Bai Ling kneeled on the floor, crying. Everyone followed Cui Wenhao’s lead and no one was willing to speak up for Bai Ling.
A few people looked on coldly as it did not concern them, a few avoided her gaze as they felt guilty, a few fueled the flames of her situation, gloating over it, while some others felt uneasy and anxious.
There were so many varying types of attitudes in such a small design department.
Wen Xinya’s expression was dark, and she pursed her lips, not saying anything.
Cui Wenhao felt happy to see such a situation. “Miss Wen, even if Bai Ling is not the spy, she did not safekeep our design drafts properly. This led to the designs being leaked and caused the corporation to suffer from accusations that could lead to our reputation being ruined. She should be punished.”
“Team Leader Cui is right, we should punish Bai Ling!”
“Bai Ling deserves severe punishment for leaking the designs!”
“…”
Everyone joined in to support Cui Wenhao.
Cui Wenhao had been working in Wen Corporation for over ten years with good personal relations and was a team leader in the design department. Many were willing to believe him.
What was most important was that Miss Wen came with the intention to find out who the spy was and anybody might become her target, causing them to be under investigation. Now, Bai Ling seemed to be the biggest suspect, so why not just kick her out and get this entire thing done and over with?
Everyone had their own thoughts and calculations about it.
In a moment, everyone was accusing Bai Ling of being the spy.
“I’m not the spy, I didn’t leak out the designs…”
Bai Ling was extremely shocked and did not expect that the colleagues that she usually got along well with were not only not helping her, but also accusing her of being the spy. This was a huge blow to her.
Jing Jing was the first to put her foot down about this incident and frustratedly said, “Bai Ling is not the spy, don’t wrong her. If you have the ability, show the evidence, we can use speculation and investigation to decide.”
She would be the last person to believe that Bai Ling was a spy.
Nan Nan was a little calmer and looked at Wen Xinya, who was silent. “Sister Xinya, Bai Ling is pure and genuine and is usually a careless person. Hence, she can’t be the spy. We trust her.”
Wen Xinya was about to open her mouth and speak.
At the moment, Cui Wenhao said, “Bai Ling’s pure and genuine personality does not remove her from being a suspect. You are close to her and had a chance to come into contact with the designs, so you are a suspect as well.”
What he said shocked everyone, as no one thought that those words would come out of his mouth.
Nan Nan turned pale instantly and forgot to retaliate.
Then, Wen Xinya spoke, “Bai Ling, get up!”
She looked at Bai Ling, crying on the floor, with an authority that could not be rejected.
Bai Ling looked at her, stunned, with red puffy eyes and a face full of grievance.
“I believe that you are not the spy.” She then shot her sharp eyes straight towards Cui Wenhao majestically and with the air of a superior. “Because someone else is the spy, am I right? Team Leader Cui!”
In fact, after the designs were leaked, she had started to filter through the possible suspects, but she did not suspect Cui Wenhao at all. After all, he had worked at the Wen Corporation for over ten years and had shown good performance all this time.
Who knew that, once Cui Wenhao found out she did not know who the spy was, he desperately pushed Bai Ling to take the blame in order to absolve himself of any suspicion, and even dragged Nan Nan.
After all, Bai Ling was the biggest suspect, and it would make it easier for everyone to trust him if he accused her. As long as the majority believed it was Bai Ling, it would not matter whether Bai Ling was a spy or not, and she had to punish Bai Ling either way.
Cui Wenhao panicked under her sharp gaze and tried his best to calm down. “Miss Wen, what do you mean? Everyone in the department agrees that Bai Ling is our biggest suspect, so who else could it be?”
At that moment, Cui Wenhao felt as if something bad was about to happen, as things were progressing to a stage where he could not control it anymore.
It was obvious to blame Bai Ling since she was the biggest suspect.
Everyone agreed, and it was impossible for Miss Wen to ignore everyone’s opinions.
However, what Miss Wen meant—
Wen Xinya said, “You are the spy.”
Her words were just like a heavy bomb that landed straight into the fashion design department, and everyone was extremely shocked. They felt that it was inconceivable.
“How could it be Team Leader Cui…”
“Impossible, Team Leader Cui has been working for the Wen Corporation for so many years…”
“Team Leader Cui takes his work seriously and has good ties with everyone in the department…”
Wen Xinya indifferently listened to their reactions to Cui Wenhao being called the spy and did not care about it.
It was precisely because Cui Wenhao had been working for the Wen Corporation for so many years with a good network and good ties, so no one believed that he was a spy, she included.
However, no matter how well she guarded the designs, it was leaked anyway.
Cui Wenhao, as Li Corporation’s chess piece, was truly embedded deeply inside Wen Corporation.
Cui Wenhao revealed a smile on his face. “Miss Wen, please bring out the proof that I’m the spy. With just a couple of sentences, it’s hard to convince everyone.”
He was confident that Wen Xinya would not be able to produce any evidence.
Without evidence, they could not ascertain that he was the spy, and Wen Xinya would be unable to punish him.
Wen Xinya coldly laughed. “You think I can’t deal with you just because I don’t have proof?” She laughed lightly again, with scorn and sarcasm. “Who do you think you are? Do you think I need proof to deal with you?”
The crowd broke into a commotion as soon as she said her words. Her words surprised everyone.
Even Cui Wenhao revealed a face full of disbelief. “Miss Wen, you…”
He almost forgot that Wen Xinya never did things the usual way.
Wen Xinya cut him off and spoke with an extremely cold voice, “In my investigation, we don’t need any proof. I’d rather kill off a hundred innocent than let go of one suspect. If I suspect that you are the spy, then you are the spy.” She then carefully looked at everyone around with a cold and unmoving face and suffocating authority. “Any opinions?”
She would rather take a hundred lives than risk letting a single enemy escape. To kill a hundred innocent rather than let go of one suspect!
This sentence was domineering and was not to be taken lightly.
Everyone felt threatened and scared by what Wen Xinya said, and no one dared to even utter a “No”. If they accidentally implicated themselves, they may become one of the hundred innocent people that Miss Wen “kills”.
At that moment, Cui Wenhao panicked. “Miss Wen, I’m not the spy…”
Wen Xinya ignored his explanation and just said, “Bring him down and question him well. If he refuses to speak, then make him bear with just one meal a day, without water. I guarantee that he will speak in three days.”
“This is private imprisonment, this is illegal…”
However, no one cared about what he said…