Qin Zhi never expected silence to be so heavy.
But with Lu Shenyan, even silence had weight.
A look. A pause. A single word. That was all it took to shift the entire atmosphere in a room.
He didn't speak unless necessary.
She didn't speak unless spoken to.
And yet, every time they were in the same room, it felt like they were having a conversation no one else could hear.
---
It had been almost a full week since she started.
Each day began the same way.
She'd arrive early. Brew the coffee. Review the schedule. Then wait for him to appear at exactly 8:59 AM.
But today, something was different.
At 8:48, her desk phone rang.
Not his extension. A direct internal line.
She picked up quickly. "This is Qin Zhi."
A voice on the other end spoke fast.
"This is Li Mei from Public Relations. Can you come down to the 17th floor? There's a file mix-up and Director Fang says it came from the executive office."
Qin Zhi frowned.
"I wasn't assigned to PR correspondence this week."
"That's what I said," Li Mei sighed. "But your name's on the internal transfer stamp. We just need clarification."
"I'll be right there."
She hung up, grabbed her notepad, and headed down.
---
The 17th floor was much louder than the executive level.
Phones ringing. Staff chattering. A low hum of music from someone's desk. PR had always been known as the flashiest department in the company.
Qin Zhi entered the glass meeting room at the end of the hallway.
Inside, two assistants and a middle-aged man were arguing over a stack of printed documents.
Fang, the director, turned when she walked in.
"You're Qin Zhi?" he asked.
"Yes."
"You sent us last year's branding contract file. Not the updated one."
"I wasn't assigned PR files."
He held up a stamped document. Her name was listed under the "file prepared by" section.
She stepped forward and scanned the header.
It was her name.
Her ID code.
Her desk number.
But it wasn't her file.
"I didn't process this," she said calmly.
Director Fang didn't look convinced. "Well, someone used your account."
Her heart sank slightly.
She hadn't made any mistakes so far.
She couldn't afford to start now.
"I'll look into it," she said.
"You'd better," he muttered. "CEO Lu hates delays."
She nodded and left the room.
---
Back at her desk, she pulled up the internal transfer log.
Her name was indeed on the request… but the timestamp was wrong.
It showed her sending the file at 7:12 AM.
She wasn't even in the building at that time.
Which meant someone had logged into the system using her credentials.
Qin Zhi checked the login location.
Device: Terminal 3B, East Copy Station.
That wasn't her terminal.
Someone had used her account from another floor.
On purpose?
Or by accident?
Her chest tightened.
She had two options:
1. Say nothing and hope it didn't happen again.
2. Report it to the one person who hated excuses.
She didn't like either option.
But she didn't come here to hide.
---
At 9:12, she stood outside his office with a file in her hand.
She knocked once.
"Come in."
Lu Shenyan was reading something on his tablet when she walked in.
He looked up, just briefly.
"Yes?"
"There was a file error in the PR department," she said, voice calm. "They received outdated material with my name on the sender line."
"And?"
"It wasn't me."
He said nothing.
Just watched her.
Her heart thudded quietly in her chest.
She didn't flinch under his stare.
"I checked the system. The file was sent from Terminal 3B on the 17th floor at 7:12 AM. I wasn't in the building until 8:20."
He leaned back slowly.
"Why are you telling me?"
"I thought you'd want to know. It has my name on it. And your department doesn't tolerate sloppiness."
He nodded once.
"You think someone used your credentials."
"Yes."
"Intentionally?"
"I don't know."
Another pause.
Then, to her surprise, he stood up and walked to his desk drawer.
He pulled out a small silver device—about the size of a flash drive.
He handed it to her.
"Use this to scan every log attached to your account. Compare device IDs and access times."
She accepted it carefully.
"You trust me with this?"
"No," he said. "But I trust your need to prove yourself."
---
Qin Zhi returned to her desk, plugged in the tool, and ran the scan.
Fifteen minutes later, she had her answer.
The account breach happened once.
Terminal 3B.
One document sent under her login.
No other traces.
But there was a name buried in the metadata.
"Prepared by: Lin M."
Qin Zhi's brow furrowed.
She didn't know any Lin M.
But she made a copy of the scan and brought it back to his office.
---
He was in the middle of reviewing a report.
Without a word, she placed the copy on his desk.
He picked it up, scanned it, then set it down.
"You found the source."
"Yes."
"Do you want me to report it?"
She shook her head.
"Not yet. I want to see if it happens again."
That made him pause.
"You're willing to risk your reputation?"
"I'm willing to protect it myself first."
He looked at her for a long second.
Then nodded.
"Good."
He picked up his pen.
"You can go."
---
Back at her desk, Qin Zhi sat down and stared at her hands.
They were steady.
But inside, her mind was running.
Someone had tried to make her look incompetent.
It didn't work this time.
But it wouldn't be the last.
Still, she wasn't worried.
Because the man behind that office door?
He might not trust her yet.
But he was starting to believe in her.
And that was enough.
For now.