2026-04-29 19:13:50
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Chapter 286: Not So Sure
"Multiple people?" Chloe repeated. The shock in her voice barely hidden. She did not expect this to be widespread. Sure, maybe a quiet discrepancy in one account, something a single careless employee had let slip through. Not this.Gray turned the laptop slightly so she could see the highlighted rows on the screen."The data overlaps too cleanly," he said. "If it were one person, there'd be gaps. Small mistakes, inconsistencies in timing. But this looks coordinated."Chloe leaned forward and scanned the figures. Her eyes moved quickly despite the lingering grogginess. "These are from the recent quarter?""Mostly. But a few connect back to the previous one, that's what caught my attention. It looks like someone used the transition period between quarters to obscure the trail."She flipped through the folder quietly for a moment."Do you think it's someone from the older staff?""Possibly," Gray said. "Whoever it is knows how to make the reports look clean from the outside. That's not s
Chapter 285: One Step At A Time
The meeting wrapped up smoothly.Most of it had been spent with Gray familiarizing himself with the team. Getting to know their names, remembering faces and placing how each person fit their role. The conversation stayed relaxed but productive, and by the time he closed his laptop, the tension that had been in the room at the start had gone entirely. He could tell most of them were eager to do well, especially those promoted from the first store. They had something to prove, and they knew it."Good work, everyone," Gray said. "Keep the momentum going. Opening day is just around the corner so make sure your teams are ready."A collective "Yes, sir" filled the room. People began packing up. Gray stayed a few minutes longer, exchanging brief words with a few of them on their way out. The usual small talk and a bit of encouragement before heading to the elevator.The doors closed. He exhaled quietly and checked his watch. Still early afternoon. One more thing before the day was done."Tim
Chapter 284: Two Days Out
A few days passed quickly after their first day inside the store.The building that had stood empty just a week ago was now a fully operational branch. The shelves were stocked. Every corner had been cleaned and recleaned until nothing remained but polish and organization. The checkout machines had been tested and signed off. In two days, the doors would open to customers.With the second branch now demanding most of his attention, Gray's daily routine had shifted accordingly. He was spending more time here than at the original store — arriving early, walking the floor, checking in with the staff before the day's work properly began.He stood near the front entrance that morning, watching a few employees make final adjustments to the shelf displays. The image he had in his head — raw concrete, exposed wiring, the skeletal frame of a building felt like it belonged to a different timeline.Everything had come in. Every delivery unpacked, sorted, stored. The stockroom was clean and organ
Chapter 283: Let's Open This Place
Gray watched their faces for a moment longer — the excitement, the way some of them were already pointing things out to each other, the ease that had settled in after the nervousness of the lineup outside. This was exactly what he had been working toward. Not just the building. The people inside it."Alright." He clapped his hands once and grinned. "You can enjoy the room properly once everything's set up. For now, let's keep moving. There's more to see."Everyone straightened immediately.Yes, sir!" The reply came together, sharper than before.They moved from the break room into the stockroom — a wide space directly behind the break area. When the lights came on, the group saw rows of broad shelving units and stacked crates filling the room. The smell of fresh wood and new packaging materials was still in the air. Of all the spaces in the building, this one was the most thoroughly cleaned. It had to be, given what it was now beginning to hold."Every delivery that comes in goes here
Chapter 282: Jackpot!
A month later.The morning sun was bright over West Arcadia, spilling across the face of the newly finished building. The exterior paint still carried a faint smell. There was dust along the perimeter, and the pavement nearby showed the usual marks of recent construction — scuffs, loose grit, the small signs that something had only just been completed.Gray stood at the entrance with Ben, Mara, and Marcus beside him. Behind them, the new employees were lined up in two loose rows. About fifty of them, all in fresh uniforms, name tags still being adjusted, voices dropping to whispers. A few were trying to look composed. Most weren't quite managing it."Hard to believe it's finally done," Marcus said, arms folded, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Three months went by fast."Gray looked out at the building. The signboard was mounted. The glass doors were clean. Everything they had been tracking on clipboards and spreadsheets and site visits had become something you could stand
Chapter 281: Be A Good Girl
Selina pulled back slowly, her eyes lifting to find his."Am I a good girl now?" she asked, her voice low and a little breathless.Gray let out a rough exhale. His hand was still in her hair, his jaw tight. He had already finished once tonight — they both had — and yet here they were, neither of them willing to stop.She took him back into her mouth without waiting for an answer.She was thorough and patient, working from the base upward, her tongue tracing the length of him before her lips closed around the tip. Her free hand moved to cup him below, and she kept her eyes on his face the entire time. Watching the way his expression shifted, the small tells that told her exactly what he liked.Gray guided her with a steady hand in her hair. He could feel the warmth of her, the deliberate press of her tongue, the way she kept the eye contact even when it made her look almost innocent doing something entirely otherwise.It didn't take long.His grip tightened in her hair and his breath l
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