Kai Xin went to office the next day and overheard some of her colleagues talking bad about her.
She was using the toilet when she heard footsteps outside her cubicle.
From the sound of it, there were two people in the room. Just as she was about to leave, she heard them talking.
"You know, I'm surprised she's still here. I thought that the acquisition has been completed?"
"I think she has an ulterior motive."
Kai Xin recognized the first voice as Ying Ying, the accountant, and the second voice as Yan Yan, management associate.
Since she knew that these two were the gossip girls of the company, she decided to stay in case they knew something that she did not.
After all, she had yet to catch the pervert. Any clue would be better than nothing.
Ying Ying asked, "Maybe she's trying to hit on President Du?"
Yan Yan shook her head, "No way! He always called her into his office and scolded her. His secretary said that he even slammed his pen down when she was talking to him, and he has never done that before!"
There was a giggle before Yan Yan continued, "Besides, don't you know? President Du swings for the same team."
The girls laughed. When their laughter piped down, Ying Ying thought out loud, "Maybe she's trying to get with someone else..."
Yan Yan agreed, "Maybe it's one of the upper management. I noticed that Richard always stares at her."
"Ew! That Richard Lee? He's so uptight with the dress code yet I always caught him staring at girls! She can have him then. I'm not interested."
Yan Yan laughed, "Even if you are interested, I doubt he would like you."
When Ying Ying pouted, Yan Yan asked in a serious tone, "Have you heard? They found hidden cameras in the women's toilets in the other floors."
Ying Ying gasped, "What?! Still?! "
"Everytime it was removed, it would appear again after a few days!"
"Damn!" Ying Ying glanced around, "Do you think there's a hidden camera here?"
"I asked the cleaners. They came earlier and did a thorough cleaning. There's nothing here. Whoever it was, it must be someone who had access to all the floors in the buildings at night."
"That's like all the upper management!"
Kai Xin heard the door opened and she managed to catch Yan Yan's last sentence before the door closed behind her,
"There is no way I'm working late until they catch the pervert."
Walking out of her cubicle, Kai Xin thought, "Working late, huh? That's a good idea."
....
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of K Holdings, Callum stood up when he saw his secretary led the man that he was interested in into his office.
For the past 10 years, he had been trying to recruit the man.
The moment he heard that the man agreed to sign the contract with him, he immediately turned the entire office to be wheelchair friendly.
"Lu ZiYan, welcome to K Holdings!" greeted Callum with a smile as he offered his hand.
Phantom took his hand with a smile and said, "It's my pleasure."
Callum had been a big fan of Lu ZiYan, the 'Thousand Hands God', since he watched the 6th World Hackers Series 12 years ago.
An unknown newcomer joined under the pseudonym, 'Phantom', and without any difficulties, he defeated all the heavyweights.
The organizers even gave him the nickname, 'Thousand Hands God'.
When his age was revealed by one of the jealous competitors in an attempt to disqualify him, it shook the entire hacking world.
Barely 17, Lu ZiYan managed to win against world renowned hackers.
What was even more shocking was, he had just started to learn about hacking a year prior to the 6th World Hackers Series.
Callum sipped on his coffee as he watched his secretary brought Phantom over to his assigned seating which was the room right next to Callum's office.
To him, Phantom was worth more than the entire office combined and even though he was younger and had less experience, he deserved the room more than others.
Callum sighed when he watched Phantom wheeled himself around as the secretary introduced him to everyone.
He recalled that 12 years ago, Phantom was still able to walk. When he first opened K Holdings, the first person he asked to join him was Phantom.
However, the young Phantom rejected his offer with the excuse that he wanted to focus in his studies.
Pulling out the laminated newspaper article that he had kept in the drawer of his desk, Callum read the title of the old article, "Tragic accident took 4 lives and left one seriously injured".
Back then, because of his action when he was in high school, everyone in the hacking world had great expectations for him.
The moment he reached legal age, Phantom was personally invited by the organizers of World Hackers Series.
With the prize money that reached millions, there were many stakes at play and many enemies to be made.
With his ability, Phantom managed to easily win the top place for three continuous years.
However, his winnings coupled with his arrogance provoked the ire of others and it made him a lot of enemies.
One of them was a fellow hacker who was also an avid gambler who needed the prize money to pay for his debts that amounted to millions.
When he approached Phantom and begged him to give up on the competition, the latter had laughed at him and said,
"Are you seriously so pathetic that you needed me to give up? Let me tell you something. Even if I were to give up, the probability of you winning the series is still 0."
Since the debtors were threatening him and he himself was tired of hiding, the hacker decided to end his life and he wanted to take Phantom with him.
On the last day of the 10th World Hacker Series, he waited outside the arena.
When he saw Phantom's car driving in, he accelerated and rammed into Phantom's car.
The impact killed the hacker but it also took the lives of Phantom's entire family.
As far as Callum knows, Phantom never joined the World Hackers Series after that. Instead, he started working for a small company.
As Callum placed the newspaper back into the drawer, he thought about how different Phantom's attitude was compared to the first time they met.
Back then, he was a youth who was extremely proud of his own abilities and without an ounce of humility in him.
The Phantom that Callum just talked to? He was a completely different man.