When Love Becomes a Cage (Melanie)

"Mack, what's your problem?" Jade stood up abruptly, trying to push him away. But Mack seemed undeterred, continuing to advance. Eventually, two of our male colleagues had to drag him away, ending the dinner on a sour note.

As Jade was paying the bill, she couldn't help but vent, "He's seriously messed up. It's not like you've had much conversation with him, what's his deal?"

To tell the truth, Mack and I had barely exchanged a few words, yet he held this inexplicable resentment towards me.

I heard he was a graduate from a prestigious college, even had some achievements to his name, and then he transferred to our company. But upon joining Patterson Group, a company teeming with talent, he quickly lost his edge. Everyone here graduated from top universities, their resumes gleaming with awards and achievements. Even Jade had worked on numerous international projects, her skills and experience equally impressive. It was understandable for Mack to feel bitter. It seemed he harbored a strong sense of male chauvinism, unable to stand the idea of women like us leading him. And to top it off, he seemed to get along well with Kayla?

"Hey, where did Paul disappear to? I was hoping to catch a ride with him," a female colleague suddenly whispered, making Jade and me realize someone was missing. A male colleague mentioned he might have gone to the restroom, but I didn't pay much attention and just followed Jade to hail a cab home.

But the next day, a crisis hit the Design Department.

When I arrived at work, my computer was infected with a virus, spewing endless pop-ups and files, becoming unresponsive, and eventually crashing. When I attempted to reboot, I realized that all data, including several key project files, had been erased. It wasn't isolated to my computer alone; others faced varying degrees of virus attacks as well.

Panicking, I turned on my laptop only for it to be bombarded with spam emails, its data also destroyed. I instinctively shut it down.

Lina, visibly anxious, said, "Mel, what do we do? We've lost so many files."

Stunned, I remembered I had backups on my personal computer, but now, with both devices compromised, what were we to do? With the partnership project with Aspire World nearing completion, losing the final designs meant potentially derailing the entire project. After some thought, I decided to meet with Vinson.

Patterson Group prided itself on cybersecurity, investing heavily each year. A sudden breach in the Design Department suggested sabotage. Before leaving, I instructed the department to immediately review security footage and secure any salvageable data to prevent further losses. Despite the chaos, everyone managed to organize and start salvaging what they could.

Meeting with Vinson, I briefly explained the situation.

"Should we call the police?" he hesitated. The project facing issues from the start was not a good sign.

"No, I think an internal investigation first, and also..."

el

"Cut the 'and also,' Vinson, let's go," Eliana suddenly burst in, startling us both. She grabbed Vinson, urging him to leave through the employee exit, having already cleared the way. Vinson hesitated, but she pushed him out. ,

Kon

"Go! Don't come back." After closing the door, she sat in Vinson's chair, hiding the documents under her. Before I could process her actions, the door swung open again.

"Today's special episode is catching cheaters! I'm here to expose Mrs. Patterson of Patterson Group's vile deeds!" A piercing female voice announced. Eliana and I turned to see isla at the door with her phone aimed at us.

"Isla, what are you doing here?" I recognized her immediately.

"You, why are you here? Where's Mr. Patterson?" she stammered, caught off guard.

Eliana, annoyed, pushed her phone away, "Who are you? Security!"

Isla, obviously not expecting this turn of events, stood frozen, phone still recording. Eliana doused her with a cup of water.

"Get out! Causing trouble in my family's restaurant, are you crazy?"

Now it made sense why Eliana pushed Vinson out; she sensed someone was plotting against us. Grateful, I glanced at her, receiving an eye roll in return.

"Isla, if you don't want me to call the police, leave now. Don't disturb me and my friend's dinner."

"You've always been against me for your friend, but this is slander," Isla charged, pushing against me. In a sudden burst of madness, she pushed me hard.

"It's impossible. I saw Vinson come in. You two must be having an affair!"

"Cheating within marriage and not

divorcing Melanie, you're

disgusting!" She frantically searched the room, and as security tried to escort her out, she violently broke free, grabbing my arm.

"It has to be a secret meeting. I'll expose you!" In her struggle, Isla grabbed my wig, pulling it off as security dragged her away.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

And then, the world went silent.