Chapter 31: The Computer Had A Virus
Chapter 31: The Computer Had A Virus
The next day, Janessa received a message when she reached the ground floor of the Lu Group building.
"The group leader is in a real bad mood.Be careful when you enter the office today,"the message read.
Janessa skimmed through the message and decided not to make a huge deal out of it.
In her eyes, she hadn't done anything to warrant Sally's wrath.
The moment Janessa stepped into the office, she saw Sally standing in the middle of the hall and cursing to herself.
When Sally spotted Janessa, Sally immediately approached her and yelled, "Where were you yesterday? I want you to explain why you bailed on work for no reason! There was an unsettling edge to her voice.
Sally whipped out her phone to show Janessa the record of her absence.
"I tried to call you yesterday, but you never answered any of my calls.I even sent you a message on WeChat!" Janessa explained.
Janessa knew that Sally was determined to find any fault in her, so she took care to do everything perfectly, so Sally wouldn't have a reason to insult her like this.
However, it seemed as if Sally was still able to find an opportunity to deal with her.
In Sally's eyes, Janessa was her worst enemy.She would never let Janessa go without a fight.
"What did you say to me? WeChat message? I can't believe you had the nerve to ask for leave through a WeChat message! Why do you keep disappointing me like this? You have no initiative, and it seems
like you don't find this job worth your time.Did you honestly think you could be idle in a prestigious company like this?"
Sally scolded loud enough for everyone to hear as if Janessa had committed an unforgivable crime.
"Everyone, listen to me carefully," Sally continued as her eyes scanned the whole office.
"If you have plans to come and go as you like, the Lu Group is not the place for you.All employees must abide by our rules and behave themselves.Janessa, as punishment for your crude behavior, I order you to clean the toilets for the entire week." The Lu Group already had an excellent staff of cleaners.
Sally was clearly trying to humiliate Janessa by forcing her to clean the toilets.
Instead of assigning relevant work to Janessa, Sally had tasked her to do the cleaning instead.
"I also asked Linda for a leave, and she agreed to my request," Janessa defended.
Her words acted like a grenade that had just exploded in the hall of the Planning Department.
Janessa's words was like a slap across Sally's face.The words she spoke evoked as much pain and humiliation to Sally.
If Sally hadn't gone on a rampage just now, this situation wouldn't have been as humiliating for her.
Her eyes blazed with fury as she glared at Janessa.
She was unaware that Janessa had gotten permission from Linda.
If Janessa had mentioned it sooner, Sally wouldn't have made a fool of herself in front of everyone.
‘’This damned woman is a snake, ‘' Sally thought to herself.
"Janessa, I'm not sure if you're aware, but I am your group leader.You didn't ask for my permission and instead went to my direct supervisor.Who do you think you are? If you think this job is beneath you, then it would be best for you to leave right now.The Lu Group doesn't need an employee like you!"
After that, Sally stormed into Linda's office with a file in her hand.
Linda's office had been soundproofed, so the crowd that had formed outside couldn't hear what they were discussing.
However, they could guess that Sally probably informed Linda of what had happened.
Janessa returned to her seat as if nothing had happened.
An hour later, Sally finally stepped out of Linda's office.
Her eyes looked red and swollen, but her colleagues pretended as if they didn't see it.
Sally approached Janessa's desk and handed over a folder and USB flash drive to her.
She looked up in surprise since she had no idea what Sally was up to this time.
"These are the files for the three o'clock meeting this afternoon.Please sort them out before the meeting begins,"
Sally instructed and then walked away.
‘Why is Sally suddenly acting so polite towards me? It's too good to be true...' Janessa thought to herself.
After all, Sally was notorious for being a difficult person to work with, but now she had assigned a task to Janessa in a polite manner.
Janessa couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
Looking around the room, Janessa glanced at the interns to see if any of them were free to help her out.
However, they all seemed like they had work to do, so she decided to do the task herself.
As she was printing out the files, she noticed Shelby's business plan among the papers.
It seemed as if her plan was going to be finalized during the meeting.
Janessa opened the files on her computer and marked the points she would be asking questions and added some details.
This way, the business plan looked more coherent.
After lunch, she finally finished sorting out the files when something unexpected occurred as she was saving them for printing.
The files had been corrupted and had turned into unintelligible codes.The other documents also held a virus that infected the computer.
All of the files became unrecognizable.Her computer had been working fine in the morning.
How did it get a virus so soon? It was an odd coincidence, and Janessa had a bad feeling about it.
At that time, Sally came over to Janessa's seat and knocked on the desk.
"Are the files prepared? The meeting is going to take place an hour earlier than planned.I hope you're ready for it," she said.
If the meeting was going to be held an hour earlier, then the meeting would be at two o'clock instead of three o'clock.
It was currently fifteen minutes before two o'clock.
There wouldn't be enough time for Janessa to sort through the files a second time.
What a coincidence! "Hey! What are you staring at me for? Are the files ready? Everyone's waiting for you!" Sally urged.
"My computer just got a virus.Unfortunately, the files have been destroyed," Janessa explained, but it was useless.
"You accused me of not giving you important work to do around here.The moment I give you an urgent task, your computer suddenly has a virus.Stop making up excuses!" Sally replied.
Her voice wasn't as loud as it usually was when she addressed Janessa. Instead, she had a calm demeanor, which was more unsettling.
"I'm not sure what happened. My computer suddenly got a virus after you handed the files to me," Janessa remarked.
She attempted to explain that the virus had nothing to do with her.
"None of the other computers have viruses except for yours. What did you do with your computer? All of the computers in the Lu Group are equipped with protective measures against all kinds viruses. How did your computer manage to get a virus? That's strange."
The Lu Group maintained high standards for the equipment that they used inside the office.
Every year, they hired professional people and paid them generously to rebuild the firewalls to ensure that the data was protected at all times.
Sally remained calm when she found out that Janessa's computer had gotten a virus.
That was enough confirmation that she was the one behind this.
Unfortunately, Janessa didn't have any solid evidence to prove it.
"You will be punished for this, Janessa.Shelby, print out the plan I asked for.Everyone, come to the meeting room right away."
After she finished giving her instructions, Sally smugly made her way towards the meeting room.
It had taken her the whole night to hatch this plan.
She was confident that if she pushed Janessa hard enough, Janessa would leave the company on her own, or even better, get fired.
However, she was mistaken.
Janessa wasn't easily swayed by pranks like this.
She merely reformatted and reloaded her computer system, and continued to work again.
Janessa wasn't interested in attending the meeting in the first place.
As she thought of the events that had just transpired, she realized that Sally definitely hated her.
After printing out the plan, Shelby followed the others into the meeting room.
When Janessa looked up, she noticed Shelby wiping her tears.
Standing outside the door of the meeting room, Shelby quickly collected herself and took a deep breath before she pushed the door open.Shelby hadn't been like this moments ago.
Why was she suddenly crying? Sally was the only one who had spoken to Shelby moments before she burst into tears.
What did Sally do to her? After the meeting, Sally came out of the meeting room with a bright smile on her face.
Shelby looked somber as she followed closely behind Sally.
"What's wrong, Shelby?"
Janessa had a hunch that Sally was behind this, but Shelby only shook her head.
"I'm fine.I'm just a little tired."
With a bitter smile, Shelby lowered her head.
A tear streamed down her face as she walked away.