Martha didn’t even blink. A sharp laugh escaped her lips, devoid of any warmth.
"Go ahead," she replied calmly. "Do whatever you want."
Her gaze hardened as she added, "I know Ivy far better than you think. If you make another mistake, I won’t just fire you. I’ll personally kick you out of the base."
Lina froze. Fear flickered across her face. She wiped her tears quickly, nodding repeatedly, suddenly obedient to the extre. From that day onward, she worked cautiously, almost trembling at every instruction.
Until yesterday.
Yesterday, she made another blunder.
And this ti, Martha didn’t just feel irritated.
Yesterday, Martha had instructed Lina to recheck the backgrounds of everyone deed suspicious.
When the report landed on her desk, her brows furrowed instantly. Out of a hundred people, ninety-seven had been marked as completely clean.
’That’s impossible,’ she thought sharply.
At a single glance, she knew sothing was wrong. Without wasting ti, she assigned other subordinates to conduct a parallel investigation. Before she could even begin reviewing their findings, the truth surfaced.
Lina had taken every criminal’s statent at face value. As long as they claid innocence, she marked them innocent. No verification. No cross-checking. No deeper investigation.
Martha felt sothing snap inside her. Fury surged hot and fast through her veins.
’This isn’t incompetence,’ she thought coldly. ’This is negligence.’
She didn’t hesitate. Lina was fired on the spot.
Lina broke down imdiately. Tears stread down her face as she scread about being treated unfairly, claiming she was unjustly removed.
She even made a public scene inside the base, her cries echoing loudly and drawing a crowd.
People gathered quickly. Yet when they saw Lina sobbing hysterically and Martha standing there with an icy, unmoving expression, they understood one thing instinctively. Martha wasn’t soone who acted without reason.
No one interrupted. No one defended Lina. They waited.
Seeing their calm response, Martha released a quiet breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She turned to the crowd and spoke clearly, outlining every mistake Lina had made.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
"So she just believed criminals because they said they were innocent?" soone muttered angrily.
"She’s crying like she was frad," another scoffed. "This was a vital responsibility."
Others nodded in agreent. "Instead of admitting her mistake, she’s making a scene."
"I’ve never seen soone this shaless," soone else added bluntly.
Lina panicked when she realized the crowd wasn’t on her side. Her fists clenched, her head dropped, and without another word, she turned and ran toward her house.
Two weeks later, Martha finally hired a new assistant. This ti, it was a man.
He was above average-looking, wore glasses, and carried himself quietly. What drew Martha’s attention wasn’t his appearance, but his clarity of thought and straightforward honesty. She didn’t hesitate to hire him.
His na was Arnold.
His background was pitiful. He once had parents and a wife, but the apocalypse had torn everything away. By the ti he reached a safe base, he was alone. His wife was dead. His parents were gone.
Martha felt compassion for him, but what truly caught her attention was his gaze. From the mont he entered her office, he looked at her as if he had discovered a rare gem. There was no attempt to hide it.
After finishing the interview, Arnold looked straight at her. "Did I pass?"
Martha smiled calmly. "I’ll inform you later."
Arnold didn’t look away. "When you’re done deciding, tell imdiately. There’s sothing I want to say."
Martha tapped her fingers lightly on the table and nodded.
Once he left, curiosity stirred within her. ’What could he possibly want to say?’
After interviewing several candidates, she found herself returning to the sa conclusion. Arnold was the best choice. Without hesitation, she hired him.
The very next day, Arnold arrived at her office holding a single rose. It was slightly wilted, its petals uneven, clearly scavenged with effort.
When he saw Martha, he gave a sheepish grin and held it out. "I saw this sowhere and thought of you."
Martha imdiately understood his intention. She accepted the rose but spoke firmly. "I’m not interested in a relationship right now."
Arnold only smiled. "That’s fine. I’ll keep pursuing you. Whether you accept or not is your choice."
Then he added gently, "Just because you’ve eaten one sour grape doesn’t an all grapes are sour. So might be exactly your taste."
With that, he walked away.
Martha stood there for a mont, stunned. ’That was... oddly aningful,’ she thought. The taphor lingered in her mind, layered with unspoken aning.
She shook her head and focused on work.
Two weeks passed. Working with Arnold, Martha realized just how capable he was.
He handled tasks flawlessly, anticipated problems, and reduced her workload by more than half. At one point, she even considered introducing him directly to Ivy because of how valuable he was to the base.
Lost in thought, Martha exited her office.
Suddenly, a cloth pressed tightly against her mouth. A sharp chemical sll assaulted her senses.
Her instincts kicked in. She struggled, but her limbs weakened rapidly. ’No... not now,’ she thought desperately.
Without hesitation, she held her breath and went limp, pretending to faint.
The person behind her hesitated, waited a full minute, then slowly removed the handkerchief.
The mont they loosened their grip, Martha summoned what little strength she had left and shoved them away. She collapsed to the ground hard.
The next second, her voice tore through the air. "Help!"
The area was crowded. Footsteps rushed toward her.
At first, no one had noticed her being dragged toward a secluded corner. But her shout cut through the noise like a blade.
The kidnapper panicked. Too late. The citizens reacted swiftly, grabbing and restraining the person.
Martha lay on the ground, breathing heavily. She turned her head weakly and froze.
It was Lina.
Rage flooded her chest, hot and suffocating. "What are you doing?" Martha demanded, her voice trembling with fury.
Lina struggled violently. "Let go! I was only following orders! This isn’t my fault!"
Her words echoed uselessly as the base citizens tightened their grip, the truth already written across Martha’s cold, burning gaze.
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