After my older sister, Beatrice Hartwell, has passed away, my brother-in-law, Theodore Wesley, transfers me into his department.

At first, I think he's merely watching out for me. But whenever Theodore bumps into someone else, he often leaves his sentences hanging.

"After my wife has passed away, it's all thanks to Megan keeping me company all the time that I…"

His words are often half-minced and filled with euphemisms. Because of him, the company is filled with rumors of me killing Beatrice just to take over her position at one point.

I plead to Theodore to make things clear for everyone in the future.

But during a Monday meeting, Theodore continues to mourn Beatrice longingly while bringing me up in a roundabout way.

"The reason why Megan is late is that she spent the night in my house last night… Ah, I shouldn't have brought this up. Please don't overthink this, everyone."

The thing is, Theodore is the one who wants me to edit the business proposal at his place. My boyfriend is with us the whole time!

My colleagues all shoot me knowing glances immediately. They start muttering about "seeing the sister-in-law plot being manifested in real life".

I try to explain myself, and yet Theodore keeps mucking things up for me.

"Right! She was just editing the proposal in my bedroom—wait, no! It took place in the study! It's my fault for not knowing how to talk properly! The more I explain, the more chaotic things become!"

I'm enraged, to say the least.

Theodore doesn't know how to speak, right? Then he's better off silent for the rest of his life!

The moment I pushed open the conference room door, more than a dozen pairs of eyes snapped toward me.

"Well, Ms. Hartwell. You finally decided to show up."

Theodore Wesley, who was seated at the head of the table, glanced at his watch. He stood and waved a hand at the others. "Don't blame Meg. She had her reasons for being late."

He paused, glancing over my exhausted expression, then let out a faint, knowing sigh. "Last night, we were at it until very late at my place."

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

A few of the women exchanged knowing looks, while the men wore lewd smiles.

There he went again, leaving things half-said just to stir up misunderstandings.

I took a steady breath and said calmly, "Mr. Wesley, I'd appreciate it if you made yourself clear. You were the one who insisted I come over last night to revise the branding proposal. From the moment I arrived until I left, my boyfriend and my best friend were both there with me."

Theodore froze for a moment. After all, I had never contradicted him in public before.

He quickly put on an apologetic expression. "Right, the proposal. That's what I meant. I can't even get my words straight when I'm nervous."

As he spoke, he casually patted my shoulder. "Meg, don't be mad. I know you'd rather keep what's between us private. I won't say any more. I shouldn't have said that, not as your brother-in-law. You must be tired. Go on, sit down and rest."

The room had fallen so silent it felt suffocating. Every word he said was clearly meant for everyone present.

A scoff came from the corner of the table.

Someone said boldly, "Damn, you two are in-laws? That's wild."

Snickers and mocking whispers quickly spread through the room.

I tightened my grip on the folder until my knuckles turned white.

Theodore was trying to ruin me.

"Alright, settle down. Now that Meg is here, let's begin. As for this round of outstanding employee selection, I've been quite torn…"

Starting a scene now would only leave me in a worse position, so I forced myself back into my seat.

The next second, I heard Theodore bring up my name again. "Although Meg ranks first in performance, and became an assistant manager at such a young age…"

He paused, just as expected. Everyone looked at me with that same knowing gaze, already convinced I had gotten there through connections.

I bit down so hard on my lip it almost bled.

I had been personally recruited by the company's president, Eva Taylor, right after I graduated from college. It took me three years to reach this position, all through my own ability.

I still remembered the day I got promoted. My sister, Beatrice Hartwell, had been so happy she said she would take me on a trip, but then…

Recalling Beatrice's gentle smile, I clenched my fists.

However, Theodore still wasn't letting me off the hook. "But Meg, you're still young. You tend to make impulsive decisions and act emotionally, so why don't you give up the overseas assignment to the Amberton branch to someone else?"

I shot to my feet. "Why should I give it up?"

I had spent nearly a month working overtime every night just to secure that overseas position. My boyfriend had even applied early for a study program in the same region to match my plans.

All I needed was one more step to leave this place behind, along with all its painful memories, including that disgusting ex-brother-in-law.

Why wouldn't he just leave me alone?

A male colleague who had always disliked me said, "I guess you used the wrong approach, Ms. Hartwell. Why not pull another all-nighter?"

Others echoed him with mocking laughter.

Theodore gave me a faint, helpless smile. "See? You really are young and impulsive. It's not that we won't send you, just not this year."

I had no interest in hearing another word of his empty excuses. Suppressing the anger rising in my chest, I forced a polite smile. "Fine. Then I won't go."

He looked momentarily caught off guard by how easily I backed down, then quickly broke into a satisfied, approving smile. "That's more like it."

After the meeting, I picked up my phone and sent a message.

"Ms. Taylor, I'm sorry. I won't be able to accompany you to the branch office for market expansion. My spot has been reassigned."

Almost at the same time, my phone buzzed with an incoming call. I picked up, and a cold, displeased female voice came through. "Who the hell dared to touch the person I chose?"

The week had barely begun before Theodore ruined it.

The handover that was supposed to land on my desk never came. Even the interns who used to greet me with polite nods now made a point of detouring around me in the hallway.

Whispers clung to me like a shadow I could not shake.

"Disgusting. Her sister just passed, and she's already this eager."

"Good performance means nothing. With that attitude, she'll be gone sooner or later."

When the day finally came to an end, I packed up and stood to leave, only to collide head-on with Theodore's assistant, Joyce Cooper.

She was holding a stack of documents. The moment she saw me, she rolled her eyes without even trying to hide it. "Ms. Hartwell, Mr. Wesley wants you in his office. He says it's urgent."

I looked at her, feeling a sense of helplessness rise within me.

When Joyce first joined the company, she had been sidelined by senior staff for not understanding the work. I was the one who taught her how to build reports and handle clients. We had even eaten together a few times outside of work.

But ever since Theodore began twisting his words and spreading rumors about me, her attitude toward me had changed entirely.

I knew she was pressured into exhaustion by Theodore and had started believing the rumors, assuming I was no better than he was.

"Got it," I replied calmly.

I pulled out a sticky note, quickly wrote my home address on it, and handed it over. "If you can trust me one more time, come and meet me at my place."

She shot me a puzzled look. Her lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she took the sticky note and said nothing.

I didn't say anything else and turned to leave.

When I pushed open Theodore's office door, he was lounging in his chair, smoking.

As I stepped in, he tapped the document on his desk. "Meg, this is a new client's pre-launch promotion plan. I want it revised tonight. You can stay here and work on it. If anything comes up, we'll discuss it immediately."

There it was again.

I walked straight over, grabbed the document, and threw it at his face. The papers scattered across the floor.

Theodore's expression darkened instantly. He shot up from his chair and shouted, "Megan Hartwell! Have you lost your mind?"

I let out a cold laugh. "Theodore, cut the act. You want me to revise it in your office so people will misunderstand me even more. That way, it's easier for you to control me, isn't it?"

He spat on the floor and threatened darkly, "Megan, don't push it. You know exactly what your reputation is like in this company.

"If I choose to make things hard for you, I can make sure you won't last in this industry. As for the overseas placement, one word from me and you'll never get that opportunity."

I looked at him, at his pathetic attempt to sound powerful, and found it almost laughable.

He probably still didn't know that I had been personally recruited by the president three years ago. She had promised to train me properly, and once the time was right, I would join her in expanding overseas and return as her deputy.

Over these three years, I had worked my way up in branch offices. My performance kept improving over time, and I had long since proven myself to her.

This so-called overseas assignment had never been anything more than something I chose not to make a big deal about. I never expected it would end up giving someone like him leverage.

"Theodore, you really think too highly of yourself. I used to show you respect because of my sister. Now, you're nothing but trash."

With that, I turned and walked out, leaving him behind to vent his rage and slam things around.

When I got to the underground parking lot, I stopped in my tracks as a sudden thought struck me.

Was Beatrice's car accident really just an accident?

Theodore had always played the role of a decent husband. And because Beatrice had died while driving to the airport to pick me up, guilt had blinded me to everything else.

But now that I thought about it carefully, Beatrice had always been a careful driver. Why would she have taken a road that was under maintenance, especially in the middle of a heavy rainstorm?

And what about Theodore? Had he really been working late at the office that night?

I clenched my fists without realizing it.

Whether her death was an accident or something else entirely, I was going to unearth the truth.

That night, my phone kept buzzing nonstop.

I opened the company chat group. The pinned message was last month's performance summary.

I glanced over it. My name was dead last, at the very bottom of the rankings.

All the project results that should have been credited to me had been reassigned to Theodore. He was now in first place, far ahead of everyone else.

The group chat had long since blown up, overflowing with flattery and bootlicking comments.

"Mr. Wesley is amazing! No wonder he's the star of our department!"

"If you want a future, stick with Mr. Wesley. Not like some hacks who only know how to cheat their way up."

"Exactly. She's ranked at the bottom and still dares to hold on to an assistant manager role. I would've resigned a long time ago if I were her."

All of it, overt or not, was meant for me. It turned my stomach inside out.

Ever since I was transferred to Theodore's department, he had been routinely taking at least 30% of my performance and putting it under his own name.

Whenever I confronted him, he would just grin and say, "We're family. What's yours is mine anyway."

There was no mistaking it. By blatantly placing my name at the very bottom this time, he was clearly trying to get back at me for what had happened during the day.

I simply sent a clapping emoji in the group chat.

The group instantly went silent.

Petty exclusion really was childish, even for adults.

Then Theodore messaged me privately. "Do you finally understand who's in charge around here? Meg, women like you should learn not to be so ambitious. That's how you end up alone.

"Then again, it doesn't matter if you don't get married. As long as you behave, I can take care of you for the rest of your life."

I almost gagged on my dinner right then and there.

Then a photo popped up. It was from last week, when I had accompanied a client to an exhibition.

Next, he sent a voice message. The moment I played it, I could almost smell the nauseating stench of alcohol coming through the speaker.

"Meg, you look just like your sister in that dress… Why don't you keep me company tonight? I'm so lonely."

Goosebumps broke out all over my skin.

Before I could even respond, a second voice message came in.

"The company's annual celebration is in three days. Ms. Eva Taylor from headquarters will be attending in person. I'm quite familiar with her secretary. If you still want that Amberton assignment, you know what to do. Fix the proposal for me."

I felt my eyebrow twitch. Unexpectedly, there was a useful piece of information buried in all that filth.

Two days ago, Ms. Taylor had already complained to me that internal company information kept leaking. Several deals had been poached by competitors at the last minute because of it.

It looked like there was a mole inside the company.

My disgust eased just a fraction as I sent my reply.

"If you're lonely, Mr. Wesley, try a graveyard. There's plenty of company there. It's perfect for someone like you."