Chapter 1: A Simple Mistake
It all started with a simple mistake.
An administrative mix-up, a system glitch, human error - whatever you wanted to call it. But somehow, here I was, perched like a crown jewel at the top floor of the Roen Group headquarters, the same mega-corporation that practically ran the country. Standing on trembling knees in my office - my office.
It all started just a few hours ago - Monday morning. My first day at work.
"Good... good morning, Ma’am. I’m a new intern here starting from today. I–I was told that I can ask for directions at the reception when I arrive," I said, almost whispering. I was never good with first days - at anything, anywhere.
As soon as I presented my ID, the receptionist hurriedly phoned someone. She spoke quietly, but I overheard her say, "She’s here," as if she’d spotted a wanted criminal.
I froze on the spot, not knowing what to do - not knowing what I had done wrong.
It just felt wrong to be here, but it was about to get a lot worse than that.
Shortly, a group of men - men who looked far too bulky to be regular office workers - rushed over. A sharply dressed woman, clearly someone of senior rank, hurried toward me, her heels clacking on the marble floor.
"Ms. Roen, welcome home," she said. She beamed a warm smile, but there was a nervous glint in her eyes—and what did she mean by ’welcome home’?
To make matters even more confusing, after her strange greeting, everyone bowed to me - very deeply. Their backs bent at 90 degrees. It was so formal, I wondered for a second whether I should kneel and bow till my head touched the ground.
The group then courteously ushered me down a long hallway that seemed completely off-limits to regular staff. No one else was around. The further we walked, the more wrong it felt - yet no one acted like anything was wrong at all.