Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law-Chapter 70: An Employee

Melanie wrinkled her nose the moment she stepped into her new office. Gosh! She could tolerate the flashy furniture, the over-polished surfaces, and even the overly extravagant décor that felt more suited to a five-star hotel lobby than a workplace. But what she absolutely could not bear was the cloying, suffocating scent of Madam Collins' perfume. The heavy floral fragrance clung to the air making her head ache already.

For a brief moment, she considered lighting a few incense sticks—something calming, maybe sandalwood or lavender, anything to neutralize the air. But then she hesitated. That would make it seem like she was trying to cleanse the space of ghosts or bad omens. And even though she firmly believed her mother in law was no less than an evil spirit, she thought it would be too dramatic. Better to open the windows to let the breeze do its work.

She had barely settled into the chair when a knock sounded at the door. Looking up, she found a young man standing in the doorway, dressed neatly in the LuxeArt uniform, pleasant smile on his face.

The man shook his head lightly, an easy expression on his face. "No need for thanks, ma'am. You're the boss, and we had to follow your order."

Then, after a quick glance toward the hallway, he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. "To be honest, I did feel a little bad for Madam Collins at first. But then I remembered how she's treated the staff all these years—always looking down on us, barking orders like we're beneath her. So, I figured it was about time someone stepped forward."

After another moment, he glanced back again before hesitating and talking in a low voice," But, ma'am, you need to be careful. Not everyone was happy with today."

Melanie arched a brow at the warning. "Oh?"

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He nodded, glancingbackward at the open doorway again to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. "Madam Collins has her loyalists—people who will stand by her no matter what. They didn't like what happened today because they would probably lose their privileges so they sure won't like seeing you in charge. Just... be careful, ma'am."

Melanie nodded. She expected as much. But a person coming in to warn her? Hmm. She appreciated that as well. "I see. And do you have any names for me?"

Of course if the person had come here, he might have his own reasons. Maybe he wanted to use this opportunity to complain about someone and get them out of the way. Or something else. Gone were the days when Melanie would believe in someone being 'nice' just because. They usually had their own motives.

Surprisingly, the man shook his head. "Sorry, but I'm no snitch. I've said my piece because I thought you should be warned.But what you do with it is up to you." Melanie stared at the man for a few moments. Well, this was good. At least he was not willing to throw someone else under the bus to ingratiate himself with her.

"Alright," she said, letting the matter drop for now. "Now, tell me about yourself. What do you do here?"

He straightened and quickly introduced himself. "My name is Ben Harris. I'm the floor manager for the second floor."

Melanie tilted her head and frowned at this, "The second floor? That's mostly storage and back-end operations, isn't it? Why do we need a manager there?"

"We don't. I was sent here to be punished."

"Punished?"

"Hmm! See, the thing is, hardly anyone comes up here so it means I am alone here everyday with no one to talk to. Since I refused to cater to one of the difficult clinets down there, Madam Collins sent me here. She could not fire me because there was no valid reason. And while I did refuse the client, what the client asked me to do would have amounted to se*ual hrassment so she could not use that as a reason to get rid of me."

Melanie hummed, considering that. No wonder the man had been willing to step forward and throw Madam Collins out himself. He had a presonal vendetta againt the olf woman as well. Thus, after a moment of consideration, she asked, "Would you be interested in being my assistant?"

The young man blinked in surprise before breaking into a grin. "Your assistant?"

"Yes." She gestured vaguely. "Nothing too complicated. Just a little extra work here and there. Helping me with small tasks, that sort of thing. Of course, I wouldn't want it interfering with your usual work."

His grin widened. "Oh, don't worry about that. Like I said, no one really comes to the second floor. I can handle both jobs just fine."

Melanie smiled. "Good. Then it's settled."

He gave her a playful salute. "Yes, boss. What would you like me to do first thing."

Melanie smiled at the man's infectious enthusiasm and ordered. "I'll need a complete file of all employees, as well as records of all our suppliers—both the old ones and the new ones. I want to know exactly who we're working with and who we've worked with in the past. After that, I need you to organize all the customer complaints we've received over the last three years. Every single one."

Ben nodded, and then without missing a beat, he spoke up, "I can do that. In fact, the employee records are actually on my floor, and they fall under my domain, so getting those will be quick and easy. As for the complaints... that might be a little trickier. Until about a year ago, they were handled by Mrs. Catherine. She was the one in charge of compiling and managing them, but after she was fired, well... No one really got around to keeping track of those things anymore. Everything just sort of got pushed aside."

"So you're saying there's a mess to sort through?"

Ben let out a short chuckle. "That's putting it lightly. But don't worry—I'll track everything down. I'm sure Miss Catherine's files are still somewhere in storage, buried under all the other neglected paperwork. It'll take some digging, but I should have everything ready for you by tomorrow."

Melanie nodded, satisfied. "Good. Get it done."