Chapter 72
Lucinda slipped inside and quickly reassembled the scanner casing to restore it to its original state. At the same time, the surveillance system interface popped up on her phone screen.
She pulled up the footage from the past few minutes and replaced the video of her entry with a looped clip of an empty hallway.
The warehouse was dark. She stopped in front of the third row of shelves, which displayed the latest smart terminal components. Strangely, there were two stacks on the shelf.
The stack on the left had thick, solid casings and evenly laid-out circuit boards.
The stack on the right was thinner. The casings felt rough, and the seams were poorly finished.
She flipped over the back labels of both terminals to compare them. The model and serial numbers were printed identically, but the proprietary Ridgeway Tech verification code—the one on the right didn't have it.
She pulled out her phone and scanned the QR code. The right-side item triggered a message: [Component not registered in system.]
She frowned, crouched down, and opened the bottom box of the right stack. From the inner lining, she pulled out a delivery slip.
The recipient was a trading company she'd never heard of.
Lucinda's gaze turned ice-cold in an instant.
Someone was using Ridgeway Tech's warehouse, Ridgeway Tech's packaging, Ridgeway Tech's distribution channels—to sell refurbished and counterfeit goods for profit.
She used her phone to compare the details, photographed each one, and then packaged the tampered access log as evidence.
Just then, footsteps sounded at the entrance.
Someone was coming.
Lucinda glanced toward the door, then looked up. She gripped the edge of the shelf, engaged her core, and silently hauled herself up onto the beam.
Soon, the warehouse lights flickered on.
Two people walked in. Leading the way was a woman in her forties, dressed in a dark gray business suit, her hair pulled back meticulously. It was Ella.
The moment Lucinda saw her from the beam, her brow furrowed slightly.
Hadn't Ella been fired?
But now Ella was wearing a work uniform and ID badge, swaggering into the warehouse. Behind her was a personnel department clerk carrying a rubber baton.
So Joseph had brought her back?
And slipped her into another position right under Lucinda's nose.
This company was even messier than she'd imagined.
Fired employees could be reinstated. Access permissions could be restored at will. The CEO's fingerprint could be erased. Counterfeit goods could be produced in the warehouse.
Every link in the chain was in Joseph's palm.
The people she'd cleared out last time were probably just the tip of the iceberg floating above water.
But Lucinda quickly composed herself. She angled her phone camera through a gap in the boxes and pressed the record button.
Ella stopped in front of the third row of shelves, bent down to inspect the seal, then straightened and pulled out her phone.
"Mr. Miller." Her voice was low, but in the empty warehouse, every word was crystal clear. "I checked the warehouse. The goods are fine. But Lucinda is at the office every day. We don't dare produce anything. Do you think we should find a way to make her disappear for good?"
Joseph said something on the other end. Ella was silent for a few seconds, then spoke. "Hire someone to kill her."
Lucinda's fingers held the phone steady, the camera aimed at Ella's face.
She crouched on the beam, her heart calm.
She'd already figured Ella out long ago. A pawn Joseph had smuggled back in after her termination. Hearing her say something like this wasn't surprising.
What was surprising was that Joseph still didn't realize who he was dealing with.
Just then, her phone suddenly buzzed.
A call from Reginald.
The vibration echoed distinctly in the quiet, empty warehouse.
Ella's head snapped up, her gaze immediately shooting toward the ceiling. "Who's there?"
Lucinda calmly hung up, quickly typed out a message—[Bit busy]—and sent it. Then she switched her phone to complete silent mode.
Ella raised her phone's flashlight. The beam swept back and forth between the shelves.
She and the personnel clerk searched the entire warehouse but found no one.
Lucinda crouched on the beam, watching the two beams of light sweep past beneath her feet. Her breathing was steady.
She wasn't afraid of being discovered. She just found it inconvenient.
If she were discovered now, she'd have to close the net early—and she hadn't fully traced everyone connected behind them yet.
"Maybe… it was a rat." The voice of the person beside Ella was shaky.
Ella swept the beam around one more time, found nothing, and finally turned off the flashlight.
She walked to the warehouse entrance, reset the access code, then pulled down the circuit breaker.
The door shut heavily behind her. Footsteps gradually faded away.
Lucinda dropped down from the beam and walked to the deepest corner of the warehouse, the one blocked by discarded shelving. She lifted the top layer of tarp.
Underneath was a whole pile of low-quality chip materials—identical to the counterfeit goods from earlier. Enough to assemble a large batch of fake devices.
The corner of her mouth curved slightly.
It seemed Ella and Joseph weren't just skimming off the top. They were using Ridgeway Tech's name to sell their own counterfeits.
Every unit they sold tarnished Ridgeway Tech's reputation a little more—and fattened their own pockets a little more.
She walked back to the warehouse entrance and reconnected to the access system. The new passcode Ella had set appeared on her screen. Then she replaced all the surveillance footage from the time she'd entered the warehouse, wiping it clean.
Once that was done, she pulled up the live feed of the hallway, confirmed it was empty, then opened the door and walked out.
After stepping out, she removed the baseball cap, flipped her coat back to its original side, walked to where the car was parked, opened the door, and climbed in.
Reginald turned to look at her, his gaze sweeping over her face. "All done?"
"Yes." She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
She had the evidence. Ella's illegal reinstatement, Joseph's production of counterfeits, the premeditated threat of violence in that phone call—each charge was enough.
The next morning, before dawn had fully broken, the Maybach was parked outside the Douglas Estate again.
When Lucinda stepped out, her footsteps didn't even pause. She'd completely given up trying to understand how he managed to wake up this early every day.
The car stopped in front of Ridgeway Tech. Lucinda pushed open the door. Reginald unbuckled his seatbelt as well.
"Don't follow me."
"I'll just walk you to the door—"
"You have work."
Her tone left no room for negotiation.
Reginald opened his mouth. Before he could speak, his assistant's voice drifted cautiously from the front seat. "Mr. Lancaster, you do have a board meeting this morning—"
"No, I don't." Reginald cut him off.
Lucinda looked at him. Silence stretched for a moment. "Go back to work. Otherwise, you're not allowed to see me again."
Reginald's expression crumbled instantly. He looked at her. She looked at him. The air inside the car was silent for several seconds.
Finally, he sighed, his voice sullen. "Then I'll pick you up after work."
Lucinda pushed open the door and got out, walking toward the building without looking back.
Fiona was already waiting in the lobby. She stood by the elevator holding a stack of files, her gaze drifting past Lucinda's shoulder to the Maybach pulling away outside. She recognized the license plate. Five zeros. There was only one in all of Starlight City.
She said nothing, but inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Before, she'd worried that this young new boss was too inexperienced to handle the old foxes who'd been running this company for over a decade. Now it seemed her concerns were completely unnecessary.
With that powerhouse backing her, forget a few old foxes—even if the entire board of directors turned against her, she'd have them under control.