Chapter 8: Rumours

Rose’s POV

The week dragged on, and the atmosphere at Washington Global completely changed. The usual sounds of people working and phones ringing were gone. Instead, the floor felt tense. Everyone moved carefully, keeping their heads down and their voices low.

I sat at my new desk near the corner, organizing some files. I tried to focus on the files in front of me, but it was impossible to ignore how much the office had changed.

Near the breakroom, three employees stood together with their coffee cups. They spoke quietly and kept looking around to make sure the hallway was empty.

“Things have not been the same lately,” a senior analyst named Marcus said.

“Miss Dane used to fix things before they became worse,” a younger employee whispered. “Now every day feels like we are putting out a new fire.”

“She always knew what to do,” the third person agreed.

I kept my eyes on the screen and pretended I had not heard a word.

Vivian was struggling with the daily operations. She tried her best to hide it, but her mistakes were becoming harder to ignore.

Just yesterday, she signed the wrong approval document for the shipping department. It almost delayed a major steel delivery by over two weeks. This morning, she completely forgot an important strategy meeting with the European investors. The finance team had to keep them waiting for thirty minutes before she finally arrived.

Then, just an hour ago, she sent out the quarterly budget report to all the department heads.

I opened the file on my computer and noticed the error immediately. Vivian had misread the revenue column. She approved a departmental budget increase the company could not afford. If nobody caught it, the company could lose millions.

I did not make a scene. I quietly downloaded the file and corrected the numbers. I adjusted the margins back to the original safe projections. Then I replaced the file on the shared company server before any of the department heads had a chance to open it.

I did not tell anyone what I had done. I did not go to Jake. I just wanted the company to survive the quarter.

I thought nobody saw me. But when I looked up, Clara was standing near the network printer. She looked at me, then at the server log on her tablet. She did not say anything. She only gave me a small nod before walking away.

An hour later, Vivian walked out of her office. She was heading toward the executive elevators when she stopped near the supply room.

Clara was standing inside, talking to Marcus.

“We are lucky Miss Dane is still here,” Marcus said quietly. “She just saved the budget report from going out with the wrong numbers. If she leaves, this whole place will fall apart.”

Vivian froze in the hallway.

She turned away from the elevators and walked directly into the supply room.

“Pack your things,” Vivian said to Marcus.

Marcus looked up, completely confused. “Excuse me, Mrs. Washington?”

“You are dismissed,” Vivian said. Her voice was sharp and loud enough for the people at the nearest desks to hear. “Your negative attitude is damaging company morale. I will not tolerate insubordination. Leave the building immediately.”

No one spoke after that. The work around the office stopped. Marcus looked around the room for help, but everyone looked down at their desks. Nobody wanted to be next.

Vivian turned around and walked back into her office, shutting her door behind her.

Marcus walked back to his desk. His hands were shaking as he picked up a small cardboard box from the recycling bin. He slowly started placing his pens and notepad inside.

A junior clerk sitting at the next desk leaned over and quietly whispered, “I'm so sorry, Marcus.”

Marcus managed a faint, sad smile. “Don't be,” he whispered back, keeping his voice barely audible. “Just keep your head down.”

I stood up from my desk and walked over to Marcus's station. I stopped right beside his chair.

“Do not worry,” I said quietly.

He looked up at me, his eyes filling with tears. “I need this job, Miss Dane. I have a mortgage to pay next week.”

I reached into my bag and pulled out one of my business cards. I turned it over and wrote down a phone number on the back before handing it to him.

“Call this number tomorrow morning,” I said quietly. “Ask for Mr. Bennett at Bennett Logistics. Tell him Rose Dane sent you. They are looking for a senior analyst, and I will recommend you tonight.”

Marcus stared at the card in his hand before looking back up at me. “You'd do that for me?”

“You've done good work here for five years,” I told him gently.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you so much.”

I gave him a small nod and returned to my desk. I spent seven years building this company, and that meant building the people inside it too. I was not going to let Vivian ruin someone’s life just because she felt threatened.

Clara waited until Marcus had left the floor before walking over to my desk.

“You really helped him,” she said quietly.

I looked up at her. “He deserved better.”

Clara glanced at Vivian’s closed office. “Be careful, Miss Dane.”

I frowned. “Why?”

She lowered her voice. “Mrs. Washington is angry.” Before I could answer, Clara walked away.

Vivian thought firing Marcus would silence the office. She was wrong. The whispers didn’t stop. They just became quieter.

Employees stopped talking in the hallways. Even the breakroom became quiet. Instead, they started messaging each other on their private phones. But their anger kept growing.

Washington Global no longer felt the way it used to. The company was starting to fall apart.

Two floors up, Jake sat alone in his office. He did not care about office gossip. He only cared about results.

And the results were getting worse every single day.

Jake looked at the productivity reports spread across his desk.

Projects were slowing down across every major department. Deadlines were being missed. The legal team was struggling to get vendor approvals signed on time. Even the supply chain was starting to fall behind.

Jake tapped his pen against the desk. Someone wasn't doing their job.

He picked up his desk phone and dialed the director of Human Resources.

“Mr. Washington,” the HR director answered immediately.

“Bring me the current staffing reports,” Jake ordered. “Our total output has dropped by fifteen percent this week alone. What exactly is going on with the planning department?”

The HR director stayed quiet for a moment.

“We are having a staffing issue, sir,” the director finally said.

Jake pulled up the department’s staff list. He noticed several names were no longer on it. It meant those employees were no longer active in the system.

“Why are we suddenly losing our best people?” Jake asked, his voice was demanding.

The HR director hesitated again.

“Answer me,” Jake said.

“Most of them did not choose to leave, Mr. Washington,” the director replied.

Jake paused.

“What do you mean?” Jake asked.

“Mrs. Washington dismissed them,” the HR director said.

Jake’s grip tightened around the phone in his hand.

“How many?”

The HR director took a deep breath.

“Seven so far, sir.”

Jake leaned back in his chair. Seven people in one week was not normal. Especially not some of the company’s best employees.

“Bring me their files,” he said.

“All of them?” The HR director asked.

“All of them.”