"Chase, I called you several times. What's the matter with you?" asked the colleague.Chase awkwardly scratched his head and flipped through the documents in his hand. "Huh? Did you just call me? Maybe I didn't get enough rest last night, so I sort of spaced out a little..."His attitude only made things more peculiar."Chase, I've finished editing the draft. Can you take a look?"He nervously accepted the papers, still avoiding eye contact with Rita. "Um...yeah, sure. I'll take a look first, you can go back for now."Under the watchful gaze of his colleagues, he slowly sat back at his desk. After a while, he tried to sneak a glance at Rita, only to find her staring at him with an amused smile playing on her lips. He immediately lowered his head."Hmm…" Rita chuckled and shook her head.Chase's mental resilience was even worse than she had imagined. She had thought about playing a trick on him, but at this point, it seemed unnecessary.Still, was it worth her effort to deal wit
Coupled with the previous conversations Rita had with the boss, she deeply doubted her female colleague's judgment. Rita did not hold any expectations.However, the other colleagues seemed excited. They gathered around to gossip to the point of even neglecting their work.Chase was very pleased. It was clear that the boss intended to criticize Rita at the staff meeting. Perhaps he could even get rid of this annoying newcomer altogether.Thinking about how there would be no one left in the department to challenge him in the future, Chase felt rather satisfied.With a stack of documents in hand, he walked up to Rita's desk, leaned against her workspace, and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.Rita did not even bother to lift her head. She found him extremely irritating and had no desire to engage with him.Chase sneered inwardly at her indifference. 'Let's see how long she keeps this calm facade on her.' The thought of her being caught off-guard and criticized filled him with even m
Their boss, Lenny, did not respond to Chase's words as usual. Instead, he glanced at him before shifting his gaze to someone else."I don't know if everyone here still remembers the oath we took when we first became reporters. Do you still remember what our primary responsibility is?"'I remember,' Rita quietly answered in her mind. 'Respect for truth and the public's right to know the truth are a reporter's primary responsibilities.'Everything she did was to fulfill the oath she had made at the beginning. However, while the oath was simple, putting it into practice was incredibly difficult, especially when walking the path of a true reporter which was fraught with many challenges and obstacles."I believe everyone here hasn't forgotten our primary responsibility. However, as time goes by and years pass, it seems that some people have forgotten why they embarked on this journey in the first place."Lenny slammed the newspaper on the table heavily. Silence filled the conference ro
Most of them were in their middle age, with elderly parents and young children to support. They simply could not afford to abandon everything for the sake of fairness. Thus, when facing reality, these reporters could only selectively forget their primary responsibilities."Well done, all of you," said Lenny sarcastically. "Have any of you seen this article?"On the big screen, the article in question was projected—it was obviously the one that had falsely accused Rita. However, the ambiguous photo and the names of the individuals involved were blurred out.Rita clenched her hands together.She understood that Lenny was protecting her privacy, and she was grateful for it. The article caused a stir among them, and some were already whispering and discussing it.Articles of this quality would never appear in New Capital Times, let alone such ambiguous wording, which was not appropriate for a proper reporter."Boss, did you make a mistake with the article? What's there to learn from
Lenny kept pressing Chase, who wore a pained expression. "Sir, I admit I was wrong this time. Can you forgive me? I just lost my temper and acted irrationally. I promise I won't do it again."Rita scoffed. Was there even going to be a next time? What surprised her the most was that he did not step in to help her when he saw her being harassed by the drunkard on the night he secretly followed her to Parr Group's land.Instead, he seemed to think he had caught her in a compromising situation, which was utterly ridiculous. With ready-made material in front of him, he still did not use it and instead wrote something from a skewed perspective. It was utterly nonsensical."Boss, isn't submitting anonymously to other magazines a violation of our company's rules?"Many female colleagues looked at Chase disdainfully. Coupled with being caught red-handed this time, they were eager to expel him from New Capital Times.Chase became defensive. "What does my article have to do with you? Are you
'Is it really because the higher-ups couldn't stand Chase anymore and wanted to dismiss him?' Rita could not shake the feeling that there was someone else behind this."Hey, uh, Uncle, it's me, Chase!" Chase immediately put on a flattering smile as soon as the call connected, making everyone in the room cringe even more."I'm calling to ask about my job... Yeah, why am I suddenly being fired? Did something go wrong? Didn't you talk to them? What? Are you kidding me? Ah, I see..."Chase's voice grew quieter. Everyone could guess from his dejected demeanor what his uncle was saying on the other end of the line.Lenny was ecstatic. After being suppressed by Chase's uncle for so many years, unable to even dismiss such a useless employee from his department, he could finally let out his pent-up feelings."So? What did your uncle say? Did he tell you to quit New Capital Times immediately? Let me tell you the truth: Even if a hundred of your uncles came, they wouldn't be able to save you
Rita frowned. She never liked talking to Chase in the first place, and she always believed that the truth would eventually prevail. However, she also understood that some people would believe Chase's lies."Sorry, Chase, but I've recorded everything you just said. As for the slanderous remarks you made, I'll leave them in the hands of my lawyer. Don't think that you can bully me just because I'm a newcomer. I'll sue you for this and along with everything written in this magazine. I'm going to make you pay."Many colleagues were surprised by Rita's bold move, revealing herself as the victim written in the article. At the same time, they admired her determination. A legal battle was not something that could be resolved quickly.It seemed Rita was truly determined to settle this score once and for all."Bullcrap! Everything I said was the truth. Did I say a single false word?"Rita smiled faintly. "Since you're so determined, I have nothing more to say. See you in court. I hope your
'Huh. What's the point of groveling in front of me now? If it weren't for the fact that he lost his uncle's support today, he'd probably continue to bully others,' thought Rita.Her heart hardened once more when she realized that so many interns had suffered at his hands."You're only pretending to be pitiful because I said I'd sue you. Did you ever have a shred of regret when you were bullying us newcomers? No. In fact, you seemed pretty happy about it. But why wouldn't you be? After all, you're getting something for nothing by stealing our materials and articles."Lenny sighed, wanting Rita to stop. The entire entertainment department would be the laughingstock of the company if this got to other departments.However, some of the colleagues present started from the bottom too, where Chase had also stolen articles from them. They all crowded in front of the boss."Yeah, you were so giddy when you were stealing our articles! Who are you pretending to be pitiful for now?"Lenny un