Chapter 265

"I'm Olivia Smith, head of Lantine Jewelry."

Olivia's voice was flat, giving nothing away, but her presence carried an absolute authority — the kind of look that said she was someone who answered to no one.

"You just said this is your turf. Well, do you know that this factory serves Lantine Jewelry's headquarters and falls directly under its oversight? Tonight, you loaded and moved goods without any transfer notice — unauthorized shipping. Who gave you the nerve?"

The security guard's expression froze instantly. The color drained from his face, and every bit of his earlier arrogance vanished without a trace.

He never imagined she was the big boss.

The factory manager, who had been directing the loading inside, caught the commotion. The moment he looked over, he stopped dead in his tracks and stood there, completely at a loss.

He had seen Olivia before. He knew exactly who she was.

The moment he realized what he was doing was a violation, he hurried over with a forced smile plastered on his face.

"Ms. Smith, what a surprise. You should've given us a heads-up — I would've arranged a proper welcome."

As he spoke, the guilt and panic in his eyes were impossible to hide, though he was clearly trying his best to push it down. It was almost laughable to watch.

While talking, the factory manager shot a look at the security guard.

"Go spread the word — Ms. Smith is here. Anyone who's free, come out to greet her."

The guard quickly caught on and turned to leave, but Olivia stopped him cold.

"No need for that."

She had caught every little move the manager made. With a cold smile, she cut straight through his act.

"I just have one question for you. There are no outgoing orders scheduled right now. So where exactly are you sending two truckloads of goods in the middle of the night?"

The manager's heart lurched. His throat tightened, and he scrambled to piece together an excuse.

"It's just a normal... internal... last-minute transfer. They said it didn't need to arrive until next week, but I figured I'd use the quiet nighttime hours to get it sorted early. That way the guys can rest tomorrow and we won't fall behind on the schedule..."

Listening to his fumbling explanation, Olivia smiled — exactly as she'd expected — and said slowly,

"So I should actually be thanking you? Thank you for your great foresight in giving everyone two days off?"

Her voice was quiet, but it carried weight. The manager didn't dare say another word.

"No, no, no... Ms. Smith, that's not what I meant..."

He waved his hands frantically, wishing he could sprout mouths all over his body to talk his way out of this.

Olivia watched his obvious guilt and steered things back on track.

"If that's not what you meant, then you're saying this is an internal transfer?"

She stepped forward, her presence bearing down on him, and dismantled his lies one by one — direct, precise, no room to wriggle.

"An internal transfer — and you're passing off defective goods as real ones? A full third of one truck is rejects?"

"And since when does an internal transfer not need headquarters approval? Since when does it not need to be logged with the warehouse? Since when do you get to arrange your own trucks?"

The questions hit him like hammer blows, making it crystal clear she hadn't believed a single word he said.

While Olivia was dealing with the guard, Bryce had already taken two others to check the loading area. The goods were obviously defective — you didn't even need to touch them. One look was enough.

The manager hadn't expected Olivia to already know everything. His face went white as a sheet. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He opened his mouth to push back, but no matter how hard he tried, not a single word came out.

The commotion had long since drawn the attention of the workers nearby. When the manager fell silent, they all stopped what they were doing. The tension became suffocating.

Olivia's gaze hardened. She glanced at the security guard trying to disappear into the background, then at the manager staring at the ground.

Bryce, never one to miss a good show, grabbed a defective piece from the truck and handed it to Olivia.

The surface was visibly pitted and flawed — nowhere near fit for shipping. And under this manager's watch, who knew how much of this had already gone out.

Olivia turned the defective piece over in her hand, then let out a cold laugh. Her voice dropped — she was angry.

"Very clever. You've been using your authority as manager to mix defective goods in with real ones and pocket the difference."

"I really underestimated you. Passing off fakes for so long, stealing from the inside — I wonder how much you've made. The flood of customer complaints at the stores didn't just start recently, did it? You just couldn't keep a lid on it anymore. Someone finally blew the whistle."

The truth was laid bare. Every excuse he'd built crumbled.

He staggered, stumbling back several steps before catching himself. The guilt on his face had turned to pure fear. He looked completely cornered.

"Ms. Smith, I didn't — this is all a misunderstanding, I can explain! We weren't shipping anything out tonight. Some workers have sticky fingers — I was re-sorting the goods. I swear I wasn't pocketing anything!"

"A misunderstanding?"

Olivia almost laughed, like she'd just heard the most ridiculous thing imaginable. She pointed at the two trucks that had just pulled into the yard.

"Open your eyes and look at those trucks. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

The evidence was right there, and he was still talking. It was almost funny how brazen he was.

The embezzlement clearly hadn't started recently. He'd gotten away with it for so long that he'd grown reckless — never imagining that one day it would all catch up with him this fast.

Olivia was done going back and forth with him. Her tone turned sharp as she gave her orders.

"Starting tomorrow, the factory shuts down for an audit. Everyone stays on standby. No one leaves without permission. No contact with anyone outside."

"Bryce, you're in charge of the full factory review. Go through every shipping record and every transaction log. I want to know exactly how much he's stolen using Lantine Jewelry's name."

The manager's face went completely white. Desperation drove him to make one last attempt.

"Ms. Smith, you can't blame this all on me. If you really think about it, I was clearing out the factory's waste. That batch of raw materials was bad to begin with — the finished goods were unsellable. The way I handled it actually saved Lantine Jewelry from a bigger loss."

He said it with conviction, and Olivia could tell — he genuinely believed every word of it.