Chapter 3
I stopped paying attention to anyone else.
Words spread that Andrea kept messing up one task after another. It earned her the company-wide nickname "Pretty Airhead".
I went about my work as usual until I noticed that last month's reimbursements still hadn't been processed. With the money I'd set aside for Mom's hospital bills almost gone, I went to Andrea.
In front of all our colleagues, she blinked innocently at me and confusedly asked, "Ms. Walton, are you sure you gave me those receipts? Or are you trying to use reimbursement to pad your paycheck? That's not allowed. Even if you're a manager, I can't bend the rules, alright?"
My expression hardened. With one swift kick, I sent Andrea's office chair flying.
After what'd happened in my previous life, did she really think I'd fall for the same trick twice?
She screamed and fell to the floor. The trash bin beneath her desk tipped over, spilling shredded receipts everywhere.
I grabbed a handful and read them out loud, "Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Welch… So this is where all your receipts ended up. No wonder last month's reimbursements never arrived."
The office erupted in shock. With money involved, no one was letting this slide.
Easton Lloyd's expression darkened. "If she can't even handle basic accounting, what is the point of keeping her?"
Andrea stayed on the floor, wiping her tears. She was too afraid to speak. In the end, Norman had to reimburse the entire department out of his own pocket just to calm everyone down.
Shortly after, Andrea mistakenly sent the company's financial report to every supplier I worked with. With our numbers exposed, they immediately demanded a full price increase.
The whole company was thrown into chaos, scrambling to deal with the fallout.
"Norman!" Robin roared, furious. The entire office could hear him. "If Andrea screws up again, you're both fired!"
After Norman emerged, looking utterly defeated, he automatically turned to me to fix the problem. "Find new suppliers, Heather. Prices have to be lower than what we have now."
The entitlement in his voice left me feeling utterly ridiculous. I'd drunk until my stomach lining bled to negotiate those prices. Andrea's jealousy wrecked the company's operations, so why was I the one expected to clean up the mess?
I gave a cold snort and pulled out the divorce papers. "If you want me to clean this up, sign these papers first."
Norman froze in shock. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes before he gritted his teeth, picked up a pen, and signed his name.
The sound of the pen scratching across the paper was painfully sharp.
I'd braced myself to feel sad, but whatever love I had for him had died with me in my previous life.
For once, I left work early and made plans with friends to celebrate. Strangely, Andrea, who usually left exactly on time, knocked on my office door.
"Yes?"
"What's your phone number, Ms. Walton? Let's exchange contacts so we can communicate better for work," she said, smiling sweetly. However, I caught a hint of cold calculation in her eyes.
I pretended not to notice. "Just send me a message through the company system for work matters."
"You said it yourself, Ms. Walton."
She sounded oddly excited, but I just nodded and left.
That night, I returned home slightly tipsy when police sirens suddenly blared outside my building. Before I could react, a group of officers surrounded me and escorted me back to the office.
Only after we arrived did I learn what'd happened.
Without prior approval, Andrea had wired several million dollars to an unverified account in the middle of the night.
Robin nearly had a heart attack after learning about it and called the police immediately.
When I was led in, Andrea pointed at me and burst into tears. "Ms. Walton told me that it was the new supplier's account and wanted me to process the payment right away. She even sent me a message through the company's internal system.
"I may be clumsy and slow, but I wouldn't dare wire such a huge sum on my own."
A police officer turned to me with a serious expression. "Ms. Walton, our internal logs show that you verified the recipient's account details for Andrea and urged her to send the payment."
My expression fell, but when I noticed the smug, triumphant looks on Norman and Andrea's faces, I suddenly smiled.
Calmly, I announced in a clear, steady voice, "That message was sent at 11:00 pm last night, but…"
I paused, looking straight at Norman. "I submitted my resignation yesterday afternoon and have since exited all the company's internal group chats and work platforms.
"So tell me… Who exactly sent that message?"