had to be!” I stammered, my mind racing. “I was just using the scraps to make a mockup of a design last night-for my project. When I was finished, I took the scraps off and put them in the bin. I swear I did.”

Leo’s expression simply hardened, his eyes narrowing. “No one could have tampered with the CCTV footage, Audrey. It clearly shows you arranging the scraps into that… shape.” He paused, his face twisting with disgust. “I expected better from

you.”

1 felt like I was going to be sick. The room seemed to spin around me as I tried to process what was happening, and I slowly sank back down into my chair, my head in my hands. It didn’t make sense; I knew what I did last night. I never would have done something like that.

“That’s impossible,” I insisted, my voice shaking by now. “Someone must have tampered with the footage. I swear, I would never do something like this.”,

Leo sighed heavily and raked his hand through his hair, mussing up his neat appearance. “Look, I want to believe you, Audrey,” he murmured. But the evidence is pretty d**g. I’m afraid I have no choice but to put you on probation.”

The word hit me like a punch to the face, Probation. After only two days.

I felt tears p**ng at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked the back furiously. I wouldn’t cry. Not here.

1/2

13:00 Wed, Sep 18

Chapter 108

“But I didn’t…”

“Just.. focus on your work today,” Leo continued, his voice softening ever so slightly. “No more trouble, and you’ll be fine. Understood?*

1 lowered my head, feeling utterly defeated. It seemed I had no choice but to comply; the footage had been altered, but no one would believe me. I wondered if Linda had something to do with it, but I had no proof, and no way of obtaining said proof.

“Yes, sir,” I muttered, before turning to leave his office.

As I returned to my desk, I could feel dozens of eyes on me. Whispers followed in my wake. I caught snippets of conversation, each one making me feel more and more like an outcast.

“Did you hear what that intern did?”

“Can you believe it? The gall-”

“Truly disgusting behavior.”

“D***e words felt like needles in my skin, but I kept my head down just as Leo instructed, de*termined to focus on my initial design project and nothing else today.

Throughout the day, I felt Linda’s gaze boring into me from across our little cluster. But every time I looked up, she appeared to be utterly focused on her own work. It was maddening. Was I imagining things? Going paranoid? The constant feeling of being watched made my skin crawl.

Later that afternoon, Leo called Linda and me to the conference room to present our designs to the other designers. My palms were sweaty as I clutched my folder to my chest, hoping that my work would speak for itself. The room was filled with senior designers as Linda and I entered, their gazes critical-especially when they landed on me.

The problem intern.

Linda went first, confidently striding to the front of the room to give her presentation. As she unveiled her design, gasps and appreciative murmurs filled the air. It was beautiful, I had to admit. The lines were clean, the concept innovative. But something nagged at me.

I squinted at the sketch, noticing the faint smudges. They were only on the left side of the lines, indicating a left-handed artist. But I knew Linda was right-handed.

Had someone else drawn this for her?

Still, I bit my tongue, not wanting to cause any more trouble for myself. It wasn’t worth the risk. The memory of Leo’s disappointed face was still too fresh in my mind.

“Excellent work, Linda,” Leo praised before turning to me. “Audrey, you’re up next.”

Taking a deep breath, I stood and made my way to the front. My legs felt like jelly, and the short walk seemed to take an eternity. I opened my folder, ready to present my design, only to find…. nothing

The sketches were gone.

“1. I don’t understand, I summered, frantically flipping through the empty folder. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. “They were right here. I finished them this morning!”

The designers began to shift restlessly in their seats. I could hear impatient sighs and see eye rolls. The room suddenly felt too hot, too small.

Wed, Sep

Chapter 108

0

“Audrey,” Leo said, his voice strained. “If you’re not prepared-

“I am prepared!” I insisted, my voice rising with desperation. “I did finish the project. I don’t know what happened to my sketches, but I know the design by heart.”

Someone muttered, “D***n humans,” and a ripple of laughter went through the room before Leo quickly shushed them. The words stung, hot tears p**ng at my eyes.

“I-I can prove it,” I said, grabbing a marker from the table. Without hesitation, I turned and began to draw on the whiteboard.

The room fell silent as I worked, my hand moving swiftly across the board. I poured everything into that sketch-all my skill, all my passion, all my desperation to prove myself. The marker squeaked against the board, the sound impossibly loud in the quiet room.

When I was finally finished, I stepped back, breathing hard. The silence stretched on for a moment before murmurs of appreciation began to fill the room. Only then did I allow myself a small flicker of hope.

“Impressive.” Leo admitted, nodding “Alright, Audrey. We’ll accept this as your submission. But next time, make sure you have your sketches.”

My shoulders slumped with relief; I had done it. I had salvaged the situation. For a moment, I felt like I could breathe again.

But that feeling was short-lived. Because as we filed out of the conference room, Linda brushed past me. She ran her finger across my sketch on the board, then held it up with a smirk-revealing a perfectly clean finger.

Hm. Looks like you used a permanent marker, Audrey,” she said loudly enough for everyone to hear. Snickers erupted from the other designers.

I looked back at the board in horror. Sure enough, the ink hadn’t smudged at all under Linda’s touch. It was permanent. My moment of triumph crumbled around me.

Leo sighed, looking utterly exasperated, and passed his hand over his weary face. “Audrey.”

I felt my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“I know,” I murmured, hanging my head. “I’ll clean it up.”

SEND GIFT