At 10:00 PM, the luxury boutique where I worked was finally closing. Elena, the store manager, held up her right hand, which was wrapped in thick bandages. She slid the inventory sheet across the marble counter toward me. "Chloe, I just checked the vault. Everything is accounted for." "My wrist is sprained, and I can't even hold a pen. Just sign off on this for me so everyone can go home." Around us, the other girls were already packing their bags, murmuring and urging me to hurry up. I picked up the pen and was just about to sign my name. Suddenly, bright neon text flashed right before my eyes: [DON'T SIGN IT! She secretly sold 300 limited-edition bags from the vault! If you sign, you will take full responsibility for the missing $400,000 inventory!] [The total value is nearly half a million dollars. You couldn't pay it back even if you sold your soul. You'll rot in prison!] I froze, then dropped the pen onto the counter with a clack. "Elena," I said coldly, "company protocol requires a double-blind inventory count. Everyone, put your bags down. I'm going to open the vault. We need to scan every single item again." "Once everything is cleared, I'll sign."
Elena’s face instantly darkened. "Chloe, what is that supposed to mean? There are only a few of us here. We’re supposed to trust each other." "We're trying to clock out, and you want to do a full recount? Are you implying that I, your manager, am doing something shady?" The moment she said this, the other girls in the store shot me hostile glares. Lara, a junior sales associate, slammed her purse onto a chair. "Seriously, Chloe? Cut it some slack." "Elena is always nice to you. She literally covered your shifts last month when you took time off. Is it really that hard to just sign a paper for her today?" On the other side of the room, Vicky rolled her eyes so hard they almost went to the back of her head. "Right? I'm starving. My boyfriend is literally waiting for me in the parking lot." "There are three hundred bags in there. Do you know how long a recount will take? You want us all to stay here and waste our time? Our time is money too, you know!" I pushed the inventory sheet right back to Elena. "Section 8 of the company handbook states that the year-end inventory must be verified by at least two employees physically present." "There are three hundred limited-edition bags in that vault, valued at over $400,000. If anything goes wrong, we're all screwed." "If any of you want to take financial responsibility for nearly half a million dollars, feel free to sign it." I picked up the pen and thrust it toward Lara. Lara flinched, taking a sharp step back. "I'm just a junior associate. I don't even have signing authority. Don't look at me." Vicky quickly turned around, pretending to be very busy organizing her locker. The moment money and legal liability were brought up, the people who were screaming to go home suddenly became mute. Seeing this, Elena tapped her fingers impatiently on the counter to draw my attention. She let out a dramatic sigh, putting on a helpless face. "Chloe, is this because I deducted thirty dollars from your bonus last month for missing your cleaning shift? Are you seriously holding a grudge and trying to punish everyone for that?" [She's trying to distract you.] [She wants to frame your professional audit as a petty personal vendetta.] [Don't fall for it. Go straight to the vault.] I turned around and walked toward the vault at the end of the hallway. "Elena, a thirty-dollar bonus is a small thing. Half a million dollars of inventory is not." "I'm opening the door now. If everything is in there, I will sign immediately." Elena’s face turned pale. She sprinted over in her high heels, spreading her arms to block the vault door. "Nobody is opening this door today!" "I am the store manager! If I say the inventory is fine, it is fine!" "If you insist on forcing your way in, you are questioning my professional integrity. Think carefully about the consequences, Chloe!"
Elena pressed her back firmly against the heavy metal door. Lara quickly ran over to support her. "Elena, be careful with your wrist! Don't let her get to you." Vicky stood by, sneering. "Chloe, you're crossing the line. You're just the assistant manager. Do you think you own this place?" "You usually act so quiet, but who knew you'd hold a grudge over thirty bucks? You're just trying to humiliate Elena." I stood my ground, my voice flat. "If Elena says everything is in there, let me take a quick look. It takes five minutes to run the infrared scanner." "If you're so terrified of letting me in, is it because the bags aren't actually in there?" The room went dead silent. Could the inventory really be gone? In retail, that meant grand larceny. That meant prison. Lara’s hand, which was holding Elena’s arm, stiffened. Slowly, she let go and took a step back. Elena’s expression turned venomous. "Chloe! Stop throwing around cheap accusations!" "Fine. You want to check? Be my guest." She reached into her pocket with her left hand, pulled out the key, and shoved it into the lock. But as she slowly turned it, she suddenly slammed her wrist downward with force. Snap! A sharp metallic sound echoed. The key had snapped in half. One half was in her hand; the other half was wedged deep inside the lock. Elena gasped, holding up the broken piece, looking like an innocent victim. "Oh my god... My sprained wrist gave out. I can't believe I broke the key!" She turned to me, a smirk flashing in her eyes before she quickly concealed it. "What a shame, Chloe. The lock is broken." "Even if I wanted to let you inspect it now, we can't." The floating text flashed furiously again. [She did that on purpose!] [The courier truck loaded with the stolen goods is parked in the B2 basement right now! She is just stalling so her accomplice can drive away!] [Open that door now, or the evidence will be gone forever!] Lara let out a sigh of relief and picked up her purse again. "Well, that's that. Even God doesn't want us to work overtime tonight." Vicky yanked my arm, irritated. "Chloe, have you had enough? The key is literally broken. What do you want to do now? Ram the door down with your head?" Elena sighed, walking over to hand me the clipboard again. "Chloe, we have no choice. Just sign it. I'll call a locksmith first thing in the morning." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started dialing. "The lock is broken? Fine. I'm calling mall security to breach the door." "That door is opening tonight."
Elena’s face drained of all color. "Chloe! Are you insane?!" "This is a high-security commercial door! Breaking it requires regional approval! You don't have the authority to do this!" I ignored her, dialed the mall's security dispatch, and put it on speaker. "Hi, this is the Tiffany's boutique on the first floor of Zone C. Our vault lock is damaged, and we have over $400,000 worth of inventory locked inside. It's a major security hazard. Please bring breaching tools and come over immediately." The dispatcher asked a couple of quick questions and promised to send someone right away. I hung up and looked at Elena. "As the assistant manager, if the store manager is incapacitated or suspected of a policy violation, I have the authority to take emergency measures." Elena lunged at me to grab my phone. "You're out of your mind, Chloe! You're disrupting mall operations! The company will fire you tomorrow!" I sidestepped her easily. Lara lost her temper, pointing a finger at my face. "Chloe, do you have a mental illness or something? Calling security to smash a door in the middle of the night?" "When the regional manager asks about this tomorrow and finds out nothing is wrong inside, who is going to take the blame? You?" Vicky kicked a nearby stool in frustration. "If you want to be a psycho, do it on your own time. We are leaving. Goodnight!" They turned to walk out. "If anyone steps out of this store before that door is open," I said coldly, "I will report you to the police as an accomplice to a $400,000 grand theft." Both of them froze instantly. Lara whipped her head around, her eyes wide. "What the hell are you talking about? Theft?" I pointed at the locked vault door. "Elena swore the inventory was safe, yet she chose to break the key rather than let me look inside." "If security breaks that door open and the vault is empty..." "Every single person in this room tonight will be a prime suspect in a police investigation." Hearing this, Vicky immediately grabbed Elena’s arm. "Elena, she's lying, right? She's just making things up..." "The inventory is fine, right?" Beads of cold sweat rolled down Elena’s forehead. She bit her lip so hard it turned white. Suddenly, she collapsed to the floor, clutching her arm. "Ah! It hurts so much!" "Lara, quick! I can't take the pain anymore!" "Call 911! I need an ambulance!" Lara panicked and hurriedly pulled out her phone to dial. Elena leaned against Lara, looking at me weakly as tears streamed down her face. "Chloe, what did I ever do to you? Why are you trying to ruin my life?" "I'm in agonizing pain, and all you care about is some stupid inventory? Do you even have a heart?" I remained unmoved. "If you're sick, go to the hospital. I won't stop you." "Get in the ambulance. But I am checking the inventory tonight." "If you run away now and the vault is empty, you'll be the first person the police hunt down."
Elena’s sobbing paused for a split second. The system alerts flashed rapidly in front of me. [Look at the register counter!] [She was desperately trying to get you to sign because the shipping receipt is hidden right under the inventory sheet!] [That is the hard evidence of her moving the bags!] I walked over to the marble counter. A mess of papers was scattered across it, with the unsigned inventory sheet on top. I reached out and lifted the sheet. Sure enough, hidden right beneath it was a pink copy of a shipping receipt. The timestamp was 8:30 PM tonight. Sender: Elena Juan. Recipient: Marcus Diago. Description: 300 pieces of clothing. Weight: 187 lbs. I knew Marcus. He was Elena’s husband. He owned a high-end luxury consignment shop downtown. The time, the quantity, the recipient—everything matched perfectly. I picked up the slip and turned around. Elena was still groaning on the floor, pretending to be in pain. But the moment she saw the pink slip in my hand, her pupils dilated. "What is that? Put it down!" She scrambled up from the floor like a wild animal and lunged at me. I stepped back, holding the paper high out of her reach. "At 8:30 PM tonight, while the store was still open, you shipped out 187 pounds of 'clothing' to your husband, Marcus." "Elena, 300 luxury leather bags weigh exactly that much, don't they?" Lara and Vicky gasped. "Elena... did you actually take the bags?" Elena went completely hysterical. "She's lying! Those are just old clothes I sent to my husband!" "Chloe, you looked through my personal mail! That's a violation of my privacy!" She clawed at me, trying to rip the paper from my hands, even swinging her plastered arm to strike me. Just then, heavy footsteps echoed from the mall corridor. Two security guards carrying heavy breaching tools rushed to the entrance. "Who called? Where's the door?" Elena looked at the guards, gritted her teeth, and screamed at Lara. "Lara! Cut the power! Now!" Lara was so terrified by the chaos that she couldn't think. Acting purely on reflex, she slammed her hand onto the main breaker switch on the wall. Click. The entire boutique plunged into pitch-black darkness. It takes a few seconds for eyes to adjust to sudden darkness. I couldn't see a thing. Then, I heard the rapid clicking of high heels charging toward me. Someone threw their weight into my shoulder, knocking me to the ground, and pinned me down. Elena used her good hand to aggressively pry open my fingers, trying to snatch the receipt. "Give it to me! Give it to me!"
I brought my right knee up and kicked her hard in the stomach. "Ugh!" Elena gasped, losing her strength instantly, and rolled off me onto the floor. I quickly slid the shipping receipt into my pants pocket. I grabbed my phone, turned on the flashlight, and pointed the bright beam directly at Elena’s face. She was curled up on the floor, clutching her stomach, her face twisted in pain. Gone was her usual elegant, polished manager look. The powerful beam of a security guard's flashlight swept into the store from the entrance. "Why is it dark in here? Is everyone okay?" The two uniformed guards hurried in. Lara, trembling in the corner, finally found the breaker and flipped the switch back up. The bright store lights flooded the room. The moment Elena saw the guards, her face transformed. She scrambled up, covering her face, and burst into tears. "Officers, thank God you're here! She's the one who won't let us go home! She's forcing us to break the door!" "I told her we could do it tomorrow, but she attacked me, stole my personal documents, and beat up an injured person!" The two guards hesitated, looking at me. I didn't even spare Elena a glance. I walked straight to the vault door and pointed at the jammed lock. "The security camera is right above us. We can check who attacked whom tomorrow." "Right now, please breach this door." Elena shrieked, "Don't you dare! This is an internal store matter! Mall security has no right to interfere!" She threw herself in front of the guards. "This door costs $5,000! It's company property! If you touch it, you'll be paying for the damages!" The guards looked uneasy, holding their tools awkwardly. "Uh... Assistant Manager, if the Store Manager doesn't consent, we really can't just destroy the door. Maybe you guys should sort this out internally?" Lara and Vicky were scared out of their wits by the intensity of the fight. But with outsiders present, they just wanted to sweep it under the rug. "Chloe, just drop it. If this gets out, we're all going to lose our jobs." "Exactly, calling security to smash a door over nothing... How is the Chanel boutique next door going to look at us?" Seeing the guards hesitate, a smug smirk crept onto Elena’s face. "Chloe, since you love company rules so much, I'm calling our Regional Manager, Mr. Davis, right now." "Let's see what he has to say about your little stunt!" She dialed the number and put it on speaker. After three rings, a sleepy, annoyed voice answered. "Hello? What is it at this hour?" Elena began to sob, her voice dripping with fake helplessness. "Mr. Davis, I am so sorry to wake you." "It's Chloe. She's accusing me of stealing inventory. She actually called mall security and is trying to smash open our vault door right now." "Please talk to her. If word of this gets out, it will ruin our brand's reputation!"
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