Love's Bitter Edge (Eva and Leonard)

I stood there in shock, not expecting the people from Erewhon to be so straightforward. The others around me were also giving me unfriendly looks.

Before coming here, Jack had already warned me that while people in this country might seem laid-back, they were actually quite competitive especially with someone like me, a foreigner. If I didn't prove myself quickly, gaining a foothold in the company would be hard. He had asked if I wanted him to back me up, but I had refused. Since I was already here, facing some setbacks was inevitable.

Taking a deep breath, I forced a smile and addressed the room. "Hello, everyone. I'm Rinatta Surrey. I'll be your new colleague. I hope we can all get along."

"Get along? I think it's more about whether the higher-ups will take care of you," the most vocal woman said again. One of the colleagues beside her quickly tugged at her arm.

"Anne, tone it down a bit," they whispered.

I raised an eyebrow but didn't retaliate. Knowing my enemy was just as important as knowing myself, and since I had just arrived, I couldn't afford to act rashly.

Our supervisor, Mr. Finnley, played the peacemaker, offering some token words of reassurance. However, it was clear from his tone that he was subtly implying my connection to Ms. Tanness, suggesting that I wasn't just an ordinary hire.

What "not ordinary" meant was anyone's guess, but I was sure it would lead to some gossip. It wasn't easy to be a foreigner, especially in a company overseas. I knew people weren't quick to accept someone like me.

However, I firmly believed in the power of competence. As long as my work was solid, they would have no choice but to respect me.

From then on, my life became a back-and-forth routine between the office and my apartment, with occasional hospital check-ups. I needed to take time off every week for my health, which had been arranged with Jack and HR. When Ms. Tanness came to talk to Mr. Finnley about my leave, it was clear he wasn't pleased.

"A day off? Sorry, Ms. Tanness. You should know how busy our department is," Mr. Finnley said with a scowl. "No one likes to work overtime, so we don't normally take a day off. That's the rule in the design department." Ms. Tanness adjusted her glasses and replied, "Mr. McLennan has already approved it."

With just that one sentence, Mr. Finnley had nothing to say.

My day off seemed to have been the tipping point.

In my first month on the job, I encountered occasional sabotage from my colleagues, especially Anne Harold, who seemed to go out of her way to make my life difficult.

At first, her tactics were just petty pranks like accidentally spilling my coffee or deliberately excluding me from the afternoon tea order.

I wasn't worried about these minor tricks. As long as my work delivered results, no one could overlook it. But I didn't want Anne to go as far as to jeopardize the company's interests just to target me.

We were about to secure a major

design project, but the files were completely erased and overwritten The day before, I had worked late into the night to finish everything- before taking a day off. When

returned to the office, everyone

looked at me with cold, accusatory

eyes.

Anne was the first to lash out. "Rinatta, I don't know what kind of background you have, but you had no right to mess with company files! I had always thought you were unprofessional, but this is a whole new level!" I stared at her, utterly confused. "Wait, what happened?"

A younger colleague whisperedConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

hesitantly, "Rinatta, why didn't you

turn off your computer before leaving yesterday? After you left, your computer got infected with a virus. It brought the entire

Work

down. And yesterday was the

deadline to submit the design files..."

I was shocked. How could this have

happened? The company's cybersecurity system was

top-notch. Even if I hadn't turned off my computer, an issue like this shouldn't have occurred. Plus, any virus intrusion would have triggered analert for the system admin.

I turned a suspicious gaze at Mr. Finnley.

He shrugged dismissively at me. "Don't look at me. I didn't get any system alerts. You must've shut down the system when you were working on the files."