"Skimmed off the top?" Lee Sangah asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Ahem, watch your phrasing," I replied, though admittedly, she wasn't entirely wrong.

"We just decided to put those materials to good use since they left them behind. It's as simple as that."

"Isn’t that exactly what ‘skimming’ means?”

"There's a difference in nuance," I said, trying to shrug it off, though her expression was still skeptical.

I could understand her reaction—hearing it framed like that might make it sound like I’d done something underhanded. But there wasn’t any malice behind it.

"As I said, there were a few …