“What?”

“Dong Wanqing previously told me that she was busy working in the office the entire morning, but when I asked her again, she said she spent the morning taking a nap!”

“How is that odd?” The pointless complaint annoyed Qin Jinhuan even more on top of his bad mood and his tone sharpened unknowingly—he was in no mood to fool around.

“That’s not the point—what’s odd is that Miss Yin told me she wasn’t feeling well this morning and took a nap in her lounge.”

“Both of them took a nap in the office?! At the same time?”

“Both of them answered similarly—they napped at around 10.00AM to 11.00AM. Moreover, they even mentioned that they weren’t aware if the other was in the office while they were resting; no one else was around to prove that they were there either.”

“Why didn’t Dong Wanqing tell you the truth previously?”

“She said that she assumed you guys were having an inspection, so she was afraid you’d fire her from a minor mistake since she already has a history of bad work ethics—that’s why she didn’t tell me about taking a nap during office hours. However, she eventually found out about the young mistress’ accident. In the end, she told us the truth after we grilled her endlessly—she was scared of the heavier consequences if she continued to lie.”

It was part of Qing Tian Group’s policy that employees weren’t allowed to perform activities unrelated to work during office hours—their performance bonus would be deducted for any minor violations of this rule, whereas severe misconducts would lead to their immediate dismissal and ineligibility to be rehired.

“Regarding the nap, which one of them told you about it first?”

“It was Miss Yin; since I’d already asked Dong Wanqing about it beforehand, I immediately went to Miss Yin after arriving at the office. That’s right—Liu from the infirmary also confirmed that Miss Yin visited him during noon. He said that Miss Yin was feeling dizzy and requested some medicine from him. As a result, he prescribed her some cold medication according to her symptoms. I had a feeling that Miss Yin was telling the truth, so I went to Dong Wanqing again. Upon hearing the same question for the second time, she changed her answer and told me that she had taken a nap all morning.”

“What do you think of their answers?” Qin Jinhuan frowned as he asked.

Bian Zijun paused for a moment before he answered carefully, “If we consider the silhouette in the basement parking lot, I think the young mistress’ car accident definitely has something to do with the two of them.”

“Let me handle this.” Just then, Rong Jian interrupted the conversation from Bian Zijun’s end. “This incident is definitely related to the two of them, but so far, we’re still unsure whether the silhouette was Yin Anran herself or Dong Wanqing—the latter could’ve posed as the former using her gait, hairstyle, and an appearance similar to hers. Of course, from the current clues that we’ve gathered, it seems more likely that Dong Wanqing framed Yin Anran for her dirty deed.”

Even though Rong Jian’s theory was spot-on to what Qin Jinhuan was thinking, he still had to ask for his justification. “What’s your reasoning?”

“I’m just saying it’s more likely; I’m not completely omitting Yin Anran’s possibility of being the mastermind behind the scenes. After all, this could also be a distraction that she’d staged for us. Anyhow, there are some critical details to think about before deducing the truth—for example, the two of them have the same hair color, so we need to find out which one of them dyed their hair first. The latter would probably be the one with ulterior motives. In regard to this, do you want to ask Yin Anran personally or should we find out for ourselves from their hair salon?”

“I’m about to reach the office.”

“I see, then you can ask them yourself. Let me know how it goes.”

“Sure.” With that, Qin Jinhuan hung up. As the car approached the main gate of the company, he immediately signaled Huang Bo to enter the basement parking lot.

A few minutes later, Huang Bo parked the car at his private parking space on the B1 floor of the company’s underground parking lot. Qin Jinhuan got down from his car and looked around on the spot.

At the Qing Tian Group, there was an outdoor parking lot by the main gate of the company which was specially allocated for clients or visitors with business dealings; employees generally parked in the basement parking lot unless there was an emergency. The basement parking lot consisted of two floors; the mid-level management and senior executives parked on the upper B1 level while regular employees parked on the lower B2 level.

Qin Jinhuan made his way to the emergency exit of the B1 parking lot and lifted his head to observe the CCTV mounted above. He noticed that the camera was a little crooked; if one had moved along the walls, they wouldn’t be picked up by the CCTV at all.

“This emergency exit is only open during office hours—they lock it in the evening. Besides, people seldom use the stairs and the basement parking lot can only be assessed by the company’s employees. Since visitors are unable to enter this area and there are security guards stationed outside the parking lot 24/7, the security department probably didn’t pay much attention to the condition of this particular CCTV,” Huang Bo explained softly next to him.

Qin Jinhuan didn’t respond; he went through the emergency exit and walked up the stairs steadily until he reached the sixth floor. Then, he pushed open the door and went across the lobby where Yin Anran and Dong Wanqing shared an office.

Some time ago, Qin Jinhuan had lightened Yin Anran’s workload to appease Mu Yu since she was jealous of the former. As a result, Yin Anran was unhappy about it; to express her dissatisfaction with Qin Jinhuan, she moved her office to a remote corner of the building near the emergency exit on the west side of the fifth floor.

Later on, when Qin Jinhuan decided to dismiss Dong Wanqing due to the candy incident with Qin Chengxi, Yin Anran had pleaded with Qin Jinhuan for Dong Wanqing’s sake. Yin Anran even promised that she would make sure Dong Wanqing wouldn’t cause the company any more trouble in the future—perhaps Yin Anran was worried that she’d jinx herself, so she requested for Dong Wanqing to share an office with her so that she could frequently remind the woman to behave herself.

Coincidentally, both the emergency exit and Yin Anran’s impromptu office weren’t equipped with CCTV cameras.

As Qin Jinhuan stood in the lobby, he noticed that there were water droplets on the sleek floor tiles. He suddenly thought of something and was about to tell Huang Bo about it when Rong Jian’s voice rang out from behind him. “The same cleaning lady is responsible for the first floor to the sixth floor. She cleans the floors in the morning and the afternoon, so there shouldn’t be any stains. I’ve already asked her about it—she said she hasn’t seen anyone leave through the emergency exit throughout the time she was on duty.”

“Where’s Anran and Dong Wanqing?”

“They’re in your office.”

When he heard that, Qin Jinhuan headed straight to the elevator and arrived at the floor where his office was located.

Wen Zeyu was on the phone as he stood by the entrance to Qin Jinhuan’s office; upon noticing Qin Jinhuan, he put away his phone immediately and walked over to him. “Why didn’t you tell me that something so serious happened to Yu, Huan? I just heard about it after coming back from Hui Ming Group! Aren’t you too… Hey! Huan!”

Qin Jinhuan ignored Wen Zeyu’s blabbering and walked into his office, slamming the door shut behind him with a bang.

The loud noise came as a shock to the two ladies in the office and they shuddered instinctively. When she saw that it was Qin Jinhuan, Yin Anran instantly broke into tears; she ran up to him and clutched his arm tightly as she asked in a whiny voice, “What in the world happened, Jinhuan? How did Mu Yu suddenly get into a car accident? Also, why did Rong Jian and Bian Zijun interrogate the both of us? They can’t be thinking that we’ve done it, right? We were in the office the whole time; it couldn’t have been us!”

Dong Wanqing nodded frantically like a hen pecking on some grains as she agreed, “Yes, yes, we were in the office the whole time—we can’t be in two places at the same time.”

Qin Jinhuan ignored their pleas and only studied their hair thoroughly.

Both of them had dyed their hair the same chestnut brown, and they styled it in big, loose curls as well. However, Dong Wanqing’s hair was slightly longer than Yin Anran’s; while Dong Wanqing liked to wear her hair down to look more mature and feminine, Yin Anran—who preferred more of an office lady look—often wore her hair up.

“Which one of you dyed your hair this color first?”

The two women jolted as they weren’t expecting such a question from him. A moment later, Yin Anran was the first to answer, “I did it first, but Wanqing thought it was pretty and dyed her hair the same color as me.”

After that, she took a glance at Dong Wanqing before asking Qin Jinhuan warily, “Why are you asking about this, Jinhuan?”

Qin Jinhuan didn’t respond; he unlocked his phone and showed her a screenshot of the CCTV footage that Bian Zijun had sent him. “Have you seen this ring before?”

Yin Anran squinted as she stared at his phone; there was a troubled look in her eyes. “I think I’ve seen it, but I don’t remember where.”

Swiftly, he moved his phone and shoved it in front of Dong Wanqing as he asked calmly, “Have you seen this ring?”

“This ring…” Just then, panic crept up her face and she quickly shook her head. “N-No, I’ve never seen it.”

“Are you sure?”

The intimidating and cold look in Qin Jinhuan’s eyes sent a chill up Dong Wanqing’s spine; she instinctively shuddered and her face paled as she started to stutter. Even so, she still insisted to have never seen the ring in the photo.

Nonetheless, her frightened demeanor betrayed her words; Qin Jinhuan could easily see through her lies. His eyes flickered with hostility and he scoffed before putting away his phone as he turned to leave.

“Hey! Jinhuan!” Yin Anran tugged on his arm. “Is that all you’re going to ask?”

He shook off her hand and questioned her coldly, “What do you think?”

“I-In that case, can Wanqing and I go back to our office?”

“You can,” Qin Jinhuan’s eyes darted to Dong Wanqing before he continued, “but not her.”

“Huh? Could it be…” All of a sudden, something seemed to click in Yin Anran’s mind; she clapped a hand to her mouth and turned to Dong Wanqing in disbelief.

Naturally, Dong Wanqing caught on as well—she stepped forward in an instant and grabbed Qin Jinhuan’s shirt in aghast. She shook her head frantically in an exaggerated manner as she pleaded in a rush, her voice becoming unnaturally high-pitched as she did so. “It’s not me, Huan; it’s really not! There’s been a misunderstanding! There must be one!”

Qin Jinhuan flung off her hand fiercely and let out a cold scoff. “Do you think you can outsmart me by covering up your dirty act? You’re burying your head in the sand at best.”

Yin Anran stared wide-eyed at him in confusion. “What do you mean by that, Jinhuan?”

“You should ask your best friend—she knows.”

Yin Anran’s head immediately turned to Dong Wanqing, whose forehead was beaded with cold sweat. Dong Wanqing broke into a sob as she cried, “It wasn’t me; it really wasn’t! I didn’t do anything—I was in the office the whole morning! I didn’t even go anywhere!”

As quick-witted as she was, Yin Anran only needed a few seconds to realize what Qin Jinhuan had meant by Dong Wanqing ‘covering up her dirty act’; anger shot through her in an instant and she jutted a finger toward her best friend’s direction. She yelled furiously, “Well-played, Dong Wanqing! What a fool I’ve been for sincerely caring about you all this while—I’ve always treated you as my best friend, though. I’ve painstakingly endured Jinhuan’s scolding and berating all to keep you here in the Qing Tian Group, and I even let you share an office with me! I can’t believe I invited a fox inside! How could you exploit my kindness and do something as sickening as this? Have I gone blind? You’re truly out of your mind!”

“No, no, no, I didn’t! Listen to me, Anran, I…”

“You ungrateful brat! I’m so disappointed in you! From this point forward, we’re no longer friends! I’ll never be friends with a person like you!”

“No! I really didn’t do it, Anran! Ah!” Yin Anran pushed Dong Wanqing suddenly, and the latter fell to the ground.

At that moment, a slap landed on Yin Anran’s face with a loud smack. Yin Anran was startled by this, and she looked back with a hand over her stinging cheek. Dong Yueyun was standing behind her with a finger pointed at her. She scolded, “How dare you bully Wanqing like that, you b*tch! Do it again and I’ll make you pay!”

“Save me, Aunt Yueyun! I really didn’t do anything to harm anyone!” Dong Wanqing immediately crashed into Dong Yueyun’s arms and wailed helplessly.

Dong Yueyun had come over to the office after receiving Dong Wanqing’s call for help—Rong Jian already told her the gist of what happened before she came in. With full awareness of her niece’s personality, she quickly hid Dong Wanqing behind her back and glared violently at Yin Anran. Meanwhile, the latter eyed Qin Jinhuan miserably and begged him to back her up. When Dong Yueyun’s eyes shifted to Qin Jinhuan, though, her tone softened considerably as she said, “I’m sorry to hear that Mu Yu has met with such an awful accident, Huan. I know you want to find the perpetrator as soon as possible; I have nothing against that, but you can’t blindly put the blame on Wanqing just to defend someone else—it would be so unfair for her.”

“Blindly putting the blame on her, you say?” Qin Jinhuan raised a brow. “All right, then. I’ll show you some proof.”

With that, a clap of his hands sent Cheng Xiang, Weng Yun, Bian Zijun and the others in at once.