Chapter 186 A Clean Sweep

Chapter 186 A Clean Sweep
The morning that followed a few days in Titan Group was different from every other. Employees huddled together in groups. The resort trip had been cut short after the event that followed Alex’s arrival.

"Did you hear?" Marcus from accounting whispered urgently to his cubicle neighbor, leaning over the partition with wide eyes. "Senior team lead from operations just got sacked. Apparently, he was taking kickbacks from vendors."

"No way," Sarah gasped, her fingers frozen over her keyboard. "Which one?"

"Thompson. They escorted him out ten minutes ago with a box of his things."

The news rippled through the entire floor. Within minutes, clusters formed around coffee machines and in break rooms, voices hushed but animated.

"I heard it wasn't just Thompson," someone else murmured. "Apparently, there's a whole investigation happening. Multiple departments. Lucas was invited too. His employment was terminated."

"About time," another voice chimed in. "The company needs a clean-up.”

The speculation continued to build throughout the company, each retelling adding new details, some factual, while they speculated on areas they had no idea of. But the real shock came just as soon as Naomi walked into the building.

Naomi had just walked in, and the usual confidence in her stride could not be seen. Upon closer look, her makeup only covered the tiredness under her eyes.

She had barely taken a few steps when she was flanked by the security team.

"Miss Naomi," the taller officer said, his voice professionally neutral but firm. "Please come with us."

Color drained from her face. Her lower lip trembled. "Excuse me?"

"Please come with us, Miss," the second officer repeated, gesturing toward the security office.

The lobby wasn't crowded, but the few people present immediately noticed. Immediately, news spread across departments, and staff started trooping to the ground floor to get more information.

They could not believe Naomi was stopped by security until they saw it with their two eyes.

Naomi’s eyes widened, her composure almost cracked, but as soon as she noticed other colleagues in the lobby, she followed the security officers, squaring her shoulders to maintain a little form of bravado despite her insides shaking.

"This is ridiculous," she said, her tone slightly high-pitched as she followed them. "I have work to do."

A while later, she was escorted to the legal floor flanked by the security officers. It didn’t take long before news spread.

"Did you hear what just happened?" Jessica from marketing practically ran into the break room on the third floor, breathless with excitement.

"What? What happened?" Three heads turned toward her simultaneously.

"Naomi has been detained. She and Greg. Security took them both."

"What?" The word came out as a collective gasp.

"I'm not joking. I saw Naomi being escorted to the security office myself, and apparently, Greg was already there. They're saying the police are involved."

"Police?" Someone's dropped their coffee mug with a loud thud on the desk. "For what?"

"Shh, don't shout," Lisa hissed, glancing toward the door before leaning in closer. Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "It's quiet, but it was confirmed. Remember when Brie started working here months ago?"

Everyone nodded. Brie's arrival had been the subject of considerable gossip—young, talented, and not long after, given a prominent position working closely with the CEO.

"Apparently," Lisa continued, her eyes gleaming with the weight of the secret she was about to share, "she'd been getting mysterious messages from someone. Threatening messages, warning her to stay away from the boss."

Another gasp. "Could it be Sienna?" someone asked. "Everyone knows she's had it out for Brie since day one."

Lisa shook her head slowly, savoring the moment. "That's what everyone thought. But apparently, it was Naomi. And she had Greg helping her."

The break room erupted in shocked exclamations before everyone remembered to keep their voices down.

"Wait, wait," Michelle interjected, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I didn't know Greg and Naomi were a thing. I mean, Naomi's always been so full of herself, acting like she's above everyone. If she was with Greg, why was she sending anonymous messages to Brie? That doesn't make sense."

Jessica gave Michelle a look—eyebrows raised, head tilted, the universal expression of "girl, where have you been?"

"You really don't know?" Jessica asked.

"Know what?" Michelle had been on her annual leave and was out of town, so she had not joined for the trip.

"Apparently, at the resort, Sienna got into a nasty meltdown. Like, completely lost it. Started saying all kinds of things."

"I heard about that," someone else chimed in. "Didn't she have to leave early?"

"Yes! The CEO’s brother took her out before the rest of us left. And during her meltdown, she mentioned that Naomi has a thing for the CEO. Like, a serious thing. Obsessed, apparently."

"Oh my God," Michelle breathed. "So Naomi was threatening Brie because she was jealous?"

“Exactly."

"But why would Greg help her? What's in it for him?"

Lisa shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he thought he'd get something out of it. Maybe Naomi promised him something. Or maybe he just has a thing for her and did whatever she asked."

The conversation was interrupted by David from IT, bursting through the door. "Have you guys heard—"

"About Naomi and Greg? Yes, we know," they chorused.

"No, not just that. Do you know how many people are out today? Like, actually gone?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, fired. I just came from the fifth floor, and there are empty desks everywhere. A significant number from every department is out. And I cannot believe that even nerdy Jen is one of them."

"Jen?" someone exclaimed. "I thought she and Brie were close?"

"You truly never people." Someone spoke.

A heavy silence fell over the group as the reality of the situation sank in.

Finally, Marcus spoke up, his voice thoughtful. "You know what? It's a good thing the company is being cleaned up. I mean, really. Imagine coming for an innocent person just because they got a job and are exceptional at what they do. That's what happened to Brie, right? She didn't do anything wrong except be good at her job and have a history with the CEO’s brother. And for that, she got harassed, humiliated, and threatened."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group.

"I feel bad for Brie," Sarah admitted quietly. "I think we were kind of hard on the girl, and she did nothing wrong. We all gossiped about her, made assumptions. And the whole time, she was dealing with threatening messages, a tumultuous private life, and God knows what else."

"I never said anything mean about her," Michelle protested weakly.

"Maybe not to her face, but we all talked. We all speculated about why she got the position, whether she deserved it, and whether something was going on between her and the boss."

"Well, is something going on between her and the Boss?” Michelle asked.

Jessica shrugged. "Does it matter? Even if there is, that's their business. The point is, Brie earned her position. Everyone who actually works with her says she's brilliant. And instead of respecting that, people like Naomi, Margaret, and a few others decided to make her life hell."

Just then, Brie stepped out of her office, with a phone pressed to her ear as she walked along the hall, engrossed in conversation. Someone couldn’t help themselves and said, “Wow, she is undeniably in a different league. With so many things happening to her, she gives nothing away.”

“She’s strong,” murmurs of admiration rippled around the crowd long after Brie had left.