Chapter 121 Why Do You Want to Harm Me?
Arabella turned slightly toward her colleagues, raising her voice, "The day before yesterday, I stored breast milk in the break room refrigerator. Someone deliberately tampered with it, adding what appears to be yogurt or milk tea ingredients, which made my children sick. I'm hoping that person will have the courage to own up to their mistake and confess. If they do, we can resolve this quietly. Otherwise, once I find out who did it, I'll have no choice but to involve the police."
Her words sent shockwaves through the office, immediately sparking hushed conversations.
"This... who would do such a thing? Targeting babies? That's absolutely heartless!"
"It wasn't me... I've been dieting, haven't had any milk tea recently!"
"Me neither, I'm cutting sugar!"
"Arabella, could you be mistaken? Even though everyone envies how the management favors you, no one would stoop to harming children. You'd have to be truly evil to do something like that!"
Several colleagues quickly proclaimed their innocence.
Arabella replied, "I'm not mistaken. The breast milk samples have been tested and contain non-dairy creamer, whipped cream, and pectin."
The office fell silent, colleagues exchanging meaningful glances.
Zane frowned and spoke in a low voice, "This... are the children okay? If it's not too serious, maybe we should just let it go. I'm sure whoever did it won't dare try again. Making such a big deal out of this will destroy team morale."
Ella spoke up indignantly, "Zane, are you even human? Do you realize how serious allergic reactions or food poisoning can be for infants? Or maybe... you know who did it and you're protecting them?"
"Absolutely not! Ella, don't make wild accusations!"
Zane snapped back, then turned to Arabella with a gentler tone, "How about... you come to my office? I'll help you investigate this, alright?"
Ella shot Arabella a meaningful look. After a moment's consideration, she decided to hear what Zane had to say and followed him.
Once in the office, Zane closed the door and personally poured her a glass of water.
"Thank you, but I don't need any." Arabella declined.
Zane awkwardly set the cup in front of her.
"Arabella, are you sure you won't take the position in Mr. Jennings' executive office? You know, if you refuse, you'll offend him."
Zane felt conflicted. From the moment he first saw Arabella, he'd been captivated by her beauty, though he was disappointed she was married with children.
Still, that didn't stop him from enjoying having such an attractive colleague in his department. If Arabella was transferred to Mr. Jennings, she'd inevitably face sexual harassment. As a fellow man, he felt both jealous and reluctant to let her go.
Arabella ignored his comment. "Zane, you said you'd help investigate."
"Of course, please sit." Zane smiled obsequiously, placing his hand on Arabella's shoulder and pushing her down into the chair.
Arabella was disgusted by his touch and immediately turned away, shrugging off his hand with a stern expression.
Embarrassed, Zane could only laugh awkwardly, "Alright, I'll help investigate. I'll call everyone in one by one for questioning. Once I find out who did it, I'll make them compensate you. Does that work?"
As department head, maintaining stability was his priority. Zane didn't want this incident escalating, especially to upper management, which would reflect poorly on him.
Hearing this, Arabella shot him a cold look, turned around, and walked out.
"Hey! Arabella!" Zane couldn't stop her.
The office staff heard the commotion and all turned toward the office.
Arabella emerged and addressed the watching eyes, "Has that person made up their mind? Will you confess voluntarily?"
Colleagues looked at each other uncertainly, some pretending not to hear.
"Fine. Since no one's stepping forward, I'm calling the police. I've already preserved fingerprints from the insulated bag. When the officers arrive, they'll take everyone's prints for comparison."
"What? There are fingerprints?" someone gasped in surprise.
Everyone unconsciously looked at their own hands, then Ella spoke up, "Whoever did this should come forward and apologize properly while asking for forgiveness. If the police get involved, you're really in trouble."
Still, no one moved.
Arabella felt she'd given them enough opportunities. Seeing no confession forthcoming, she pulled out her phone.
Before she could dial, a voice suddenly broke the office silence, "Don't call!"
Nora stood up, her face flushed as colleagues stared in shock, disbelief, and amazement, "It... it was me. I touched your things."
She couldn't bring herself to say "breast milk," finding it disgusting.
Zane rushed out from his office doorway, shouting, "Nora, are you out of your mind? Why would you do such a thing?"
Nora was filled with regret. At the time, knowing there were no cameras in the break room, she'd thought adding just a little yogurt wouldn't cause any real harm. She'd assumed it would go unnoticed—never expecting Arabella to be so thorough, going so far as to test the milk and collect fingerprints.
Colleagues began whispering among themselves, muttering accusations.
Seeing Nora's shame, Arabella felt both angry and bewildered.
She walked toward Nora.
Thinking she might get physical, Ella quickly intervened, "Maybe we should let the police handle this."
She meant Arabella shouldn't resort to violence, as it would make her look bad.
Arabella wasn't that impulsive. Her recent battles of wit with Gabriel had helped temper her anger.
"Nora, how did I offend you? Why would you try to hurt me like this? Do you know that after my children drank that contaminated milk, they had severe vomiting and diarrhea and had to be rushed to the hospital? They're only five months old—they can't talk or express themselves. All they could do was cry, day and night."
More gasps rippled through the office, "She has more than one child?"
Nora, guilty and ashamed, watched Arabella approach and swallowed hard, "I... I brought yogurt that day and put it in the fridge. You... why did you put that stuff next to my yogurt? Just thinking about it makes me sick—for a moment I..."
She'd had a momentary lapse of judgment, suddenly getting the twisted idea to open one of the breast milk bags, tear the seal, pour in a few milliliters of yogurt, and stir it with her finger.
After doing this, she'd felt nauseated for ages, washing her hands under the faucet for a full three minutes.
"Disgusting? I think you're the disgusting one!" Arabella laughed bitterly, not wanting to waste another word, and reached for her phone to call the police.
Actually, she hadn't collected any fingerprints and wasn't sure if there were any on the bag—she'd just been bluffing, never expecting it to work so well.
Seeing her about to call the police, Nora panicked and grabbed her arm, "Arabella, I can compensate you. Whatever amount you want, I'll pay it. Please don't call the police, I don't want to..."
"Let go!" Arabella glared at her hand.
"No! You can't call the police. You just want compensation, right? Name your price!"
Nora held onto her hand, preventing her from calling, and they began struggling.