diff --git a/agent-office/app/db.py b/agent-office/app/db.py
index c22c1c4..cc5a7e1 100644
--- a/agent-office/app/db.py
+++ b/agent-office/app/db.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from .config import DB_PATH
 
 def _conn() -> sqlite3.Connection:
     os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(DB_PATH), exist_ok=True)
-    conn = sqlite3.connect(DB_PATH)
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(DB_PATH, timeout=10)
     conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
     conn.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL")
     return conn
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def approve_task(task_id: str, via: str = "web") -> None:
 def reject_task(task_id: str) -> None:
     with _conn() as conn:
         conn.execute(
-            "UPDATE agent_tasks SET status='failed', completed_at=strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%fZ','now') WHERE id=?",
+            "UPDATE agent_tasks SET status='rejected', completed_at=strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%fZ','now') WHERE id=?",
             (task_id,),
         )