The new colleague at my company is a stingy mother.

On her first day, she shows up with a huge pile of expired snacks that her son refused to eat and hands them out to everyone.

Once we're done, she pulls out her PayPal and says, "These are all imported snacks for my son. I'll need 50 dollars from each of you."

During a company team-building event, she refuses to participate, saying she has to go home to take care of her child.

The day after, she comes over holding her phone and asks me for money. "I didn't eat with everyone yesterday. Since the company is footing the bill, just hand me the cash equivalent for my meal."

Furious, I rejected her request immediately. What I fail to realize is that she would bear a grudge against me over it.

One night, her son comes down with a high fever, so she calls me and requests a ride to the hospital using the company car.

Once again, I refuse without a second thought.

Because of the delay, her son suffers severe cognitive damage.

She blames me for everything that happened. In a fit of rage, she ends up running me over with her car.

As I open my eyes again, I find myself transported to her first day on the job.

"It's my first day here, so there's still so much I don't know. I hope everyone will be patient with me."

Before I could make sense of my surroundings, snacks were suddenly shoved into my hands.

As my eyes landed on the production date, a sudden realization hit me. I'd been reborn.

"Eat up, Cora! These are imported!" Sadie Turner said when she noticed me staring at the package in a daze.

As I snapped back to reality, I managed a smile. "These look delicious! I'll take them home and enjoy them later. I've still got some work to finish."

As soon as the words left my lips, Sadie shot me a look of disdain. "What's the point of waiting? Anyway, you should really think about having a kid. My son's already sick of eating this stuff at home."

I couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Sadie acted as if her son was tired of the snacks. However, in reality, she just couldn't bring herself to give him expired food.

In my past life, the HR manager informed me that a new team member would be brought in to ease my workload.

He assured that, despite being away for over a year on maternity leave, she had a solid professional background. Upon her arrival, the manager assigned her the desk next to mine, citing ease of communication.

Before stepping away, he remarked, "If you have any questions, Ms. Shepherd will be happy to help."

That single remark was all it took to set everything into motion.

After spending some time with Sadie, I quickly realized she was a total handful. She wouldn't stop clinging to me.

On her very first day, she gave me expired snacks. Since she seemed so friendly, I didn't think twice and just ripped open the package. The taste was a little sour, but I figured it was just my taste buds playing tricks on me.

Right after I finished, she whipped out her PayPal and started going around collecting money from anyone who'd eaten her snacks. Not only did I end up in the hospital with food poisoning, but I also got stuck paying her 50 dollars.

From that point on, I stayed on high alert whenever Sadie was around. But no matter how careful I was, her schemes always seemed to catch me off guard.

Not long after, the company held a team-building dinner at a restaurant. Sadie excused herself, saying she needed to go home and take care of her child.

I thought that would be the end of it. However, on the very next day, she came asking me for money.

She said, "I've already looked into it. Yesterday's team-building dinner cost over one hundred dollars per person. Even though I wasn't there, I still expect my share. You know what? I'll be nice and round it down to an even one hundred bucks."

I was momentarily speechless. Last night's dinner was organized by the company, with the boss, George Wood, footing the bill. Even if Sadie wanted money, I was the last person she should have come to.

"Our manager told me to contact you if there's any problem, so you can just pay up. If you have an issue, take it up with him yourself," she said confidently.

I shut down Sadie's ridiculous request without a second thought. What I didn't expect was for her to hold a grudge afterward.

One day, Sadie's son, Mason Duval, came down with a fever. In the dead of night, she reached out to me, asking for a ride to the hospital in the company car.

When I asked why she couldn't use her own car, she replied, "Why should I waste my own gas? Just come get me. The company car doesn't cost a thing anyway."

Before Sadie could say another word, I hung up and went back to sleep.

What she did next took me completely by surprise. To save money on gas, she carried Mason to the hospital on foot.

Because of the delay, Mason ended up with permanent brain damage, and Sadie put all the blame on me.

It was a decision that eventually led to my death.

Dying once showed me just how ruthless Sadie could be when it came to saving money. But this time, I wasn't going to let her off the hook.

I seized the moment when Sadie was in the restroom and quickly brought the snacks over to our manager, Ian Rodriguez's office.

In my past life, I had reported Sadie's appalling behavior to him more times than I could count, but he always encouraged me to be patient. After all, she'd been unemployed for over a year.

This time, I was determined to let him witness Sadie's "generosity" firsthand.

"Mr. Rodriguez, these are the snacks our new colleague handed out. Since it's about afternoon tea time, I thought you might like some," I said.

A bright smile spread across Ian's face as soon as he saw what I was holding. "Excellent timing. I was getting peckish. You can leave them here."

I set the snacks down and left without saying a word. Just as I was about to step out of the office, I caught the sound of him ripping open the bag and eagerly digging in.

I returned to my desk and got back to work.

Before I realized it, the day had ended. One by one, my coworkers started packing up, getting ready to clock out.

Suddenly, Sadie stood up and blocked everyone's way.

"You all just ate my snacks," she said, holding up her phone with her PayPal app opened. "Nobody's paid me so far. Make sure you do before walking out."

A few of my coworkers froze, exchanging knowing looks. It quickly dawned on them that they were dealing with someone a bit unconventional.

Finally, one of them asked, "Alright then, how much do we owe you?"

"50 bucks," Sadie said without missing a beat.

Those who were ready to pay just to avoid trouble immediately lost their composure.

"Wait, what? Why should I pay 50 bucks for those cheap snacks?" someone blurted out.

"These are imported! You clearly don't know what real quality tastes like. 50 dollars is already a steal," Sadie snapped back.

Everyone's mood shifted, their faces burning with anger.

A few lucky coworkers who happened to be on a diet got off easy. They handed the snacks right back to Sadie.

"Luckily, I haven't touched any yet," one of them said. "You might as well take them back. There's no way I'd risk eating something that pricey."

Meanwhile, someone had already done a quick search online. As it turned out, each snack cost only five dollars.

Holding up their phones, my coworkers confronted Sadie. "This is extortion! It only costs five bucks online. Do you think we're idiots?"

Sadie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "But I brought those snacks all the way to the office. Doesn't that count as travel expenses? Stop complaining and pay up!"

Just as they were about to argue, the manager's office door suddenly slammed open. Ian stepped out, looking pale as a ghost.

He glared at Sadie and shouted, "Sadie! What on earth did you feed me?"

Ian couldn't hold back his gag reflex. Before he even made it to the restroom, he doubled over and vomited right where he stood.

A sharp, sour stench filled the air instantly, forcing everyone to cover their noses and step back.

Sadie looked completely bewildered. "What are you talking about? You've got to be mistaken."

I finally spoke up. "Sadie, since you handed out snacks to everyone except Mr. Rodriguez, I thought I'd give him my share. What's wrong, Mr. Rodriguez? Are you feeling okay?"

"Those snacks were spoiled! How could you hand them out like that? Sadie, were you trying to poison me?" Ian's voice cracked as he shouted.

Sadie was caught off guard. She quickly stepped forward, trying to steady him. "No, wait! I didn't know Cora gave them to you. Don't be angry, Mr. Rodriguez. Let's get you to the hospital right away."

Just then, one of my coworkers spotted the expiration date stamped on the corner of the package. "Are you kidding me? Did you honestly expect us to pay for expired snacks? What's wrong with you? What if we all ended up with food poisoning? Would you even own up to it?"

Without warning, another coworker hunched over, gripping their stomach. "Damn, my stomach's killing me! It's definitely those expired snacks. Don't think you can get away. You're paying for my medical bills!"

Sadie didn't dare say a word. Helping Ian to his feet, she hurriedly helped him out of the room.

As soon as she was gone, the remaining coworkers gradually dispersed, quietly voicing their frustrations under their breath.

After that incident, Sadie didn't bring up the snack money again when she showed up at work the next day.

The expired snacks had exposed her true nature to everyone, so one wanted to be around her anymore. Whenever she appeared, my coworkers would scatter as if she were contagious.

If her desk hadn't been right next to mine, I wouldn't have wanted anything to do with her either. The farther she kept her distance, the better for all of us.

Meanwhile, Ian had been on an IV drip all night after the incident. It took him two more days off before he finally forced himself back to the office.

To my surprise, he didn't blame Sadie, the very person responsible for it all. Instead, he comforted her. "I know you meant well. Let's just move past this. From now on, focus on your work."

With that, he assigned our team a new project.

In a few days, a potential client would be visiting to discuss a partnership. We needed to revise the proposal carefully.

This was a major deal. If we pulled it off, the whole team stood to earn a generous bonus. Once we accepted the task, everyone jumped in with full force.

Sadie was the only exception. She had instead spent a majority of her time stealing glances at Mason through her home surveillance cameras. Time and again, she would disappear into the restroom to slack off.

I had already anticipated this. In my past life, Sadie often vanished without warning. She repeatedly claimed that Mason was crying and that she had to be there for him.

At that time, I gently urged her to consider whether it was feasible for her to work if she couldn't be apart from her son.

However, Sadie fired back, accusing me of discriminating against mothers. She even went so far as to curse that I'd never have children of my own.

While everyone else was swamped with work, Sadie was the only one taking it easy. A few coworkers had come up to me, requesting that I say something to her.

But rather than joining in the criticism, I ended up defending her. "Sadie is still settling in and getting familiar with things. I'll take on her tasks too. We're all on the same team. Let's be patient with her."

My coworkers were livid. Their frustration with Sadie grew even more when she put Mason on speakerphone again during working hours.

This time, someone finally snapped. "I honestly can't tell if some people are here to work or to just kill time. When I have a kid, I'm looking for a job where I get treated like royalty too. It must be nice getting paid to do nothing."

Sadie shot back with a glare. "My son misses me. What's wrong with calling him? He's still very young. Can't any of you show a little sympathy?"

"Well, he's not my kid, so why should I care? You don't do any real work. Instead, you're just glued to your phone all day. If that's your thing, why bother coming to the office? Just stay home and look at your phone."

Sensing tension escalating, I quickly stepped in before things spiraled out of control. "Alright, that's enough. Everyone else is still trying to work here. Sadie, here's the deal. The clients will be arriving in a few days.

"You'll be in charge of hosting them, so please ensure that the drinks and snacks are prepared. Also, remember to keep all receipts and submit them to the Finance Department for reimbursement."

It was a straightforward task, and Sadie immediately took it on. Using "a supply run" as an excuse, she quickly stepped out of the office.

One of my coworkers shot me a look of disbelief. "Come on, Ms. Shepherd, you're being too lenient with her. How can you trust her to handle the purchasing?"

I just smiled and said, "Don't let Sadie get under your skin. How about I treat everyone to coffee? You've all been working hard these past few days. Just clock out on time. I'll manage the rest."

Sadie would probably attempt to pocket some extras during the supply run. However, I was certain her stinginess would cause her to mess it up.