When I finally made it home, rage simmered inside me, a fire I could hardly contain.

Ajax stepped forward, his tone unusually tender. "Baby, how did it go? I heard Belle pulled off that impossible code!"

His face was alight with pride, a gleam in his eyes.

A sharp sneer tugged at my lips. "Why, does it really concern you whether she ran it or not?"

Without giving him a chance to respond, I snorted in disbelief and stalked off to my room.

Once inside, I made sure to double-check my computer and USB drive, ensuring no malicious surprises lurked within.

I scoured every inch of my room, my computer, clothes, even the furniture and light bulbs.

There were no hidden devices, no cameras lurking in the corners.

I ran a hand through my hair, my mind racing as I tried to piece together where everything had gone wrong.

Could it truly be just a coincidence?

No. It couldn’t be.

Even if the code could be chalked up to coincidence, how could the comments be so eerily identical?

It had to be Ajax and Belle; they were behind this.

A sudden knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Dahlia! What do you think you're doing? How dare you speak to me like that!"

"Come out and cook! Are you trying to starve me?"

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He’d played the part of the gentle lover in front of Belle, but I knew better than to buy into it.

Ignoring his angry shouts, I made my way to the internet café.

But when I checked the surveillance footage, everything seemed normal.

I was starting to feel lost in the confusion.

I picked up the phone and called my mentor, Ambrose Zelinsky, one of the most respected figures in the industry. "Teacher, do you remember the code I asked for your help with a few days ago?"

I had discussed some of the crucial parts of the code with him. In other words, both my mentor and I had a copy of the final version.

When I mentioned the code, Ambrose chuckled, his voice full of amusement. "Of course, I remember! You nearly outdid me with this one; how could I forget?"

I hesitated before asking, "Teacher, today in the group meeting, someone presented a code identical to ours. Her name is Belle. Do you recall her?"

If the surveillance footage turned up clean, the only conclusion I could reach was that my mentor had shared the code with a friend, who, for some reason, had passed it to Belle.

But Ambrose paused, his voice steady but resolute as he rejected the idea. "Impossible! You're my pride, my most cherished disciple. I would never hand that code off to anyone."

I felt an even greater sense of confusion. Every explanation seemed to hit a wall.

Soon, there was no time left to dwell on it. The company’s performance review was fast approaching.

Every year, the company held an evaluation tied to year-end bonuses. If your score was too low, you could find yourself out the door.

A few years ago, an employee had scored zero on the evaluation, and now he ran a pancake stall across the street.

And Belle? She had been number one every year without fail.

The incident had left everyone at the company thinking I was nothing more than a pretentious failure.

I squinted my eyes, fueled by the need to prove them all wrong. The questions were challenging, and my mind worked in overdrive. I didn’t finish until the very last second.

Though I had taken my time, I was certain everything I submitted was flawless.

After all, I had spent four years learning under the legendary mentor Ambrose. He was a giant in the industry, far outshining Belle by miles.

The colleagues around me were in full-on discussion.

"This question is impossible!"

"I only managed to solve one problem."

"Same here!"

The group was deflated until they caught sight of me.

Suddenly, they perked up.

"Hey, Dahlia, how many did you get right? Bet you didn’t solve a single one!"

"You were so smug in front of Belle earlier. Now look at you!"

"Don’t tell me you're going to score a zero. Oh, god, we won’t be seeing you around much longer, right?"

I couldn’t be bothered to respond. With a dismissive glance, I turned and walked toward my workstation.

The others, disinterested in me, quickly shifted their focus and bumped into Belle. Their eyes lit up, full of admiration, and they rushed toward her. "Belle, how did the test go?"

Belle lowered her voice, giving it a moment's thought. "It was manageable, not too difficult."

She turned her gaze to me, a mocking smile playing on her lips. "Of course, for some who don’t understand a thing, it must have been tough."

Ever since I joined the company, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Belle harbored some subtle animosity toward me.

At first, she treated all the new employees to milk tea, but I was strangely left out.

I assumed it was just an oversight, but when I went to ask for mine, she lashed out in front of everyone. "Are you used to being kept by a man? Do you really want me to buy you milk tea?"

She constantly handed me a mountain of menial tasks, each more irrelevant to my field than the last.

It didn’t take long for everyone to start thinking I was just an incompetent fool in my profession.

But this time, I was ready to show them I was more than that.

I gave her a sharp look, my voice cool. "We’ll see who the fool really is; it’s far from settled."

When the evaluation results were released, I was left completely stunned.

It wasn’t the low score that shocked me; it was the fact that my answers were identical to Belle's.

I froze for a moment, my breath catching in my throat.

How could this happen?

If I had suspected before that Ajax was behind the issue with the code, now it seemed the company itself was involved. Ajax’s influence couldn’t possibly stretch this far.

It might've made sense if Belle had accessed the system after I submitted my answers. But she’d submitted hers three minutes before me.

How could this be possible?

Belle looked at me, a heavy sigh escaping her lips, tinged with disappointment.

"Well, well... I didn’t mind when you were bragging earlier, but now you're stealing others' work?"

"It’s normal for young girls to have some pride, but you went ahead and copied every single thing, didn’t you?"

"I really can’t wrap my head around how someone like you even got into this company!"

The mocking voices of my colleagues grew louder around me.

"You were bragging just a moment ago, and now look at you, slapped right in the face!"

"If I were you, I’d find a hole in the wall to crawl through!"

Their jeers rang in my ears until the manager finally arrived and looked around. "What’s all this shouting about?"

One colleague quickly pointed at me, shouting, "Manager! She copied Belle’s answers, word for word!"

The manager's glare was fierce, his eyes wide with disbelief as he puffed out his cheeks and gritted his teeth. "What’s wrong with you? Do you have no shame? How dare you plagiarize? Pack your things and leave!"

He didn’t hold back, his voice rising, "We don’t need people like you here!"

I clenched my fists, my mind swirling with shock. I couldn’t form a single word in my defense.

As I opened my mouth to respond, Belle cut in, her voice loud and sure. "Don’t fire her!"

Belle, noticing the change in the room’s mood, casually touched her nose, playing the role of the understanding colleague. “I mean, we all make mistakes. She deserves another shot, don’t you think? We should give her that chance.”

Internally, I couldn’t help but sneer.

She was probably worried that there would be no one left to copy from once I was gone.

With Belle speaking up, the manager let out a reluctant sigh, rolling his eyes at me. “Apologize to Belle now! She’s being so understanding!”

“Coming to work with that bare face, no makeup, it’s downright disgusting!”

I shot Belle a cold, piercing look. “Who’s claiming I plagiarized? I wrote my birthdate in the comments section. Does Belle need to copy that, too?”