At the end-of-year review meeting, Jonathan’s childhood friend, Cheryl, stood up and asked to be made the project lead, a move that would secure her promotion to Vice President. For the good of the company, I said no. In a fit of rage, she quit, announcing she was going home to get married. Under my leadership, the project netted over ten billion in profit, and our company went public. Later, I married Jonathan. But during our honeymoon, I was kidnapped and thrown into a cartel's hidden compound deep in the desert. As I frantically looked for a way to signal for help, I heard Jonathan’s cold voice cut through the darkness. “You can have your fun with her. Do whatever you want to this venomous bitch.” I screamed, demanding to know why. Jonathan’s answer was a brutal kick to my stomach. “If you hadn’t stolen the project lead position from her, Cheryl would never have been forced into an abusive marriage. She wouldn’t have died. This is what you owe her.” When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back on the very day Cheryl demanded to be made project lead. … “Zoe,” she said, her voice cloyingly sweet, “I was hoping I could be the lead on the Riley Corp project. It’s the last thing I need on my record to get promoted to VP.” The familiar words sent a jolt through me. A glance at the wall clock confirmed it. I had been reborn. Jonathan nudged me from the side. “Zoe, did you hear Cheryl? Just give her the position. She needs the credit more than you do.” In my past life, I had refused them instantly. The Riley project was a hundred-million-dollar deal, a make-or-break opportunity that could take our company public. Cheryl simply didn’t have the skills to manage it. To soften the blow, I told her that if the project succeeded, everyone on the team would get a promotion and a hefty bonus. She took it as a personal insult, quit on the spot, and disappeared back to her hometown to get married. I never heard from her again. The project was a massive success. The company went public. Jonathan and I got married. And on our honeymoon, I was taken. When I came to, I saw Jonathan standing with my kidnappers, his face a mask of cold indifference. “Do what you will with this black-hearted snake,” he’d said. As their hands pawed at me, I screamed at him, over and over, “Why?” He drove his foot into my gut. “If you hadn't been so selfish, so possessive of that title, Cheryl wouldn't have been married off to that monster. She wouldn't have been beaten to death. You owe her this.” The memory of that agony, of dying in filth and despair, made my hands tremble with a rage so fierce I had to clench them into fists to contain it. Jonathan tugged at my arm again, his voice sharp with impatience. “Zoe, what are you daydreaming about? Did you hear me? Give the position to Cheryl.” I looked at his annoyed face and let out a cold, sharp laugh. “When I was working myself to the bone for this project, losing sleep and hair, I asked Cheryl to help share the load. And what did you two say? ‘You’re the project lead, you should do more.’ When I was drinking myself sick, ending up in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer just to schmooze clients, you said, ‘You’re the lead, it’s your responsibility.’” The bitterness of my sacrifices rose in my throat. I turned my gaze to Cheryl, my voice dripping with scorn. “Where were you then? Why didn't you want to be the project lead when the work was hard and dirty? Now that the proposal is written, the deal is negotiated, and all that's left is to sign the contract, you suddenly want to swoop in and take the credit? Cheryl, how do you even have the nerve to say something so shameless?” My blunt words made her eyes well up with tears instantly. “Zoe, you don’t understand. My family is poor. I need this promotion to help them. My mom… she said if I don’t start making real money, she’s going to marry me off to some rich, old monster to pay off my brother’s debts.” Then, she dropped to her knees in front of me, pressing her forehead to the floor. “Please, Zoe, I’m begging you. I don’t want to go back home. That man… he’s already had two wives who died under mysterious circumstances. If I marry him, I’m as good as dead. Please, don’t force me to go back.” Jonathan shoved me so hard I stumbled backward. His eyes were blazing with fury. “Zoe, are you really that heartless? Do you have to push her to her death to be satisfied?” The entire office was now staring, their whispers filling the air. “What is wrong with you, Zoe? You drove her to her knees!” “Just because you come from money doesn’t give you the right to treat people like this. How could you be so cruel as to make her kneel and beg?” The shove sent my hip crashing into the sharp corner of a desk. A gasp of pain escaped my lips. Rubbing the throbbing spot, I straightened up, walked over to Jonathan, and slapped him hard across the face. “Who the hell do you think you are,” I seethed, “to lay a hand on me?” Without missing a beat, I spun around and kicked Cheryl’s kneeling form, sending her sprawling. “If you want to kneel, go find your mother’s grave and do it there. Don’t bring your bad luck near me.” Gasps echoed through the office, followed by a fresh wave of condemnation. “Zoe, now you’re hitting people? You’ve gone too far!” I laughed, a cold, humorless sound. “I’ve gone too far? When I was pulling all-nighters to find new clients, when I was in the hospital for this company, did anyone say I’d gone too far?” I swept my gaze across their faces. “When you were cashing the bonus checks from the deals I closed, did you think that was too much?” “You’re all a bunch of ungrateful parasites. You throw people away the second you’re done using them.” Silence. They stared at their shoes, ashamed. I pressed my advantage, my tone laced with ice. “If pity is all it takes for me to give up what’s mine, then why don’t all of you donate your corneas to the blind? It’s not like you’re using your eyes to see the truth anyway.” That finally seemed to get through to them. One by one, they mumbled apologies in my direction before turning on Cheryl. “Cheryl, Zoe poured her heart and soul into this project. She’s earned her position as lead.” “Exactly! Just because you have a sad story doesn’t give you the right to emotionally blackmail her. Zoe doesn’t owe you anything.” Seeing the tide turn against her, Cheryl panicked. Her tears became a full-blown flood. “Zoe, that’s not what I meant… I… If you’re really going to force my hand, then… then I’ll just go and die!” My heart ached with frustration. All I did was state the facts, and suddenly I was the villain driving her to suicide. It was so transparently manipulative, anyone with eyes could see it. But Jonathan, as always, was blind. He rushed to Cheryl, pulling her into a protective embrace, his voice soft with pity. Then he turned to me, his tone now a stern command. “Zoe, that’s enough. As of today, Cheryl is the project lead. You will be a member of her team. Do your job and don’t cause any more trouble.” I gritted my teeth, fury coursing through me. “On what grounds? I landed this deal. I’m not giving it up.” “What do you mean, you landed it?” Jonathan scoffed. “Riley Corp is working with us because our company has potential. Stop taking all the credit for yourself. Even without you, Cheryl could have closed this deal. She might have even done a better job.” Cheryl, nestled in his arms, nodded in agreement. “Riley Corp probably heard about Jonathan’s genius reputation. That’s why they trusted a small company like ours.” I couldn't help but laugh, a hollow, bitter sound. Seeing the smug certainty on Jonathan’s face, I just shrugged. “Fine. If that’s what you believe, then I don’t want to be the project lead anymore.” Jonathan smiled, satisfied, thinking I’d finally caved. “Don’t worry, Zoe. There will be other opportunities for you. You don’t need to fight with Cheryl over this one.” Cheryl walked over, a triumphant, provocative glint in her eye. “Zoe, you can just continue with the parts of the project you were already handling. Once the final proposal is ready, I’ll go and sign the contract with Riley Corp.” I almost laughed out loud. As the project lead, I had been shouldering a quarter of the entire workload myself. Now they wanted me to keep doing the work of a pack mule without the title or the credit? What a beautiful dream. “Sorry,” I said, my voice sweet as poison. “I’m not doing it.” Cheryl’s brow furrowed. “Zoe, this project is critical to the company. Stop messing around.” Jonathan’s face hardened. “Zoe, if you’re going to keep throwing a tantrum, you can get the hell out of this company.” At that, I grabbed my bag and stood up. “Great! I’m gone. And since you’re firing me, remember to deposit my severance pay—three times my salary—into my account.” Without a backward glance, I walked out of the company and into the fresh air of my new life. Once outside, I called my brother. “Lucas? The deal’s off. Jonathan just fired me.” My brother’s voice was laced with shock. “What? Isn’t he your boyfriend? You’ve been with him since college, helped him build that company from the ground up. How could he fire you?” I quickly recounted the day’s events. I heard a loud thud on the other end of the line—the sound of his fist hitting a desk. “Dump him,” he snarled. “Dump that scumbag right now. You don’t need trash like that. I’ll find you a new guy—six-foot-three, eight-pack abs, and a hundred percent loyal.” He took a breath. “I’m canceling the partnership. Honestly, if it wasn’t for you, his little startup wouldn’t have even made it past our initial screening.” That night, back at my apartment, I couldn’t shake the bitterness. I had poured so much of myself into that company. Lucas must have seen the melancholy on my face. “Zoe,” he said gently, “why don’t you come work at Riley Corp? You can take over this partnership project from our end. Get familiar with the business. You own a piece of it, you know. Once you’re settled, you can choose whoever you want to partner with.” I thought for a moment, then nodded. It was the perfect solution. A week later, it was the day of the official bidding presentations for the Riley Corp partnership. As soon as I walked into the lobby, I saw Jonathan with his arm wrapped possessively around Cheryl’s waist. He spotted me and his face twisted into a scowl. “Zoe? You’re not the project lead anymore. What are you even doing here?” Cheryl chimed in, her voice dripping with mock pity. “Oh, Zoe. Didn’t you say you were leaving the company? Why did you follow us here?” I shot them an icy glare. “This isn’t your building. I can go wherever I please.” Jonathan let out a derisive laugh. “Zoe, be realistic. You probably couldn’t even get past the front door of Riley Corp without our company’s name on a visitor pass. You should leave now, before I have security throw you out. That would be embarrassing.” I rolled my eyes, ready to walk away, but Jonathan grabbed my arm and shoved me. I stumbled and fell to the floor. “Security!” he yelled, his voice echoing in the marble lobby. “How did this person get in here?” A guard rushed over. “This woman is impersonating one of our employees to cause trouble,” Jonathan said authoritatively. “Get her out of here.” “Wait, you’re mistaken,” I said, trying to get up. “I’m the project manager for this partnership, from Riley Corp.” Jonathan laughed cruelly. “Still lying through your teeth. You just got fired from our company, and now you’re suddenly a project manager at Riley? Who do you think you are? Why would a powerhouse like Riley Corp ever hire you?” A crowd had gathered, their eyes on me, whispering and pointing as the guards dragged me out and deposited me on the sidewalk. I let out a cold laugh and sat down right there on the curb. Fine. Let’s see how this meeting goes without me. Inside the Riley Corp conference room, ten minutes had passed. Jonathan grew antsy and asked one of the Riley executives when the meeting would begin. The executive, a senior manager named Mr. Lee, frowned. “We’re still waiting for our project lead to arrive.” Another half an hour crawled by. “I don’t understand,” Mr. Lee muttered, checking his watch. “Ms. Riley said she arrived a while ago. How is she not here yet?” Someone suggested calling her. When my phone rang, I was sipping a bubble tea at the shop next door. “Oh,” I said calmly into the phone when Mr. Lee asked where I was. “I was there. But I got thrown out. I’m at the tea shop downstairs.” A few minutes later, Jonathan, Cheryl, and their team appeared in the doorway of the shop, their faces slick with sweat. Jonathan spotted me and stormed over, his expression a mask of irritation. “Zoe, you have some nerve showing your face here. Get out, now. If you disrupt our partnership meeting with Riley Corp, I’ll make you regret it.” He then scanned the small shop, seeing only me and the staff. He turned to Mr. Lee, confused. “Mr. Lee, you said your project lead was here. I don’t see anyone.” Mr. Lee shoved Jonathan aside and hurried towards me, his face a mixture of apology and deference. “Ms. Riley, my deepest apologies. Why are you out here? Why didn’t you come inside?” I glanced at Jonathan and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I tried. But I was thrown out. I was told I might disrupt their very important partnership with Riley Corp.” Understanding dawned on Mr. Lee’s face, quickly replaced by a flash of anger directed at Jonathan. “She would disrupt it? Let me make something crystal clear. This entire project hinges on Ms. Riley’s approval. If she’s not in the room, there is no deal. For anyone.” Jonathan and Cheryl stared at me, their jaws slack with disbelief. “Zoe? You’re the Riley project lead? How is that possible? There must be some mistake! Mr. Lee, you have to be wrong. We just fired her! A person with such weak skills and poor character could never get a job at Riley Corp!” Even now, faced with the truth, they couldn't accept it.
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