His innocent wife is a dangerous hacker.-Chapter 503 What’s happening here?

Her throat tightened.

She swallowed and looked down, avoiding their faces. If she met their eyes now, she didn’t trust herself to stay calm. A strange mix of guilt and helplessness spread through her chest. She hadn’t asked for special treatment. She hadn’t demanded higher pay. But intent didn’t change reality. To them, it still looked unfair.

Her breathing grew a little uneven, and she shifted her feet, feeling oddly exposed, like everyone could see straight through her. The office, which once felt familiar and safe, now felt distant, as if she no longer truly belonged on either side. Not fully one of them. Not fully separate either.

Bella pressed her lips together, steadying herself. Getting emotional here wouldn’t fix anything. But pretending this didn’t hurt wouldn’t either.

"That’s so unfair. You also need to work like us. If you’re a hacker, we’re also..." Kottie continued.

"What’s happening here?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The cold voice cut straight through the noise.

Everyone turned at once.

Leonardo stood at the entrance, his tall frame perfectly still, his broad shoulders filling the doorway with quiet dominance, steel-gray eyes cold and lethal beneath dark hair that fell just untidy enough to make him look dangerous rather than careless.

"B-boss..." Jeffrey muttered, his voice shaky as he glanced at Kottie, who looked frozen in place.

Leonardo’s sharp eyes swept across the group slowly, one by one, until they finally landed on Bella. The moment he noticed the faint redness around her eyes, something dark flickered across his face.

His jaw tightened.

"What," he asked again, his voice low and controlled, "is happening here?"

No one answered. Kottie’s earlier anger drained straight out of his face, leaving him pale and stiff. Jeffrey swallowed hard, glancing between Leonardo and Bella, clearly panicking.

"I... I mean..." Jeffrey tried to speak, then stopped, unsure if he should continue.

Leonardo took a step forward. Just one. The sound of his shoes against the floor felt louder than it should have.

"You," he said, pointing directly at Kottie. "You were speaking just now. Finish your sentence."

Kottie’s mouth opened, then closed. His confidence was gone, replaced by fear. "B-Boss... it’s nothing. Just a misunderstanding."

Leonardo let out a quiet, humorless breath. "A misunderstanding," he repeated slowly. "Then why does my employee look like she’s about to cry?"

Bella flinched slightly at that. She instinctively shook her head. "Leo... I mean, sir... it’s okay. It’s not—"

Leonardo raised a hand without looking at her. Not harshly. Just enough to stop her. His eyes never left Kottie.

"She doesn’t get to say it’s okay," he said calmly. "You do. Explain. Now."

The pressure was unbearable. Kottie’s hands clenched into fists.

"We work every day," he blurted out, the words spilling out faster now. "Long hours. No breaks. And she comes in a few days a week, takes leave whenever she wants, and still gets paid more than us. That’s all. It just feels unfair."

Silence followed his confession.

Leonardo didn’t react immediately. He simply listened, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, he turned his head and looked at the rest of the team.

"Does anyone else here feel the same way?"

A few people shifted uncomfortably. No one spoke, but their silence was answer enough.

Leonardo nodded once. "Good. At least you’re honest."

He finally turned to Bella. His voice softened just a fraction. "Did anyone insult you?"

Bella hesitated, then shook her head. "No. They were upset. I understand why."

That answer only seemed to make his expression darker.

"You shouldn’t have to understand being disrespected," he said quietly.

He turned back to the group. "Bella’s position, salary, and schedule were decided by me. If you have an issue with that, you bring it to me. Not to her. Not like this."

Kottie lowered his head. "I didn’t mean to hurt her."

"Hurt isn’t always intentional," Leonardo replied. "But damage is still damage."

He paused, then added, "As for fairness, if you believe your work isn’t being rewarded properly, we will review it. Every single one of you. But let me be clear. No one here gets to gang up on another employee again. Ever."

His gaze sharpened. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, boss," several voices replied at once.

Leonardo nodded, satisfied for now. Then he looked at Bella again, his eyes gentler, worried beneath the calm.

"Come with me," he said softly.

Bella nodded and followed him, her heart still racing.

Leonardo stopped mid-step.

The sound of his shoes against the floor echoed softly as he turned back, his gaze locking onto Kottie once more. The room seemed to hold its breath.

"And if you’re still wondering why her salary is higher," he said slowly, each word clear and deliberate, "and why her schedule is lighter..."

He paused, letting the silence stretch.

"Then you need to look at her work efficiency."

Kottie stiffened.

"She doesn’t sit here wasting hours," Leonardo continued, his voice calm but heavy with authority. "She doesn’t need hand-holding. She doesn’t create noise to look busy. When she works, she delivers results that most of you take weeks to achieve."

His eyes sharpened. "And she does it alone."

Bella stopped walking. Her fingers curled slightly at her side.

"She has solved problems you couldn’t even trace," he went on. "Closed gaps in systems you didn’t know existed. Prevented losses you were never told about because panic helps no one."

Leonardo took one step closer to Kottie.

"And the reason her schedule is flexible," he said quietly, "is because I trust her. Because when she says something is done, it is done."

Kottie’s face flushed. "I... I didn’t know."

"No," Leonardo cut him off. "You didn’t bother to know."

The words landed hard.

"Respect isn’t earned by who stays the longest in the office," Leonardo said. "It’s earned by who carries the most weight without complaining."

He glanced briefly at Bella, then back at the room. "Let this be the last time anyone here measures another person’s worth by hours instead of impact."

Silence.

Kottie lowered his head. "I’m sorry," he said, his voice quieter now. "I crossed a line."

Leonardo studied him for a long second, then nodded once. "Apology accepted. Learn from it."

He turned away again, this time not stopping.

Meanwhile, behind him, Jeffrey and a few employees exchanged baffled looks.

"Did... did Boss just call Isaac ’she’?" one of them whispered.

Jeffrey frowned, rubbing his chin. "Yeah. Either Boss is tired, or he just forgot Isaac’s gender."

Another guy muttered nervously, "If Boss forgot Isaac’s gender, I’m scared to know what mood he’s in today."

They all swallowed at the same time and quietly looked away, suddenly very interested in their screens.