Even if he had to use his last bit of strength, Jacob decided to steel himself and that he would still hold
on until the end.
The road was long, but never lonely. He had his own lover and family to support him along the way.
The sheer difficulty of the task didn't bother him. He believed that as long as he continued to work hard,
everything would pay off in the end.
Hard work might not necessarily pay off in the real world, but it was better than nothing. It was miles
better than not doing anything at all to defend what was rightfully his.
He took another sip of his tea and began to read the documents one after another.
He frowned as he observed the documents piled up on the table. These were the new plans made by
the directors, and some of them were the company's annual report.
These reports represented the company's future and performance, but as to how they were presented
to him, they were nothing but a heap of numbers and words of data. Everything in this world could be
expressed in the form of carefully organized data and reports.
From time to time, he would take a sip of his tea as he browsed through the files to at least replenish
his energy and maintain his focus. He leaned over his hand to rest his head for a bit.
His temples were throbbing, he could totally use a head massage. He spaced out and stared into
oblivion. Even though he was intently looking at the document, his mind wandered around being lost in
the world of ideas.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Come in."
He looked up and saw Cindy standing by the door. She stood there with the same anxious expression.
The mixture of guilt could also be observed on her face.
"Mr. Jacob, something happened." As she spoke, she nervously walked towards his desk. She
suddenly stopped as soon as she got to about one meter away from the desk.
"What's wrong?" He raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
"Mr. Jacob, that document is indeed missing. To top it off, the other company seems to have found out
about its disappearance. So, the situation is more complicated now." Her eyes were full of anxiety and
fear.
She had been in the company for a long time and was familiar with everything in it. Never in her entire
career did she think that all her efforts would be in vain because such a trivial matter.
The guilt she was feeling was overwhelming, but she pushed through and struggled to find a solution.
"How did they know?" He frowned. Those signed contracts were the evidence of cooperation, and that
was a top secret document, so it was only natural to assume that whoever stole it waited for a perfect
chance to strike in the most difficult times for them.
"I don't know, but they seemed to be a little angry, and they think we've been neglecting our duties of
keeping the document sealed away from any attempt of information theft. Mr. Jacob, I apologize. I
sifted through a lot of places looking for the file, but I just can't find it. And I didn't see anyone go to the
office when I examined all the footage in the surveillance videos. I—"
Her face remained the same, but one could tell it was gradually becoming more intense.
"Don't worry. You have to continue to look for the document and inform the others of the seriousness of
the matter if necessary. We can't afford for any of this to grow even more complicated than it already is.
It wouldn't be of much use for others who took that file, so you don't have to worry about it for the time
being."
He looked calm, showing almost no trace of blaming her.
"But Mr. Jacob, the security of that document was my responsibility. After this matter is settled, I will
make sure to take the blame and willfully resign. I'm willing to be punished for my grave mistake of
neglecting my duties."
She looked determined despite facing such an otherwise devastating circumstance. All that was in her
heart was a tremendous sense of guilt, and all that emotion gushed out of her veins that one would
worry about her falling ill.
She felt like being a scared bird, frightened of anything that anyone would say about her.
Jacob surely noticed this, and he couldn't help but feel a growing sadness in his heart. He knew what
impact she had done for the company, and he was in no position to decide that one mistake would
outweigh all those accomplishments. He just couldn't bring himself to blame her for everything.
Not everyone was a saint. Everyone would make mistake at some point of their lives, especially
something like this. Besides, there was no reason for him to think that everything was her fault. She
was simply doing her job.
"Cindy, let me make this clear to you. Even if you can't find the document, you don't have to resign. You
know damn well that it's not an easy task for me to find a good assistant that can fill your shoes. Even if
you can't find the file, I'll try my best to solve it myself. Don't blame yourself for this, do you
understand?" he explained.
His unwavering confidence and heart allowed him to feel that he would triumph over something as
serious as this.
"Mr. Jacob, I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I should have kept the document where it's safe. I locked the
door, but before I knew it, the file was gone. I—"
Finally, she began to sob, but it was not because of guilt. Her sobbing was more of a response to her
being moved by his mercy.
Others didn't understand Jacob enough, but as his assistant, Cindy understood him better than
anyone. Every day, he had to do more things many times over than most employees within the
company. Ironically, they were the ones most bitter about the whole thing.
The reason why someone could stand at the pinnacle of the corporate world must be that she or he
had worked tenfold than others. Even those who seemed to be lucky might have made great effort
better than others.
People had to work hard to achieve the comfort that they deserved. She knew this, too. Better than
anyone.
From the humble beginning as a fresh graduate to the competent assistant of the CEO, her efforts
were priceless. So she knew how hard it must be for Jacob, the one who stood at a position higher
than her.
The root of her guilt was the fact that she understood him. Also for the fact that she was most grateful
to him. Her mood at the moment was as intense as if she had been fired. 'No, it was more intense than
being fired, ' she reckoned.
At least when one was fired, one would be rid of all the responsibilities, but she was still there facing
the odds that were stacked against her. It was quite obvious that she made a mistake, but he forgave
her unconditionally.
Now, all that she could do was to clench her fists and push through. Maybe it was because of the cold
weather, or perhaps solely because of her emotions, but her hands were as cold as ice straight out of
the fridge.
"Stop it. These things are inevitable. You are not to blame for something like this. If someone indeed
took it, just try to minimize the loss. This is not your fault. If anything, it's their mistake to steal
something not theirs in the first place. Trust me, it wouldn't be much of a problem if we keep working
hard. There will be a lot of things in the future—problems that I reckon would be bigger than this. Just
go through them one step at a time."
He comforted her in a gentle tone. He couldn't afford to be stingy with encouragement when it came to
his favorite assistant. Even if he was compelled to punish her now, she had done a lot more that
benefitted the company.
"Mr. Jacob, I'll try looking for it again. I'll examine the surveillance video again, and try to interrogate the
people that might have something to do with it. I'll try my best to give you an acceptable report on this
matter. I promise you."
She sighed, but her statement was more like a goal she had set for herself.
"Okay, go ahead and continue with your work. Don't worry about it too much."
He gave her an encouraging smile.
She was capable, thoughtful, upright about her work, and most of all, smart. She was practically
irreplaceable. Where else could Jacob find such a talent?
She went and closed the door. She paused and stood there for a while, and heaved a sigh of relief.
Although he didn't blame her, the depressing feeling she was having before stepping into that door
lingered.
She looked around and felt someone's gaze carefully following her. But the moment she turned her
head left and right to catch who might have been observing her all this time, she didn't find anyone.
She sighed, and her suspicions only grew larger. She grew more suspicious overtime to the point that
almost every single person in the workplace she laid eyes on was a suspect.
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