My dad wanted to test my wife’s work ethic, so he arranged for me to conduct a surprise inspection of the company she managed. I figured it would just be a formality. But the moment I walked in, I saw a young, baby-faced college student staring blankly at a paper shredder. “Wow, this machine is so cool!” He picked up a contract from a nearby desk, looking ready to feed it in. A colleague next to him gasped, his face draining of color, and quickly stopped him: “Oh my god, Leo, what are you doing? Weren’t you playing games in the office? Why are you out here?” The guy just grinned. “Heh heh, just a little thirsty.” No sooner had he said it than his hand, holding a cup, wobbled. The entire cup of water accidentally splashed onto the main power switch. The whole company plunged into darkness, and the office erupted in cries of despair. I grabbed a young intern nearby and asked him who on earth hired this idiot. The intern immediately made a shushing gesture. “Keep it down, man. He’s, like, Ms. Hayes’s partner. Rumor has it, this whole company actually belongs to *him*.” “Are you new here? You’ll get used to it in a few days. He usually just plays games in Ms. Hayes’s office and doesn’t bother us much.” My head started to throb. He’s Ms. Hayes’s partner? Then what in the world am *I*? I pulled out my phone and called my dad. “Dad, no need for the inspection. Tell Ellie to come to the office with the divorce papers.”
Dad sent me to the company to evaluate Ellie. He said it was a routine check, told me not to stress, just to get familiar with the business. I thought it was just a formality. I reported my identity as an inspector from headquarters to the front desk, and she respectfully swiped me through the security gate. The moment I stepped into the office area, I saw a man. He was dressed neatly, in a college-style white shirt, squatting in front of the paper shredder, his face full of curiosity. “Wow, this machine is so cool! Can it eat anything?” He said, casually picking up a file from a nearby desk. On the cover of that file, “MERGER AGREEMENT” was boldly written in red. Without a second thought, he tried to feed the contract into the shredder. A spectacled colleague next to him instantly went pale. He lunged forward, practically tackling the man, snatching the contract away just in time. “Oh my god, Leo, what are you doing? Weren’t you playing games in the office?” His voice was strained with terror. “Why are you out here? We need this contract this afternoon!” The man was bumped, but didn’t seem annoyed at all. Instead, he flashed a wide grin and rattled his empty cup. “Got tired of gaming, so I’m a bit thirsty.” The colleague let out a shaky breath, hugging the contract tightly as if his life depended on it. He lowered his voice, pleading. “Then please, go get some water! I beg you, go drink it in your office, okay? Doesn’t Ms. Hayes’s office have a private water cooler?” The man scratched his nose. “The water in there doesn’t taste good. I want the water out here.” He said, not bothering with the colleague’s nearly tearful expression, and turned towards the breakroom. My head started to throb watching this scene unfold. I pulled a young intern standing nearby. “Who is that?” The intern glanced at me, then quickly at the man’s retreating back, his eyes full of apprehension. He put a finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture. “Keep it down, sir.” He leaned closer to my ear, his voice barely a whisper. “He’s our Ms. Hayes’s husband, Leo Maxwell.” My heart lurched. Ellie’s recent strange behaviors suddenly made perfect sense. The intern continued. “I heard this whole company belongs to him, so he’s the real boss here.” “You must be new, right? You’ll get used to it in a few days.” He sighed, a weariness on his face that didn’t match his age. “He usually just stays in Ms. Hayes’s private office, playing games and watching shows. He doesn’t usually interact with us.” “Ms. Hayes must be out for a meeting today, and nobody’s around to entertain him, so he came out to stretch his legs.” My mind buzzed as I listened to him. He’s Ms. Hayes’s husband. So what am *I*? The intern noticed my expression and asked with concern. “Sir, are you okay? You look awful.” I shook my head and forced a smile. “I’m fine, just a little surprised.” “To think there are people like that in the company… quite an eye-opener.” The intern gave a bitter smile and shrugged. “You’ll get used to it. He never really *does* anything. We just bear with it and pray he gets bored and goes back to her office soon.” I didn’t say anything else. He never really *does* anything? If that contract had been shredded, a multi-million dollar project would have been stalled. Who would bear the losses? I watched Leo’s back as he emerged from the breakroom, humming a tune. I pulled out my phone, intending to call my dad directly. But after a moment’s thought, I put it back. Leaving like this would be too easy for Ellie. Dad sent me here to evaluate her competence. And now, it seemed her competence, and her character, were deeply flawed. I wanted to see just how ridiculous this company had become under her management. I straightened my clothes and walked to the front desk. “Hello, I’m Alexander Vance, from headquarters, here for a project review.” “Please arrange a temporary workstation for me, preferably somewhere quiet.” “Also, this inspection is internal. I don’t want Ms. Hayes to know I’m here.” The front desk staff nodded respectfully. I walked into the office area, found a corner spot, and my gaze fell on Leo, not far away. He was holding a cup of water, curiously studying the fire alarm on the wall, seemingly contemplating whether to press the red button.
Ellie wasn’t in that morning. Leo had probably gotten bored of playing games in her office. He ambled out of the General Manager’s office again. He roamed around the office area. One moment, he’d poke at a colleague’s newly finished design sketch. The next, he’d tap another colleague’s keyboard, typing out a string of gibberish. Everyone was furious but dared not speak. They’d hold their breath when he approached, and quickly check their work for damage once he left. He wandered over to the water dispenser. He was probably thirsty again, picking up a disposable cup to get some water. Either he lost his grip, or he did it on purpose. His hand shook. The full cup of water, precisely and unerringly, splashed entirely onto the wall next to the water dispenser. Right there, was the main power switch for the entire office. There was a loud *sizzle*, accompanied by a shower of blinding electrical sparks. The lights in the entire office instantly went out. Everyone’s computer screens, in unison, went black. A few seconds later, the office erupted in thunderous wails and desperate curses. “My code! I’ve been writing code all morning! I haven’t saved it yet!” “My design draft! The client has called eight times, it’s just the final step!” “My report! It’s due at 2 PM! It’s over, everything’s ruined!” David, the head of the technical department, rushed out of his office first, hearing the commotion. He saw Leo, who had caused the mess and was standing there with an innocent look, his face instantly turning ashen. His lips moved, his fists clenched then unclenched, and he ultimately swallowed his words. Leo, however, spoke first, his voice full of dissatisfaction. “What’s going on?” “This switch quality is too poor, isn’t it? It broke just from a little water. Why is everything in our company so shoddy?” His talent for playing the victim and blaming the company for his own blunder was truly breathtaking. Mr. Henderson, the administrative manager, also hurried over. He first looked at the chaotic, smoke-emitting power switch, then at Leo. He immediately put on a deferential smile. “Mr. Maxwell, are you hurt? Did it scare you?” “It’s not your fault, it must be the aging wiring. We’ll handle it right away. I’ll get someone to replace it with a new, waterproof one immediately!” “Please go back to your office to rest. We’ll take care of things here.” Leo pouted, seemingly dissatisfied with this outcome, but said nothing more and turned back into Ellie’s office. Only then did Mr. Henderson wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and begin directing the technical department to fix things. As he passed me, I called out to him. “Mr. Henderson, does this kind of thing happen often?” The manager glanced at me, recognized me as being from headquarters, and a bitter expression crossed his face. He pulled me into the stairwell of the fire escape, lowering his voice. “You’re an inspector, aren’t you? Some things I shouldn’t say, but today’s incident…” He sighed, continuing. “To be honest, he’s the apple of Ms. Hayes’s eye. We dare not do anything.” “Ms. Hayes is out of town for a meeting today, so no one can control him.” “Normally, when Ms. Hayes is around, she can at least keep him cooped up in her office…” His face was filled with helplessness and despair. “Last time, he also accidentally knocked over a cup of coffee.” “That coffee, by sheer bad luck, spilled right onto our core server.” “All the company’s data got corrupted. The tech department worked overtime for a week straight to recover it. All our work for that week was completely wasted!” “And what happened then?” I asked. “In the end, Ms. Hayes said our tech department was negligent in supervision, and the server’s placement had security risks. She docked our entire department’s quarterly bonuses.” “She said it was to teach us a lesson.” My heart sank, bit by bit. This was Ellie Hayes’s management style. Indulging an idiot to run rampant in the company, then making all the hardworking employees pay for his foolishness. Ellie, you’re really something. Just then, the General Manager’s office door opened again. Leo poked his head out and shouted. “So boring! Why isn’t the power back on yet? My phone’s almost dead! Are there any snacks in the breakroom?” No one answered him. The entire office area was engulfed in an extreme, suffocating silence.
As soon as the engineering department restored the power, Dad called. He asked me to get a crucial set of data from the marketing department. He said this file was needed for the group’s board meeting that afternoon, and I absolutely had to handle it personally, without any mishaps. I took a USB drive, copied the data from the marketing director, and went to the print room. I had just finished organizing the file, clipping the papers together, when the print room door was pushed open. Leo sauntered in, holding a can of soda. He immediately spotted the stapler next to my hand, his eyes lighting up. “Hey, can I borrow this? My snack bag came open.” He said, reaching out to grab it as if it were his right. Instinctively, I moved the file and stapler back, avoiding his hand. All the files here involved company secrets. His hand grasped empty air, and his body lurched forward from inertia. His foot caught on a cable. The soda can in his hand flew out. The brown liquid arced in the air, a precise parabola, and splashed, without missing, all over the confidential files I had just printed. The thick stack of A4 papers was instantly soaked through with soda, becoming a sticky mess. I stared at the ruined files, unable to maintain my detached composure any longer. I looked up, my gaze locking onto Leo’s face. He showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, he seemed annoyed that I hadn’t lent him the stapler. My voice was icy. “Can you take responsibility for the loss of this file?” Leo was probably speaking to a company employee with such a questioning tone for the first time. He froze for a moment. Then, anger flared on his face. “How dare you speak to me like that?” “Do you even know who I am?” He puffed out his chest, looking completely justified. “I’m Ms. Hayes’s husband!” I looked at him, feeling absolutely nothing inside, even a little amused. “Oh?” I calmly retorted. “Ms. Hayes’s partner can just destroy company property at will? You can disregard company rules and regulations?” My retort clearly challenged his authority. He became enraged, pointing a finger at my nose. “Of course, I can!” “This company is all Ellie’s, so it’s *mine*! I can do whatever I want!” “Who do you think you are? Some new hire, trying to lecture *me*?” Colleagues who heard the commotion started gathering around. They saw the scene and were too terrified to even breathe. A few administrative staff members subtly tugged at my sleeve, their eyes pleading, urging me to apologize quickly. I didn’t move. I just watched him calmly. Seeing me unfazed, Leo felt he was losing face in front of everyone. He pulled out his phone, a smug, cold smile on his face. “Fine, you want to be tough, huh? You think I can’t handle you?” “I’ll have *your* boss tell you who I am, and who *you* are!” He directly FaceTimed Ellie. The call connected quickly. He held the phone screen towards himself, ready for Ellie to back him up. The moment the video call connected, Leo’s voice immediately turned aggressive. He spoke into the camera, his voice full of righteous indignation: “Ellie, how do you even run this company? A new hire dared to bully me!”
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