Chapter 4

When I walked through the front door of our apartment carrying my briefcase, the laughter in the living room abruptly died.

Julian walked out of the kitchen. Seeing me, his face instantly turned cold.

"Why are you just standing there like a statue?"

"We're celebrating Chloe's big win tonight. She just landed a massive client, and her promotion to VP of Operations is practically sealed. Don't you dare ruin her mood."

Chloe, lounging on the couch, looked up and waved her phone at me.

"Vivian, have you signed any clients lately?"

"My colleagues keep asking how you're doing. After all, you used to be the top manager before I came along."

I didn't reply. I walked straight into my home office and shut the door, blocking out their noise.

I opened Instagram. The very first post on my feed was from Chloe, posted ten minutes ago:

*[Just landed the legendary Mr. Harrington! Hard work always pays off! 🥂💼]*

The comment section was already flooded with dozens of comments from our colleagues kissing her feet:

*[Oh my god, you are a sales queen!]*

*[VP of Operations is yours! Unlike a certain someone who keeps losing clients and probably only gets base pay now. 😂]*

I scrolled down to a post I made three months ago when I won the Employee of the Year bonus. The recent comments on it were filled with disgusting vitriol:

*[How did you even win Employee of the Year with this level of performance? Did you steal Chloe's work back then?]*

*[Can't steal anything now, huh? Enjoy your zero sales!]*

My fingers paused. I closed the app and tossed my phone aside.

A moment later, Chloe’s voice drifted in from the living room. She was on speakerphone with Marcus Kane, the Director of Sales.

"Chloe, darling! I heard about you landing Harrington! Absolute genius!"

"Once the quarterly evaluations are officially out, I’m putting you up for the President's Award and writing your recommendation letter for the VP role. You are the pride of Apex Marketing!"

Chloe giggled, her voice dripping with sweet vanity. After hanging up, she yelled toward my room:

"Julian! Marcus is writing my recommendation letter!"

Julian’s booming laughter shook the walls.

I sat at my desk, opened my laptop, and pulled up the real background check on Arthur Harrington.

The credit report showed his company was $8 million in debt, with seven active lawsuits and two sexual harassment filings pending.

I then pulled out a locked document box from the bottom of my safe—one I hadn't touched in six months. Inside lay twenty folders containing client data, original pitch decks, and communication logs from every single quarterly evaluation over the past year.

I photographed every single page to back them up. Every client I had worked hard to secure had magically ended up in Chloe's name, but my original files were packed with deep market analysis, client pain points, and call logs that she could never replicate.

I organized these proofs by date and uploaded them into a double-encrypted cloud drive. The moment the Harrington deal blew up, these would be the final nails in her coffin.

Feeling thirsty, I went downstairs to grab an iced coffee. When I returned, my heart stopped.

The pitch decks on my desk and the project timelines pinned to my wall had been ripped to shreds, scattered all over the floor.

My body trembled with pure rage.

"Oh, you're back?"

I spun around. Chloe was leaning against the doorframe of my study, chewing bubblegum.

She shrugged, giving me an innocent, doll-like smile.

"I came in to look for something and saw all this scrap paper taking up space. Since you're never getting promoted anyway, these garbage plans are useless. I did you a favor and thrashed them. Don't mention it."

*[Nice! Those trash files deserved to be ripped!]*

*[Why is the rival even hoarding files?]*

*[It's useless anyway. You're a loser, Vivian.]*

On the day of the quarterly evaluation, I was still sweeping up the shredded paper in my home office.

Julian banged on the door, telling me to hurry up and get to the office for the meeting.

When I arrived at the main conference room, Marcus Kane and the executive board were already seated. The projector screen showed the quarterly performance ranking list.

Chloe was leaning back in her chair, sending a voice note on Snapchat:

"Yeah, the results are coming out. Landing Mr. Harrington guarantees my top spot. I'm taking everyone out for drinks tonight!"

Seeing me walk in, she arched an eyebrow and raised her voice:

"By the way, Vivian, once my rank is displayed, don't you think you owe me an apology? You must have been so bitter being crushed by me every single time."

Julian glared at me, frowning. "What are you standing there for?"

"Take notes from Chloe. If you want to keep your job, stop being a useless househusband's burden and learn something."

Marcus Kane cleared his throat, standing up to announce, "Alright team, let’s display this quarter’s final performance rankings."

He clicked the remote. The spreadsheet appeared on the screen.

From the top down... First place, second place, third place...

The scroll went all the way to the very bottom. And there, sitting dead last at the absolute bottom of the list, was:

*Chloe Bennett.*

TheThe entire conference room fell into a dead, suffocating silence.

"No... This is impossible! There must be a glitch!"

Chloe’s shriek shattered the silence.