My Bestie Reported My Fake Degree, But My Real Identity Terrified Her Chapter 07

My Bestie Reported My Fake Degree, But My Real Identity Terrified Her Chapter 07

Mia set down her fork, and her voice dropped even lower. “The email from the Corporate Secretary’s Office

copied all the directors. I saw it while I was organizing the director’s inbox for him.”

She hesitated for a moment.

“The email mentioned someone’s employee ID.”

“Whose?”

“Yours.”

I picked up my cup and took a sip of water.

Mia stared at me for a long time.

“Lynn, aren’t you going to explain?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“For example, what school did you actually go to? What was that card?

in a classified project even the director doesn’t know about?”

Thy would your employee ID appear

“Mia, two weeks ago, when you could have asked those questions, you chose not to.”

Her face flushed slightly.

Her fork touched the edge of her plate with a soft clink.

“L…”

11

“You went to Gemma’s table.”

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

After a moment of silence, she picked up her tray and stood.

“I know I wasn’t a good friend. But there’s one thing I can tell you. Gemma has been digging through your

old project records these past two days. She’s looking for mistakes she can use against you. Be careful.”

Then she left.

That afternoon, I sat at the temporary desk and scrolled through my phone.

A notice popped up on the corporate internal communications platform: [The Annual Technology Summit will be held next Thursday in Auditorium One at corporate headquarters. All branch offices must complete attendee registration and project material submission by Wednesday.]

At the bottom of the notice was a small line in bold: [Signatures for classified project releases will be completed on–site during the summit. Relevant leads must bring their authorization credentials.]

The words authorization credentials stayed in my mind.

I touched the card in my pocket.

Gemma couldn’t see that bolded line. The notice for classified projects had a restricted distribution range,

and only marked employee IDs could receive the full version.

In the version she received, that line did not exist.

Before the end of the workday, the director called me into his office.

His expression was different from two weeks ago.

It was no longer the brisk, routine look of someone dealing with an employee suspected of falsifying

credentials. Instead, there was an indescribable caution in his eyes, mixed with a trace of probing.

“Lynn, corporate sent out a summit notice. It mentioned a project number and your employee ID. Can you

tell me what this is about?”

“Sir, the information Vication for this project is above your clearance level.”

His hand clenched under the desk.

“Then let me ask you this. What exactly is going on with your education record? The materials Gemma

submitted…”

“You made that call.”

“I did.”

“What did they tell you?”

His mouth opened, then closed again.

“Sir, I’ll be at the summit next Thursday.”

He looked at me for a long time before finally nodding once.

“All right.”

When I walked out of his office, Gemma was standing by the water dispenser at the end of the hall, holding a cup and watching me come out.

Her pearl earrings flashed under the lights.

“What did the director want to talk to you about?”

“Work.”

“What work? Aren’t you suspended?”

“Being suspended doesn’t mean my employee ID has been deactivated.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You’re going to the summit?”

“Gemma, didn’t you organize all my materials for me? You should know better than anyone whether I’ll be

needed at the summit.”

Her hand tightened around the cup.

Her fingernails pressed a curved dent into the disposable paper cup.

“Linnie, what exactly are you doing?”

Panic was setting in, wasn’t it?

Things were starting to feel wrong, weren’t they?

I didn’t say anything. I turned and left.