Chapter 1

"What? That's impossible! I was working overtime at the office yesterday, finishing project reports. My department manager, Mr. Leonard, was even pushing me for a progress update in our work chat before I left home this morning!"

The two police officers exchanged worried looks.

"Mr. Clarke, we need you to come with us to the police station for questioning."

I panicked, but I had no way to argue, so I got into the police car.

As soon as I sat down at the station, I quickly said, "Sir, I'm telling the truth. I can prove I'm innocent right now!"

I hurriedly pulled a folder out of my work bag. Inside were my job offer letter, employment contract, pay stubs from the past six months, and my Social Security contribution records.

"This is my offer letter. It clearly says I started working six months ago, and it's verified by the company. Here's my employment contract. We each kept a signed copy. My pay stubs and Social Security records prove the company has been paying my salary and making my Social Security contributions the whole time. How could I not have been working there?"

The officer carefully looked through the documents, then checked them against the information on his computer. Instead of relaxing, his frown only grew deeper.

"Mr. Clarke, everything you've given us is genuine. Your pay records and Social Security contributions are all legitimate."

I had just let out a sigh of relief when he continued.

"But we contacted Synapse Future to verify everything. They told us that after you completed your hiring paperwork, you never came to work even once. Their system also has no attendance records for you."

I slammed my hand on the table and stood up.

"That's impossible! I work there every day! My desk is on the third floor by the window. The guy next to me is Maverick Zabinski from the Engineering Department. We eat lunch together in the cafeteria all the time. I also attend Mr. Leonard's department meetings every Monday!"

"What's Mr. Leonard's full name?" the officer asked.

"Gavin Leonard. He's my department manager. He's the one who interviewed me!" I answered without hesitation.

The interrogation room door opened, and a man and a woman walked in. They were employees from Synapse Future.

The officer introduced them, "This is the HR Director and an administrative specialist from Synapse Future. I asked them to come help verify your story."

I hurried over.

"Ms. Veasey, hello. I'm Jason Clarke from the Engineering Department. Mr. Leonard must have mentioned me before."

The HR Director, Juniper Veasey, looked confused.

"Jason Clarke? We do have a hiring record under that name, but I've never met you before. And our company has never had a manager named Gavin Leonard. The Engineering Department currently has only three supervisors. There has never been a department manager position."

"What?"

I froze in disbelief.

"That's impossible. Mr. Leonard comes to work every day. He even talked to me about a promotion last week. How could the company not have someone by that name?"

The administrative specialist handed me a staff directory.

"Mr. Clarke, this is our complete employee directory. You can check it yourself. There is no Gavin Leonard in it, and there are no attendance records under your name either."

My hands shook as I opened the directory. I read it three times.

Forget Gavin. My own name appeared only in the hiring records, while my attendance column was completely blank.

I muttered to myself, "This isn't right. I went to work every single day. How can there be no attendance records? Wait, there are security cameras on every floor. Check the surveillance footage. It'll prove I've been at work every day for the past six months!"

Juniper slowly shook her head.

"We already reviewed nearly six months of security footage, including the cameras covering the workstation by the window on the third floor that you described. You never appeared in any of the recordings. That's why we called the police."