Semua Bab Silent Flame: Bab 21 - Bab 30

By Tuesday, the quiet sabotage had evolved from exclusion to manipulation.Evelyn sat at her desk, a fresh layout file open on her screen, her brows furrowing as she scrolled through the campaign assets for the new LunarTech partnership. Something was off. The tagline had been changed. It wasn't just reworded. The tone had shifted, the visual cues clashing with the campaign's initial branding direction.She double-checked her version history. She always saved backup drafts.Her original file was clean. Approved language. Proper tone. Aligned with what the client had signed off on.This one… this wasn't hers.At first, she thought it was just a system error. Maybe someone had accidentally overwritten her file. She pinged the junior designer. No, they hadn't touched it. She checked the file metadata: last modified by Linda Chang.A tight knot twisted in Evelyn's stomach.The changes were subtle but enough that to an outsider, it

The Drake Industries Seoul headquarters buzzed with whispers the next morning. The news of Linda's dismissal had spread like wildfire, carried on hushed tones and incredulous glances over cubicle walls and break room coffee machines. No one had expected the fall of one of Alexander Drake's longest-standing lieutenants and no one had expected Evelyn Hart to rise in her place.Evelyn stood in front of her new office door, the brass nameplate still reading "Marketing Director." It hadn't been updated yet, but the title change was real. Interim Head of Marketing. Her fingers hovered over the doorknob for a moment before she finally pushed it open and stepped inside.The office was larger than her old one, filled with the scent of fresh wood polish and the soft glow of morning light filtering through tall glass windows. It felt like unfamiliar territory, like trying on clothes that didn't quite fit yet. But they would.She placed her bag on the desk and took a long b

Evelyn sat at her desk early the next morning, the city of Seoul still stretching itself into dawn. A faint mist clung to the windowpanes of the Drake Industries tower, the skyline softened in hazy blues and greys. She had always found early mornings calming, but today was different. Today, she had to put the next phase of her strategy into motion.The list Alexander had handed her last night lay open on her desk, the names neatly typed and annotated. She had reviewed each profile twice before the sun even rose. Noah stepped into her office with a cup of ginger tea, which he wordlessly placed in front of her."I hear I've been volunteered for HR scouting," he said with a raised eyebrow.Evelyn gave him a tight smile. "Alexander suggested I find an assistant. Someone trustworthy. I figured you'd know better than anyone who fits that bill.""I do. Most of them are already buried in other departments. But let me make some calls. I have a shortlist in mind."

Monday morning dawned gray and damp over Seoul, with a steady drizzle smearing the glass façade of Drake Industries. Inside Evelyn's office, the war room strategy had begun to take shape.Hana spread the latest findings across the conference table which was a growing dossier of irregularities: procurement approvals missing counter-signatures, project expenses allocated to inactive accounts, ghost vendors billed for nonexistent services. It was a paper trail of corruption meticulously buried under layers of bureaucracy.Noah leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "Most of these ghost accounts trace back to the U.S. branch, but someone here is feeding them in. Genevieve's too smart to leave her name on anything, but the patterns match her previous strategies.""Is she using anyone inside?" Evelyn asked."We think so," Hana said. "A mid-level analyst named Soo-jin. She was recently transferred in from the States and bypassed the usual onboarding revi

Two days later, the morning brief at Drake Industries was filled with speculation. The sudden removal of Soo-jin from the Seoul office had sent waves through the ranks. Officially, it was a compliance issue. Unofficially, it was war.Genevieve arrived later than usual. She swept into the building in a tailored navy coat, sunglasses still perched on her nose despite the early hour. Her assistant trailed behind her, nervously scrolling through her inbox."Any word from the board?" Genevieve asked coolly as they reached her office."They're convening an unscheduled session with Alexander this afternoon. Private, no external advisors.""Perfect," she said, not missing a beat. "Let them think they're ahead."But inside, Genevieve knew the walls were closing in. She had underestimated Evelyn, and now her best pawn was off the board. Still, she had one last maneuver. One final card that could fracture Evelyn's carefully curated image.In the market