3: 3

3

"According to company policy, I'm not your direct superior. I have neither the authority nor the obligation to help you with supervisor-level work."

"You said it yourself yesterday. Follow the rules, respect the line you don't cross. Overstepping my role, breaking regulations. I can't do it, and I wouldn't dare."

I handed his own words right back to him.

Humphrey froze where he stood.

"Edwina, are you still sore about yesterday?"

"That's awfully petty of you. Besides, this is me consulting you on a work matter. If I sign off on it, it isn't overstepping."

He was certain I'd cave and do whatever he asked, the way I had for the past six months.

Too bad. He was the one who'd cut every thread of goodwill between us.

I waved him off, my tone flat and final.

"I wouldn't dare. I'm afraid one more word and I'll get reported again. Go find someone else."

His face went white then blotchy, and he slunk away.

From that day on, he targeted me at every turn.

When he handed out assignments, he piled the most tedious, most thankless grunt work on me.

When he divided up clients, he gave me the most difficult ones, the messes buried in after-sales complaints.

Everyone in the office could see Humphrey was deliberately squeezing me out.

But no one dared say a word.

Nobody wanted to cross the newly promoted supervisor and lose their own job.

I stayed unbothered through all of it.

The work others found impossible and tangled, I took over and cleared away with ease.

Ten years in this field. My skill and experience were nothing a green newbie, freshly made permanent and half-empty at that, could ever match.

The calmer I stayed, the more it choked and infuriated Humphrey.

That afternoon, Rose Dickerson, the new girl in the department, was carrying a thick stack of printed materials when she lost her grip and scattered them across the floor.

Her eyes went red with panic as she scrambled to gather them up.

I happened to be passing by and picked up a few pages for her.

A short distance off, Humphrey happened to catch the whole thing.

Not long after, the disciplinary committee was crowded around my desk again.

In front of everyone, they didn't ask, didn't investigate, didn't give me a single chance to explain.

"According to an anonymous report, Edwina Chavez was previously subject to a company ruling that expressly forbade her from privately instructing across departments or passing along job materials."

"Yet she has shown no remorse, once again publicly instructing an employee across departments and improperly reviewing materials outside her own role."

"Upon company verification, Edwina Chavez's violations are confirmed. She knows she's in the wrong and refuses to change, offending repeatedly, gravely disrupting the company's management order."

"The final penalty is now issued: termination, effective immediately!"

Director Finch watched me, smug and pleased with himself.

"Edwina, you're fired. Please leave the work area."

Everyone was stunned, looking at me with pity.

And the looks they turned on Humphrey were full of wariness and fear.

I didn't so much as glance at him. I dialed the president directly.

"I just picked up some papers a girl dropped on the floor, and the company wants to fire me over it?"

The line went silent for a few seconds. Then the president let out a soft sigh.

"Edwina, I know you feel wronged. But the company's grown big and strong now, the rules and systems are all in place. It hasn't been my call alone for a long time."

"The disciplinary department verified it, so it's not exactly unfair to you. You've had it too smooth all this way. Taking a small loss now can toughen you up."

"I respect the professional department's judgment. I've got a meeting, I'll hang up now."

What was there left to not understand.

They simply thought my achievements outshone theirs, and now they wanted to work the mule to death and slaughter it.

Humphrey's betrayal was nothing more than the excuse they'd used to ride the moment and cut me loose.

What they probably didn't know was that eighty percent of the company's clients stayed for me.

There are always other places for a person who isn't wanted here.

I was just about to leave when Humphrey suddenly called out to Rose.

"You. You're fired too."

Rose's eyes rimmed red as she fought back tears and pleaded.

"Supervisor Harding, why?"

"My mom's still in the hospital on chemo. She's counting on my paycheck to stay alive. Please don't fire me."

There wasn't a trace of pity in his eyes. His mouth curled coldly.

"You think you didn't do anything wrong?"

"Your mistake was colluding privately with an employee who broke the rules, damaging the company's culture and interests."

"I'm the one in charge here now. Pack your things and get out."

Looking at that arrogant, bullying, ugly face, fury blazed up in me.

"Humphrey, remember this."

"People do things, and heaven is watching."

"Climbing over the person who helped you, profiting off malicious reports. It'll come back on you sooner or later."

He gave a scornful snort, his face full of contempt.

"Edwina, so you can't stand losing, and now you're playing the moral guilt card?"

"I acted by the rules and cleaned up the workplace. My conscience is clear."

4: 4

4

There was no point anymore, so I stopped arguing.

I had just packed up my bag and was about to leave.

Jeremy Finch stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, blocking my way.

"Edwina Chavez, you're a person with a record of violations who's been fired by the company."

"Under the company's new policy, departing employees have to submit to a personal-belongings check, to make sure no one walks off with internal documents, core proposals, or client resources."

I clamped both hands down on my bag.

"These are all my personal belongings. You have no right to inspect them. This is an invasion of privacy."

Humphrey let out a scornful snort.

"You're standing on company ground right now. Everything on you belongs to the company, so it gets checked."

He snatched the bag out of my hands and dumped everything onto the floor.

He kicked through the pile, item by item, until one of his shoe prints was stamped right on top of my feminine products.

When he didn't find what he wanted, Humphrey's eyes moved to my laptop.

"To eliminate any leak risk, your personal computer needs to be fully copied and archived."

At that, I let out a cold laugh.

They were clearly after my things.

In all his time working next to me, Humphrey had seen every study plan and contingency proposal I'd organized on that computer with his own eyes.

Along with the list of core private clients I'd spent ten years building.

He'd climbed over me by filing that report, all title and no skill, not an ounce of real ability under the "Supervisor" badge.

And now, using the company as cover, he wanted to seize it all in broad daylight.

Looking at the greed on both their ugly faces, I laughed to myself, cold and steady.

They wanted my work?

Dream on.

The proposals I'd polished through countless all-nighters, the client relationships I'd nurtured inch by inch, why on earth would I hand them free to the kind of people who kick you when you're down?

I took the work laptop out of my bag.

Humphrey assumed I was cooperating like a good girl and reached out to take it.

"See, if you'd just listened from the start, there'd be no need for all this ugliness—"

Before the words left his mouth.

Bang! I raised the expensive work laptop high and slammed it straight down onto the floor.

Everyone stared, stunned. Humphrey's face went blank with shock.

Before either of them could react, I stepped forward and ground my high heel into the laptop.

Again, and again.

Then I picked up the water glass beside me and poured every drop of it into the machine.

Sparks flew, the hard drive fried, ruined past any hope of recovery.

I drew my foot back, straightened up, and looked coldly at the two of them, faces gone ashen.

"There. Good enough?"

Humphrey was shaking with rage, grinding his teeth.

"Edwina Chavez, you've gone too far!"

"We were only following company rules, running a routine check. Was there any need to blow it up like this?"

"You've clearly got something to hide. Too guilty to cooperate, so you deliberately destroyed company property!"

I gave him a sideways look.

"Take a good look. This is my personal laptop. It has nothing to do with the company. Not one cent's worth."

I swept a cold glance over the room, took nothing with me, and walked out without looking back.

From that moment on, I was done with this heartless company for good.

That evening, while I was having dinner with that difficult client contact, Humphrey called.

"Edwina, I'm downstairs at your building."

His tone was meek, nothing left of the arrogant supervisor from earlier in the day.

"The proposal I submitted to the big client today, they were extremely unhappy with it. Sent it straight back to be redone."

"I can't pin down what the client wants. I just can't fix it. Edwina, this is a client you used to handle. Help me revise it, polish it up."

"I'll pay you separately, whatever it takes, we can work out any number. Just name your price!"

I found it laughable.

He'd climbed up by trampling my dignity, taken my office, wrecked my work, backed me into a corner.

He kept every good thing for himself, and now he wanted to dump the mess on me?

I didn't waste a single word. I hung up on him and blocked the number on the spot.

Across the table, the client started complaining to me.

"That new guy of yours sent me a proposal full of holes. The logic's a mess, there's no way to actually put it into practice."

"After all these years working together, the only person whose ability I trust is you, Edwina Chavez."

I lifted my glass.

"I'm starting at Skyward tomorrow. If you're interested, I'll build you a brand-new proposal, tailored just for you."

"Good, good, good. Let's meet at Skyward tomorrow, then."