Chapter 2

The lively chatter among my colleagues died down instantly.

Charles's face darkened.

He looked at me with a half-smile.

Then he snapped, "Ms. Fuller, you've been working here for years. Why are you being so petty? You can't even let the rookies have their moment at the annual party? Looks like you've been running your team like this for quite a while, huh?"

Sophie looked so fragile next to Charles, on the verge of tears as she played up her innocent act. When she glanced my way, I caught a smug smirk tugging at her lips.

Damn, she was such a drama queen.

"Ahem, sorry about that," I said, clearing my throat.

Then I stood up, aware of everyone's eyes on me. Some were expecting drama, others looked worried. That was all she had, and she seemed to think I couldn't handle it.

I replied, "I'll admit, I completely missed the mark with Sophie. She put in endless hours practicing for tonight's show, hurt her foot in the process, and I even advised her to take it easy.

"But she powered through and went on stage anyway. Not only did she pull it off, but she made our department shine. Having someone like her on the team is my privilege."

I led the applause, making sure my gratitude sounded sincere.

My teammates backed me up, applauding with gusto, ramping up the energy in the room.

Sophie froze, her eyes wide with disbelief. She was clearly thrown off by how I switched gears in an instant.

I gave her my sweetest smile, but inside, my heart was pure ice.

Back in my previous life, right before showtime, I caught Sophie slyly swapping her dance costume at the last second.

She couldn't care less about ruffling feathers in our department. She was determined to make herself the star to catch the eye of Charles.

But having been her college roommate and bestie for four years, I couldn't stand by and watch her run headlong into the arms of that bastard.

When talking sense into her failed, I was left with no choice but to lay down the law as her leader, putting an end to her sneaky plans once and for all.

That was when Sophie started holding a serious grudge against me.

After the show, when I was caught off guard, she suddenly shoved me down the stairs out of nowhere.

I was left with two broken legs, one way worse than the other.

Later, she broke down in front of me, crying and swearing it had been an accident, pleading for my forgiveness.

Back then, my heart went soft. Knowing I'd need a few months to recover, I let it slide and didn't hold her accountable.

If only things had ended there, maybe I could've let it slide.

But Sophie, so desperate to climb the ranks, arranged for Charles to slip into my hospital room when I was at my weakest.

I fought back as hard as I could.

They were terrified I'd expose them. So, with me already injured, they ganged up on me and threw me off the roof. Then they made it look like I'd jumped myself.

That was the price I paid for meddling with someone else's fate.

Watching Sophie cling to Charles, her face lighting up like she couldn't believe her luck, I kept my expression carefully neutral.

If looks could kill, those cheating lovebirds would've been corpses full of holes by now.

The brutal way I had died in my previous life never let me forget that they weren't worth forgiving.

Since you were my so-called best friend, this time I wished the two of you to stay together forever, never to be parted.

*****

Thanks to her dance at the annual party, Sophie shot from being an invisible newcomer to an overnight sensation. Everyone in the company was talking about her.

And more importantly, she'd become Charles's new girlfriend.

Charles whisked Sophie off to some swanky resort island for a vacation, and she couldn't help but flood her Twitter with post after post, showing off every minute of it.

At the office, I ran into Charles's ex-girlfriend, fresh off being dumped. She was all dolled up as usual, but one could tell from her sour expression that things were going downhill fast.

It wasn't that she was pining for Charles. She was just bitter about all the connections and perks slipping away with him.

Our media company's bread and butter was short video content and livestream sales. People around here always joked that to know who Charles was dating, all it took was checking which streaming star we were hyping at the time.

As one would expect, that was exactly how it went.

Come New Year, Sophie shot up from some nobody backup dancer to the main girl on our top partnered streaming channel.

"No way, Sophie is blowing up online. The trending page is plastered with her and Charles soaking up the sun at some beach resort," Emily Carter, sitting right next to me, shouted out in shock.

She was one of the ones Sophie stabbed in the back at the show, and her opinion of Sophie hit rock bottom after that.

Emily was at a loss for words. Then she finally said, "Look at this. Even when she's supposed to be caught off guard, she's posing straight for the camera. Who does she think she's fooling? She leaked these pics herself."

"Yeah, but you know these only got out with Charles's approval. Even someone like her managed to find true love," I sneered while glancing at the screen.

I still remember a couple of years back when some girl tried that exact move to get hype, but Charles flipped out. He pretty much sent her straight to career limbo.

I was about to say something more when Emily's eyes flicked past me, and her expression turned strangely wary, looking at something behind my back.

Then Sophie's voice rang out behind me, sharp and unexpected. "Thank you for your concern, my dear friend. Charles and I are doing great, so you can quit worrying about us."

We hadn't seen each other for two weeks, but she was like a different person. It was like she'd leveled up overnight.

Outfit on point, designer purse in hand, sparkling with high-end jewelry, and hair clearly fresh from a fancy salon, she gave Emily and me a condescending once-over, her eyes screaming that we weren't even worth her time.

Everything about her sweetness and politeness had been nothing but a mask all along.

She put on an exaggerated gasp, barely covering her mouth with her hand, and then casually tossed her car keys onto my desk like it was nothing.

"I can't believe I left my coat in the car. Ms. Fuller, why don't you run and get it for me? Make sure you take it to the wardrobe room to get it pressed. I need it for my livestream in a bit," Emily said.

She clearly had no idea about her own limits, even daring to boss me around as if she owned the place.