Emma rushed through the glass doors of Sterling & Co., her heart pounding in her chest. Her first day, and she was already late. The company’s strict card-based entry system meant there was no hiding it. She could already picture the HR manager’s disapproving look as she scanned her card at the security gate.

“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.

“You too, huh?”

Emma turned to find a woman standing beside her, holding an identical employee card between her fingers. She was tall, dressed in an elegant black blazer over a simple white blouse, her dark hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail. But what caught Emma’s attention was her kind of smirk—calm, confident, and entirely unfazed by their shared predicament.

“Yeah,” Emma sighed. “Not the best first impression.”

The woman chuckled. “It’s just a few minutes. They won’t fire you on day one.”

Emma swiped her card, hearing the soft beep of the gate unlocking. “Hopefully.”

They walked toward the elevators together, Emma stealing a glance at her unexpected companion. She looked effortlessly put together—no signs of the frantic rush Emma had just been through. Maybe she was a senior employee or someone important.

“So, new here?” the woman asked.

Emma nodded. “Yeah. First day. I barely slept, and then the subway decided to betray me.”

“Ouch,” the woman said with a sympathetic nod. “Welcome to the jungle.”

Emma laughed. “I’ll take that as a warning.”

They stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind them. The silence stretched for a moment before Emma turned to her. “What about you? Late often?”

The woman hesitated, then smiled. “You could say that"

"You shouldn't be late to work too much. This company will decrease your salary. Mine also got so" The woman add in.

She talked and not looked at Emma.

The elevator chimed, stopping at one of the upper floors. As the doors slid open, the woman turned to Emma. “Good luck today.”

Emma smiled. “Thanks. You too.”

Then she was gone, disappearing into the hallway before Emma could ask for her name.

In the way to the department place, Emma was still thinking about her elevator companion when she arrived at her department. The office was a blend of sleek modern design and quiet efficiency, with rows of desks, glass-walled meeting rooms, and the soft hum of conversations.

Her new manager, a sharp-looking woman named Karen, greeted her with a polite smile. “Emma, welcome to the team. I hope your first day goes smoothly.”

“Thank you,” Emma said, trying not to let her nerves show.

Karen gestured toward an empty desk. “That’ll be yours. Take some time to settle in, and I’ll introduce you to the rest of the department later.”

Emma nodded, setting down her bag and turning on her computer. Just as she started exploring the company’s internal software, a voice cut through the office.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Emma looked up.

Standing near the entrance, effortlessly poised, was the woman from the elevator.

Her dark blazer was unbuttoned now, and she held a tablet in one hand, her gaze sweeping across the room with quiet authority.

Emma blinked in surprise. She works here too?

The room had shifted the moment she arrived—postures straightened, conversations lowered, and all attention was subtly drawn to her.

Karen turned to Emma. “That’s Lena Sterling. She doesn’t come down here often, but when she does, everyone pays attention.”

Emma nodded slowly, studying Lena as she exchanged words with a few employees near the entrance. There was something about her presence—she wasn’t just a regular worker. Maybe a department head? Someone important, clearly.

Lena’s eyes briefly flickered to Emma’s, and for the second time that morning, Emma found herself caught in that knowing gaze.

Lena smirked—just slightly—before returning to her conversation.

Emma quickly looked down at her screen, heart beating faster than she’d like.

Who exactly is she?

In her office room, Lena sighed, leaning back in her chair as she scrolled through a luxury gift catalog.

Watches? No, too formal. Designer bags? Feels a little weird. Oh! A limited edition gaming console!

She tapped her fingers on her desk. That could work! Surely, employees would love that as a performance bonus. But the thought of standing in front of everyone to announce it made her stomach flip.

Maybe she could just leave the gifts in their offices with a mysterious note. "From a generous yet anonymous source"… No, that sounds like a mob boss move."

Just as she was contemplating hiring someone to do the announcements for her, her assistant, Noah, knocked on the door.

“Uh, Lena, your grandfather just called. He wants to talk about the… uh… sports yard thing?”

Lena groaned and dropped her head onto her desk.

---

Lena sat in her grandfather’s massive office, staring at the ridiculous golden eagle statue on his desk. The thing was bigger than her head, and its beady little eyes made her feel like she was already losing this argument.

“A sports yard, Lena?” her grandfather, Richard Sterling, asked, his gray brows lifting. “You just graduated, and now you want to invest in sports?”

“It’s not for me,” Lena said, already feeling frustrated. “It’s for the employees. A place for them to exercise, play games, socialize—”

“You mean a place where they can waste time instead of working?”

Lena gaped at him. “No! It’s for morale! Productivity! People who exercise work better, right?”

Grandpa took a slow sip of his tea, looking utterly unimpressed. “Lena, business is not a playground. If we wanted happy employees, we would give them raises, not basketball courts.”

Lena clenched her fists. “So do that!”

“Raises are expensive.”

“So are burnt-out employees.”

He sighed, setting down his tea with an exaggerated clink. “And how, exactly, are you paying for this grand project? Your salary is fixed.”

“I… I have savings!”

He tilted his head. “You mean your allowance.”

“…Same thing.”

He stared at her. She stared back. A long silence stretched between them before he spoke again, his voice completely serious.

“Sell your watch.”

Lena’s mouth fell open. “What? No.”

He gestured toward her wrist, where a sleek, ultra-expensive luxury watch sat, catching the light. “You’re wearing a watch worth more than most people’s cars. Sell it, and you’ll have enough to build your little… sports facility.”

Lena clutched her wrist like he’d asked her to cut off a limb. “Absolutely not.”

“You have dozens of watches,” he pointed out.

“This one is different!”

“Is it made of magic?”

“No, but—” She gritted her teeth. “It’s the only thing I bought with my own money.”

Grandpa gave her a look. “Your own money, which came from your allowance.”

"But I can sell my sport car.

Grandpa seems panic, briefly cut her off. "Anything but that"

Lena stood up, her chair scraping back against the marble floor. “You know what? Fine. I’ll find another way.”

“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”

Lena turned on her heel. “By earning it.”

He seemed to be used of her attitude not even calling her back.

She stormed out of the office, pulling out her phone as she walked down the hall. The moment her assistant, Oliver, picked up, he got straight to the point.

“Oliver, how do I earn money without technically breaking any corporate policies?”

There was a long pause.

“…Lena, please don’t start an underground casino.”

Emma had only been at the company for a few days, but she was already noticing something odd.

There were whispers.

Small conversations around the office, hushed voices near the coffee machine, and employees sharing wide-eyed looks before shaking their heads. She caught bits and pieces.

“Did you hear? Another gift delivery…”

“Who’s funding this?”

“I swear, someone’s got a secret agenda.”

“Maybe it’s an undercover billionaire.”

Emma frowned as she walked to the break room. She had no idea what they were talking about, but judging by the way everyone was reacting, something unusual was happening.

Then came the incident with the gaming consoles.

Emma had just settled at her desk when an email notification popped up in the company-wide chat:

“Congratulations to this month’s top performers! Your rewards will be delivered shortly.”

A few minutes later, a delivery guy walked into the office carrying three massive boxes, each labeled with the name of an employee. The recipients opened them, only to reveal…

Gaming consoles.

Not just any gaming consoles, but the limited-edition ones that had sold out instantly upon release.

Emma watched as the office erupted into shocked murmurs. Even Karen, her manager, looked baffled.

“Who authorized this?” someone asked.

“No idea,” another replied.

A programmer from the tech department leaned in, lowering his voice dramatically. “I heard it’s someone high up in the company.”

Emma raised an eyebrow. Someone high up?

She thought back to the woman from the elevator—Lena, the confident yet oddly familiar-looking employee. Could it be her?

She shook her head. No way. The Lena she met was too casual, too… normal.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something weird was going on.

And she was determined to find out what.

The "Secret VIP" Investigation

Emma had never been the type to poke her nose into company gossip, but the rumors were getting out of hand. The gaming consoles were just the start. Over the next few days, more unusual things kept happening:

Someone anonymously ordered high-end ergonomic chairs for certain departments.

A popular café suddenly gave all company employees a 50% discount—no one knew who arranged it.

A delivery of gourmet chocolates mysteriously appeared in the finance department.

The theories were getting wilder.

“I bet it’s the CEO,” someone whispered.

“No way. Maybe it’s a secret investor?”

“What if it’s a billionaire undercover?”

Emma didn’t know what to believe anymore, but she was sure of one thing—this was weird.

Then, one morning, she accidentally got herself into trouble.

It started with an email mix-up. Emma received a message about a private meeting in one of the upper-floor conference rooms. It wasn’t meant for her—she was sure of it—but curiosity got the best of her.

What if it’s connected to all these weird gifts?

She arrived at the meeting room early, looking around nervously. There was only one other person inside—a woman standing near the window, looking at her phone.

Emma cleared her throat. “Uh, hi?”

The woman turned. Emma immediately recognized her.

Lena?

The same Lena from the elevator. The same Lena who casually chatted with her a few days ago.

“Oh,” Lena said, slipping her phone into her pocket. “You’re early.”

Emma’s heart pounded. What was she doing here? Did Lena know about the rumors too?

The other man in the meeting blurted out. “Why are you here?”

Emma froze. “Uh—”

Lena tilted her head. “Wait… was she not supposed to be?”

Oliver hesitated before lowering her voice. “This is a private discussion.”

Now both were staring at her. Emma felt her face heat up.

Oh god. I may have just crashed a VIP meeting.

She panicked. “I—I thought this was for new employees!”

Lena blinked. “New employees?”

Oliver groaned. “This is a department budget discussion.”

A long silence.

Emma wished the floor would swallow her whole.

“…Oh,” she said weakly.

Lena, to her credit, looked highly amused.

“Well,” Lena said, grinning, “since you’re here, any thoughts on how we should spend the budget?”

Emma awkwardly laughed. “Uh… maybe more gaming consoles?”

Lena snorted, and buried her face in her hands.

Chapter 3.5: The Mysterious Gifts Keep Coming

Emma thought the gaming consoles were strange, but things only got weirder.

First, there were the chairs.

One morning, the HR department walked in to find that every single desk had been upgraded with high-end ergonomic chairs. The kind with lumbar support, cooling gel cushions, and armrests that adjusted in more ways than a human shoulder should allow.

“Who approved this?” Karen asked, poking one of the chairs suspiciously.

No one knew.

“I heard they just arrived this morning,” someone whispered.

“The CEO must really care about employee comfort…” another speculated.

Emma frowned. Again with the CEO rumors?

But before she could dwell on it, the coffee incident happened.

The Cafeteria Discount Mystery

Emma had gotten used to buying her morning coffee from the company’s cafeteria. It was overpriced, but she needed caffeine to survive.

So when she tapped her employee card at the register, she was stunned to see the price.

50% OFF.

“Huh?” She looked at the cashier. “Is this a mistake?”

The cashier shook his head. “Nope. New company benefit. Someone arranged a discount for employees.”

“Who?”

The cashier shrugged. “Dunno. Just got an email about it this morning.”

The office gossip machine went into overdrive.

“Maybe it’s a new policy?”

“No way. The higher-ups don’t give things.”

“It’s the mystery benefactor again.”

Emma was beginning to think she had joined a company with a ghost patron.

The Gourmet Chocolate Conundrum

By the time the chocolate incident happened, Emma was done trying to understand.

She was walking past the finance department when she saw a small crowd gathered around a table. Curious, she peeked inside.

Sitting there was a massive box of gourmet chocolates, arranged like an expensive jewelry set.

“I found it on my desk this morning,” one of the accountants said, bewildered.

Emma glanced at the attached note.

“To Finance: Because working with numbers all day is hard. Enjoy.”

No name. No signature.

At this point, she wasn’t even surprised.

But what did surprise her was what she saw next—down the hall, in the recreational area, workers were gathered around something new.

A brand-new table tennis setup.

Emma’s jaw dropped.

“Where did this come from?” she asked.

No one had an answer.

But someone whispered, “Whoever’s doing this, they think practically. First chairs, now coffee, then chocolates, and now this?”

Emma crossed her arms. This was no longer just gossip. This was a full-blown mystery.