Chapter 4

"I have a clean spare uniform in the storage room. Go change before you catch a cold," Ethan said, his face etched with concern.

Seeing how worried he was, I forced myself to calm down and slowly unclenched my fists. "Thanks."

I turned and headed toward the storage room, which was also being used as an internal shelter-in-place room, at the end of the hallway, completely unaware of the smug, triumphant grin spreading across Daniel's face the moment my back was turned.

Once inside, I found the cabinet Ethan had mentioned and quickly changed into the clean uniform. As I buttoned my shirt, I took a closer look around the room. The whole reason I'd gone undercover at this branch was that our finance department had discovered serious discrepancies in its reimbursement claims. I'd already searched the showroom and offices without finding anything suspicious, but I hadn't had a chance to inspect the storage room until now.

I began rummaging through the shelves, examining every document I could find. Before long, I stumbled across a stack of records that immediately caught my attention. After flipping through a few pages, I let out a cold laugh. So, this was how Lily had been cooking the books!

She'd been secretly renting out several of the dealership's high-end test-drive vehicles to rideshare drivers and pocketing the rental income for herself. To cover her tracks, she'd been submitting reimbursement claims for the vehicles' wear and tear, disguising the expenses as routine depreciation caused by test drives. Now I understood why the numbers hadn't added up.

I immediately pulled out my phone and photographed every relevant page, making sure to capture the evidence clearly. Now that I knew exactly what Lily had been up to and had the proof to back it up, there was no reason to put up with another second of their abuse. It was time to settle this once and for all.

I grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, but the door wouldn't budge. A sinking feeling settled in my gut as I realized someone had locked me inside.

"Open the door!" I shouted, pounding on the metal with both fists.

From the other side, I heard Ethan's hesitant voice. "Adrian, I'm sorry. If I don't do what they tell me, I'll get fired, too. My mom is counting on me to help pay for her medical treatment. I can't afford to lose this job."

He paused before adding, "You're just too stubborn. You're never going to survive in the workplace with that attitude. Is it really so hard to swallow your pride and apologize?"

Before I could respond, Daniel swaggered over, laughing obnoxiously.

"You little punk! You brought this on yourself!"

Ethan's tone immediately shifted to one of nervous eagerness. "Mr. Dawson, so… Does this mean I can get a five-star rating for my service? My performance review is coming up at the end of the month."

Daniel waved him off dismissively. "Don't worry about it! Just do what I tell you, and I'll make sure you get your five stars."

He then strolled up to the barred door and glared at me through the gaps, his face twisted with malice.

"You little bastard! Weren't you acting all tough earlier? Weren't you threatening to call the cops? Well, let's see how tough you are now! Get on your knees and apologize. If you beg nicely enough, maybe I'll be a good sport and let you out!"

Lily soon joined him, folding her arms across her chest as she looked down at me with undisguised contempt.

"You're nothing but a low-level grunt, yet you actually think you're somebody? Let me make one thing clear: at this dealership, if you cross my cousin, you cross me!"

Trapped inside the storage room, I was so furious that I actually laughed.

"Lily, do you really think you own this dealership? I'm giving you one last chance. Open this door right now, or you'll regret it!"

"Oh, I'm terrified!" Lily mocked, dramatically patting her chest.

Her smile vanished a moment later, replaced by a vicious scowl. "Still running your mouth, huh? Clearly, you haven't learned your lesson. Maybe you'll finally wise up when you've hit rock bottom. I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

With that, she turned and slammed the heavy blast door shut. Then, to my horror, she blocked the room's only ventilation opening, cutting off the already limited airflow.

"This is a specially reinforced blast door," she announced smugly from the other side. "It seals airtight, without even the tiniest gap! Let's see how long you last in there."

The storage room plunged into darkness, and the air quickly grew hot and stuffy. I pounded on the door again, but the thick metal barely rattled. With the ventilation blocked, every breath became more difficult than the last. My chest tightened as I struggled to draw in enough air. If I didn't find a way out soon, I was going to suffocate.