CHAPTER FOUR: SOFT WALLS, SHARP WHISPERS

The first week passed slowly.

Lin Wei arrived at 7:50 a.m. every day, ten minutes before her shift. She worked with quiet precision—organizing files, reviewing correspondence, logging schedules. She never made mistakes. She never drew attention.

But attention came anyway.

She felt it in the pauses when she walked past.

In the glances that didn’t match their smiles.

In the way voices dipped when she entered the break room.

> “She’s too calm. It’s creepy.”

“They say he picked her himself.”

“Another one trying to be special, probably.”

“Well, she won’t last. No one does.”

Sheng Tiaorun’s reputation for being cold, perfectionist, and disinterested in office gossip was well-known. But what shocked everyone more than his silence was the fact that he had never allowed a female secretary to stay more than a month. Some weren’t even kept past the first week.

And yet—Lin Wei remained.

She never spoke back. Never showed offense. She worked like she didn’t hear them. Like their words weren’t meant for her.

That only made them whisper more.

---

On the third day, just after lunch, a quiet voice called out from across the executive floor.

“Hey… Lin Wei?”

She turned.

Across the hallway, seated at a small corner desk just opposite the CEO’s main office, was a girl about her age. Neatly dressed in soft beige tones, with a pen between her fingers and a soft curiosity in her eyes.

“I’m Su Rina,” the girl said with a small smile. “You’re the new second secretary, right?”

Lin Wei nodded. “Yes.”

Su Rina tilted her head. “You’re not going to say anything else?”

Lin Wei’s lips curved slightly. “I didn’t know if you were asking or guessing.”

Su Rina laughed softly. “Fair. I’ve been here for four months. I’m stationed at this desk to handle guests before they go in to see the CEO. Most of the time, I just keep people calm before Li Wen comes to collect them.”

Her voice was gentle. Honest.

Lin Wei looked at her more closely—and saw no malice behind her words.

“I’m Lin Wei,” she replied finally. “Nice to meet you.”

---

By the end of the week, they were eating lunch together in the little café downstairs.

By the next, they were sitting on the bench outside during break, sipping cold drinks and giggling over Su Rina’s failed attempt to sneak a pastry past Li Wen.

> “He has eyes like a hawk,” Rina muttered.

“You’re brave to try,” Lin Wei replied, smiling behind her cup.

They were different. Rina talked easily, laughed easily. Lin Wei didn’t. But with her, it didn’t feel like work. There was no need to pretend.

That weekend, Rina invited her out for food and warm sake. They clinked cups gently in a quiet corner of a dim noodle shop.

“I think you’ll last longer than most,” Rina said softly. “You don’t try too hard to be noticed.”

Lin Wei looked down at her drink. “I don’t want to be noticed.”

“Then maybe that’s why you are.”

---

On Monday morning, Sheng Tiaorun arrived at the office precisely at 8:15 a.m.

He walked past Su Rina, nodded briefly, and stepped through the door without glancing at Lin Wei’s desk.

But once inside, his eyes paused on the screen in front of him—where a camera quietly looped hallway footage. He watched a brief moment where Lin Wei smiled—genuinely—at Rina over a joke and a file folder.

Just a second of her guard down.

He didn’t smile, but something in his gaze softened.

Then he turned off the screen and sat down.