<h4>Chapter 753: Whispering about me</h4>
"What is this, Juniper?" the manager snapped as soon as she stepped into his cabin. "You were supposed to get this right. This is the third time you’ve messed it up."
Juniper stood there, holding the file tightly, trying to remainposed.
"I’ll correct it," she said calmly. "But could you please point out where the data is mismatched?"
The manager frowned at her, clearly unimpressed.
"If I have to point it out for you, then what exactly are you being paid for?" he retorted sharply.
Juniper lowered her gaze slightly.
"I’m sorry," she said quietly.
There was nothing more to say.
She turned and walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her.
Letting out a soft sigh, she returned to her desk and sat down, immediately opening herptop again. Despite everything, she forced herself to focus.
A colleague sitting at the adjacent desk leaned slightly toward her.
"June, the manager is very particr," she said in a low voice. "You’ll have to impress him somehow."
Juniper rubbed her temple lightly, her eyes still scanning the screen.
"I don’t understand what he’s not liking," she murmured. "He mentioned the graph, but I’ve already recalcted the growth projections multiple times." A hint of frustration crept into her tone.
"June, you could always ask your ex for help," a male colleague said suddenly, leaning back in his chair. "I’m sure Prince Dominick would solve it for you in no time."
The wordsnded like a sharp blow.
Juniper’s expression darkened instantly, but she said nothing. She kept her eyes on the screen, choosing silence over reaction.
The colleague beside her frowned and nudged him lightly. "Stop it," she whispered. "That’s not appropriate."
He shrugged carelessly. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
Juniper’s fingers paused over the keyboard.
She slowly turned her head and looked at him with her sharp gaze. "Yes," she said curtly.
The single word carried enough weight to silence him.
Without adding anything more, she stood up from her seat and walked away, heading straight toward the pantry.
The moment she stepped inside, the noise of the office faded behind her.
She moved to the counter and began preparing herself a cup of coffee. As the machine hummed softly, she closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.
’Ignore it.’ That’s what she had been telling herself every day. ’For how long do I have to do that?’ She gripped the cup a little tighter.
’I never imagined things would turn out like this... people whispering about me, about my personal life.’ She lifted the cup and brought it to her lips.
"Ahh!"
She winced sharply, pulling the cup away as the hot coffee nearly burned her lips.
A faint sting spread across her mouth, breaking her thoughts and pulling her back to the present.
"Gosh!" Juniper muttered under her breath, still wincing slightly from the burn.
Before she could recover properly, her colleague’s voice interrupted her.
"June, the Director is here," Sarah said hurriedly, stepping into the pantry.
Juniper’s eyes widened.
"What?"
Without wasting another second, she tossed the unfinished coffee into the bin and rushed out.
By the time she reached the department floor, everyone else had already stood up from their seats.
A tense silence had settled in the room.
Momentster, Denzel walked in, apanied by several senior officials of thepany. Their presence alone shifted the atmosphere. The conversations stopped, movements stilled, and every employee straightened instinctively.
The sales manager stepped forward immediately, his posture slightly bent in respect.
"Wee, sir," he said, extending his hand.
Denzel gave a brief nod and shook it, maintaining his usualposed demeanor.
"Please, this way," the manager added, gesturing toward the office cabin.
As the group began moving forward, a faint whisper rose from the employees standing nearby.
"Are they all even going to fit in there?" someone murmured. "Our department is too small for this many people..."
Juniper stood quietly among her colleagues.
"Juniper, bring the sales report," the manager ordered abruptly.
Juniper’s eyes widened slightly.
’How am I supposed to present this now?’ she thought. ’He rejected it earlier.’
She leaned slightly toward Sarah and whispered under her breath, "He already said it was wrong."
Sarah gave her a quick look.
"Just take it," she said. "You know how he is. You’ve calcted everything three times, and the results were consistent."
Juniper hesitated for a second, then nodded.
Taking a steady breath, she picked up the file and walked toward the cabin.
As she entered, she greeted everyone with a small, respectful bow before cing the report neatly on the desk.
"Director, you could have simply called me to your office," the manager said in an overly humble tone. "There was no need for you toe all the way here."
Then he turned slightly. "Miss Vitilleo, serve coffee to everyone."
Juniper nodded, about to step forward, when a staff member entered carrying a tray of coffee cups.
She quickly moved to assist him, carefully cing the cups on the table in front of the seated officials.
Denzel, meanwhile, remained silent. His gaze shifted around the room.
Through the ss window, he could see the rest of the department, rows of desks packed too closely together, employees barely having enough space to movefortably.
The cramped working conditions did not escape his notice.
"Sir," the manager continued, picking up the report, "the data has been calcted three times to ensure there are no errors."
He deliberately avoided mentioning Juniper’s name.
"I am confident that the fashion model we are nning to introduce will perform exceptionally well in the female market."
He spoke with increasing enthusiasm.
"We expect to reach break-even within six months, after which the profits will start flowing steadily into thepany."
Denzel’s assistant began reviewing the report carefully.
But Denzel himself was still observing the surroundings, his attention lingering not just on the report, but on everything happening around him.
"What about here? This dip in the data. Why is it here?" asked Denzel’s assistant from the manager.