Chapter 262 Submission
Noticing Clara's quick agreement, I said, "Alright, HR will help you with the paperwork now."
I called the HR manager, gave a quick rundown, and they took Clara to handle the onboarding.
After Clara left, Theo walked into my office, looking worried.
"Ms. Cooper, I heard you're bringing Clara into the company. What's going on? After everything she's done to you, how can you..."
I raised my hand to stop Theo and motioned for him to sit. "I have my reasons. She's been hounding me relentlessly. If I don't do something, she won't let up. I dangled a big investment opportunity in front of her, and she jumped at it."
Theo looked even more puzzled. "You're really going to help her make money?"
I waved dismissively. "It's just to keep her in check. I'll make sure she pays back every penny she took from me." My gaze turned cold.
Theo frowned, clearly worried. "But this is risky. What if she causes trouble or leaks confidential info?"
I responded confidently, "That's why I assigned her to the cleaning staff. A janitor won't have access to our trade secrets."
I added, "Send a notice to all departments about a new investment project open to all employees. Clara will definitely join in."
Theo thought for a moment and nodded. "Your plan is clever—getting her to align with us for her own benefit. Later, we could transfer her to the project department with tasks that seem important but are really trivial. This way, she'll be too busy to cause any trouble, and we can gather evidence of any misconduct if she tries to create problems when the investment fails."
I brightened up. "Theo, that's a great idea. Let's do it your way. We'll make sure Clara falls into our trap without realizing it."
Soon, Clara officially joined the Cooper Group as a janitor. I started involving her in the investment project. Initially, I let her make some small profits to get her hooked.
As expected, Clara didn't do any actual work at the Cooper Group. She wandered around the office, often peeking at others' computers. This behavior annoyed everyone, but Clara always used "Ms. Cooper invited me" as a shield, leaving others frustrated but silent. Especially Katya, who also worked in cleaning, found Clara's behavior utterly repulsive.
Katya was the only one in the Cooper Group close to Clara's age, and Clara often sought her out to chat, mostly boasting about her "wealthy lifestyle" and encouraging Katya to invest with her. However, as a regular worker just trying to make ends meet, Katya had no interest in Clara's lavish stories or high-yield investment schemes. Over time, she grew increasingly impatient with Clara's constant bragging.After hearing about this, I had Theo talk to Katya right away.
Theo met with Katya, handed her a bank card, and explained the situation, hoping she'd join the investment scheme with Clara. He assured her that any profits would be hers, and any losses would be covered by the Cooper Group. Katya, a loyal employee since my mother's time, agreed without hesitation. To show my gratitude, I prepared a generous bonus for her and asked her to chat with Clara often, hoping to lessen Clara's negative impact on the other employees.
Within a week, I had Theo transfer Clara to the project department. To keep her from disrupting the Cooper Group's operations, Theo had the project manager create a special position for Clara with her own office, where her only task was to browse the web.
Clara was thrilled with this easy role. But whenever she got bored, she'd seek out her self-proclaimed only friend in the Cooper Group—Katya—to chat and gather information about the company.
Taking advantage of this, I had Katya pass on information to Clara that I couldn't convey directly. I knew Clara might be skeptical if the info came from me, but if she heard it from someone like Katya—an ordinary employee—it would likely spark her interest in the project.
Clara was convinced that following my investments would make her rich.
Because of this, her guard was down, and she didn't realize she was falling into my carefully laid trap. However, Clara's greed exceeded my expectations. She wasn't satisfied with just getting information from Katya and began blatantly asking other project team members for info.
Clara's behavior really ticked off Theo.
One time, Theo caught Clara in the break room, probing an intern about the project's progress. Without hesitation, he reprimanded them both sternly, making it clear that such behavior was unacceptable.
Theo sternly warned Clara, "If you discuss company secrets with anyone else again, you won't keep your current position, and you'll have nothing to do with any future investment projects at the Cooper Group!"
Clara, always money-hungry, immediately toned down her behavior. This incident was a wake-up call for me, making me realize I needed to act quickly to deal with Clara.
So, I orchestrated a fake investment crisis, making Clara experience her first loss.
When Clara discovered her loss, she stormed into my office, seething with anger. "Diana, what the hell is going on? How did my investment lose money this week?" she demanded.
Feigning helplessness, I slowly shook my head and said, "Investments are inherently risky, with both gains and losses. Look, you're not the only one who lost money. My funds have been deeply affected as well, and my losses are much greater than yours."
I put on a pitiful expression, waiting for Clara's response.
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