All Chapters of Sorry, Who's Firing Whom?: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

I watched the lines of on-screen text floating in front of me and slowly set down my teacup.The noisy accusations in the private dining room came to a brief halt because of my overly calm movement.I looked up at Gina, who was sitting on the floor crying her eyes out, and said in a flat tone, "This document is classified, all right. But when you altered the data, you forgot to realign the watermark number on the third page. If you're going to frame me, you could at least do a decent job of the forgery."Gina's crying caught in her throat. A flash of obvious panic crossed her face, but it was quickly covered up by another look of hurt innocence."Clara! What are you talking about? You clearly stole this document from the agency. How can you turn around and accuse me of altering it?"Wiping her tears, she shrank back against her uncle, Robert Coleman's leg, as if she had suffered some terrible injustice."I know you've always been jealous that I found my birth parents, jealous tha

Chapter 2

As soon as I said this, the private dining room went so quiet you could hear a pin drop.Robert was stunned. Gina was dumbfounded.They probably never imagined that a low-level new hire would dare say something like that to a division chief.The on-screen text floated by again.[Hilarious. Robert thinks he's starring in his own courtroom drama. Little does he know the main character is the actual grim reaper sent to investigate him.][Gina's acting is so bad she can't even line up a watermark. Trying to pull a reverse frame job in front of an Internal Affairs big shot? She's just handing herself over.][Can't wait for the smackdown. I'm dying to see them both begging for mercy.]Gina recovered first. She pointed at me and shrieked like I'd just told the funniest joke in the world, "Clara, have you lost your mind? Who do you think you are? You want Uncle Robert to 'explain himself'? You're just a staffer who barely passed probation!"Robert snapped out of it too. He shook with r

Chapter 3

The relatives at the table heard this and nodded approvingly one after another."Zack is truly a man of principle!""A woman like Clara could never deserve Zack. Gina is a much better match for him."Gina heard this, and a flicker of smug triumph passed through her eyes.Pretending to be magnanimous, she dabbed at her tears and said softly to Zack, "Zack, don't be too hard on Clara. She grew up in the countryside and has never seen real money. Anyone might lose their head for a moment."As long as she admits she was wrong, I'm willing to beg Uncle Robert to go easy on her and not take this to the police. Let her keep some dignity."Zack looked at Gina with deep emotion. "Gina, you're so kind. She did this to you, and you're still pleading for her."You come from a good family. You're brilliant and graceful. That's the kind of quality a real government employee should have."Then he pulled a pre-printed document from his briefcase and slammed it down on the dining table."Clara

Chapter 4

In this little fiefdom of the city agency, Robert was used to having the final say on everything.Several subordinates and security guards instantly rushed forward and surrounded me.The relatives nearby all shrank back in fear, but not one of them stepped forward to say a word in my defense.Gina stood behind Robert, watching me get surrounded. At last, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upward.She picked up a small box of red ink pad and sashayed over to me.On the surface, she was still putting on an act, tearfully pleading, "Clara, just stop making Uncle Robert so angry. Just sign it already. We're all family..."But when she got close to me, she lowered her voice to a venomous whisper that only the two of us could hear, "Clara, so what if you had the highest test scores? So what if you've always been so high and mighty?"Once you take the fall for this leak today, you'll never be able to take another civil service exam for the rest of your life. You won't even

Chapter 5

As soon as these words came out, those aggressive security guards and subordinates froze in place. They looked at each other, then at the badge in my hand. No one dared to take another step forward.Head of the state ethics commission's inspection team?That title was too big—far too big for low-level employees like them to dare cross.The private dining room fell into dead silence.A few seconds later, Robert suddenly let out a burst of arrogant laughter."Ha ha ha ha ha! Clara, have you lost your mind from studying for the civil service exam?"He pointed at the badge in my hand, his face full of mockery. He didn't believe me at all."You're a low-level staffer who just barely passed probation. You go to a flea market, buy a fake ID, and now you dare impersonate the head of a state ethics commission inspection team? Why don't you just say I'm the governor?"Open a formal investigation into me? In this city agency, I am the law! You think a little badge is going to scare me?"

Chapter 6

The lead tactical commander's thunderous shout made the crystal chandelier overhead tremble slightly.Robert's face, smug just moments ago, was now as pale as a sheet of white paper.His hands raised, his body swayed, and he nearly collapsed headfirst into the bowl of expensive soup on the table.Zack was even more pathetic. His legs gave out and he slid down the table leg onto the floor. Half a glass of wine spilled down his pants, leaving a wet stain—who knew if it was wine or something else?Gina, clutching her face, which was now swollen like a balloon, shrank into the corner. Her scream got stuck in her throat, like a chicken being strangled."Misunderstanding... It's all a misunderstanding!" Robert called out in a trembling voice. "I'm Robert Coleman from the City Agency's Construction Division! Did you guys get the wrong room? I'm one of you!"Just then, a stern-faced middle-aged man in a dark blue suit walked out quickly from behind the tactical officers.Seeing who it w

Chapter 7

The forensics team moved fast. Two portable scanners were set up on the table.Seeing this, Gina suddenly lunged forward like a madwoman, trying to grab the shredded paper. "No! That's fake! Clara faked all of it! You can't examine that!"Before she could get close, two tactical officers executed a quick takedown and pinned her to the dining table.Her face pressed against a greasy plate, she let out a series of desperate wails."Clara! I'm begging you! I'll admit it! It was just a joke! Don't investigate any further!" Gina finally showed fear. Tears and snot ran all over her face.I ignored her pleading and kept my eyes on the technician.The technician adjusted his glasses and spoke in a clear voice. "After preliminary infrared spectral analysis and watermark tracking, the paper used for this document is not the anti-counterfeit printing paper uniformly purchased by the city agency. It's common off-the-shelf inkjet paper. More importantly—"The technician paused, then placed t

Chapter 8

Robert heard this, and his cloudy eyes contracted sharply, fixed on the evidence envelope.Gina also stopped struggling. Her whole body shook like a leaf."What... what are you talking about?" Robert forced out, clinging to the last shred of his authority. "Gina and I did a paternity test. She's my sister's long-lost daughter.""Paternity test?" I let out a sarcastic laugh. "You mean the test done by Doctor Henry Muller at the city agency's affiliated hospital, the one who took your fifty-thousand-dollar bribe?"Robert's face instantly turned from white to green, then to the ashen gray of a dead man.In front of all the relatives, I unsealed the evidence envelope and scattered photos and documents across the table."Take a good look, everyone. Gina is not some long-lost cousin coming back to reunite with our family. Her biological mother is a mistress that Uncle Robert kept during a construction project inspection trip ten years ago."A collective gasp echoed through the private

Chapter 9

Robert saw that the tide had turned completely. All his pretenses and dignity had been stripped away.He suddenly shoved my aunt aside, grabbed a wine bottle from the table, and smashed it. The sharp glass shards pressed against his own neck."Stay back! Nobody come near me!"Robert fought like a cornered animal, madness in his eyes. "Chief Hoffman, Clara, are you really going to destroy me completely? I have ledgers for every single construction project the city agency has handled over the past several years! If I go down, half the city agency goes down with me!"He pointed at me and let out a shrill laugh. "Clara, my dear niece. You think you're serving justice? You're kicking a hornet's nest!"If you investigate me, you won't last a day in this city. Let me go, and I'll give you the ledger. From now on, you stay out of my business, and I'll stay out of yours."I looked at him. Instead of backing away, I took a step forward."Uncle Robert, do you really think I haven't already

Chapter 10

Three months later, at the Lonaera City Superior Court, I sat in the gallery, looking at the familiar figures in the defendant's box.Robert looked twenty years older. The once-confident division chief was now just a gaunt skeleton in a prison uniform, head lowered, all his former swagger gone.Gina had cut her hair short. Her eyes were vacant, like a doll without a soul.And Zack—he was still trying to shift blame during the trial, but the judge shut him down hard.The gavel came down with a heavy thud.As the verdict was read, Robert finally lost it and burst into loud sobs right there in the courtroom.Gina, the moment she heard her sentence, jerked her head up and stared directly at me.I didn't look away. I just looked back at her, calmly.It was the gaze of justice staring down evil.After the court adjourned, I ran into the student whose spot had been stolen by Gina at the entrance to the courthouse.His name was Martin Sonar—a young man in a faded, threadbare white sh

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