The women exchanged puzzled nces. One of the younger women blinked nkly and asked, “Didn’t Dawn just leave a moment ago?”

    Another woman nodded and said to Maxine, “She’s already left. I heard she was bringing meeting materials, but I’m not sure if she’s in the conference room.”

    Maxine had juste from the direction of the conference room, but Dawn was nowhere in sight. The sprawling officeplex had countless rooms on every floor, searching them one by one would take forever. By the time she found Dawn, the meeting would likely be long over.

    But Dawn was the one holding the meeting materials. If Maxine tried to enter the conference room alone, security would simply throw her out.

    Seeing that she looked a bit at a loss, the older woman softened. She nced at Dawn’s temporary seat and said, “Her phone’s still on the desk, maybe she’s in the restroom. Go check if you can find her there.”

    “Thanks,” Maxine said, making her way toward the restroom.

    The restroom was eerily quiet andpletely empty. Maxine’sst bit of hope vanished. If she couldn’t find anyone here, she’d have no choice but bto /bbarge straight into the conference room.

    But then, her peripheral vision caught the edge of an “Out of Order” sign peeking from behind the door. Her instincts screamed there was something she’d missed.

    Maxine rushed downstairs to the restroom, where a ring “Out of Order” sign stood at the entrance. After a moment’s thought, she bypassed the sign and opened the door. From inside, Dawn’s anxious voice called out, “Is anyone there? I’m stuck! Could you please let me out?”

    “Dawn!” Maxine eximed, her voice filled with relief and surprise.

    Trapped in the restroom, Dawn let out a relieved sigh. “Thank god, Ms. Hudson! I’m in thest stall, could you please let me out?”

    Maxine saw that the door of thest stall was blocked by two mops. She stepped forward and moved them aside. Dawn emerged, her expression stormy. “I should’ve never trusted that idiot Gloria,” she spat.

    She was about to swear, but at thest moment remembered Maxine was standing right beside her and swallowed the words.

    Maxine asked, her voice full of concern, “How did you end up locked in thereb?/b”

    Dawn straightened her clothes with an annoyed huff. “Don’t even get me started. Gloria called me out, saying she wanted to talk.

    “I was washing my hands with my back to Gloria when suddenly she yanked me off bnce and shoved me into thest stall. Thank god there was a toilet in there, otherwise, I would’vended right in the damn hole.”

    Her face darkened with anger. “She took everything I’d prepared ahead of time, now the only backup I have is on my phone.”

    Dawn thought anxiously, ‘I just hope we’ll still have ba /bchance to say a few words once we get into the conference room.‘

    Dragging Maxine toward the exit, she blurted out, “i’ve dug up everything. Peak Technology is just a shellpany! They even signed a sham contract thatpletely bypassed the legal department. It was all arranged by people Bradley brought in.”

    ‘This Bradley must be Mr. Kaden,‘ Maxine thought./

    Dawn gritted her teeth and said, “This must be the meeting where the board votes. If they approve it, the whole project is doomed, losing millions bwould /b

    be the least of our worries.”

    Maxine and Dawn sprinted toward the third–floor conference room. Panting heavily, Dawn couldn’t help but bcurse /bGloria again. b“/bbIs /bbshe /bbcrazy/bb?! /bbIt’s /bbjust /bba /bjob, why go to such extremes?”

    i1/1 /i