Abandoned by All I Took It All Back novel Chapter 381

“First, it could be a competitor. Second, an insider. Since the person in the video wasn't an employee, it’s possible the culprit hired someone to do it.”

Kenneth’s words echoed Janina’s own thoughts.

If a competitor wanted to take down The Tasting Room, they could easily hire a professional to handle it.

And the staff of The Tasting Room was the best entry point. This meant that no matter which scenario was true, the investigation had to start from within.

An employee had betrayed them, colluding with an outsider.

West filled Kenneth in on Winnie's situation.

As he listened, Kenneth frowned. His professional instincts told him something was off about Winnie.

With that confirmed, Kenneth decided to start by investigating the man in the video. As long as he was still in Clayborne City, there had to be a trail to follow.

Meanwhile, Janina and West would look into Winnie, dividing their efforts. They needed to see if he'd been in contact with anyone suspicious lately.

They found Winnie's home address in the employee system.

Without delay, Janina and West drove to Winnie's apartment complex.

They quickly found the right floor and knocked a few times. A woman's voice called from inside.

“Who is it?”

West quickly replied, “Hello, I’m a colleague of Winnie’s. Is he home?”

There was no sound from inside for a few seconds, then the door swung open.

A heavy-set woman stood there, her sharp eyes scanning West and Janina from head to toe.

She made no move to let them in, instead blocking the doorway and asking suspiciously, “A colleague? What do you want with him?”

“I noticed he hasn’t been to work recently and he isn't answering his phone, so I came to check on him,” West said, reciting the excuse he had prepared.

“Exactly. If my key really was copied, Winnie is the prime suspect.” West was now almost certain that Winnie’s leave of absence was premeditated.

As they reached the ground floor of the building, they saw a woman carrying a bag of fruit heading toward Winnie’s building.

Janina and West exchanged a glance and immediately walked over, asking politely, “Excuse me, ma’am, do you happen to know Winnie?”

The woman stopped and looked them up and down. “And you are?”

From her tone, she definitely knew Winnie. Otherwise, she would have simply said no instead of asking who they were.

“We’re his colleagues. He’s been on leave for a while, so we came to see how he’s doing.”

Upon hearing they were Winnie’s colleagues, the woman’s guard visibly lowered.

“Didn’t he quit? It wasn't a leave of absence. We live across the hall. I heard he’s going into business for himself, starting his own place.”