Chapter 2

The bullying and exclusion got much worse starting in my fourth week at the branch.

At first, they only left me out of team meals and avoided talking to me. Now their behavior turned openly hostile.

No one ever told me about team meetings. My submitted expense reports kept disappearing with vague excuses of system errors.

The office printer always broke down when I needed to use it. All my requests for basic office supplies were routinely ignored or denied.

I ended up buying my own stapler, pens, and even brought in my own A4 paper for daily work.

I went to the admin staff one day to pick up a notebook I had requested the week before.

"Ms. Sutton, your request doesn't show up in our system," the admin staff told me with a smile.

"I submitted the application last week," I explained.

She shrugged, brushing it off casually. "The system glitches sometimes. Maybe submit your request again."

I submitted the request again like she suggested, but I still got no approval after a full week.

I stopped putting in official requests after that.

I went to the convenience store downstairs and bought a stack of notebooks for myself.

On a Wednesday afternoon, I overheard my coworkers placing a bet in the break room.

"I'm sure she'll quit by the end of this week."

"I'm betting she lasts until next week."

"What's the stake for this bet?"

"Losers buy dinner. How does that sound?"

"Deal."

I stood frozen in the doorway with my cup in hand. My coworkers didn't notice I was there and went on talking.

"Why does she keep coming to work? She's so shameless."

"She's probably waiting for the company to pay her severance."

"She's not important enough to get any severance pay."

"Exactly. She just doesn't know how to read the room. She brings all this on herself."

Their laughter sounded sharp and harsh.

I turned around and walked back to my desk with soft, quiet steps.

I opened my personal document, typed down the new entry, and saved the file.

As I stared at the screen, I smiled to myself.

Their words about "Losers buy dinner" echoed in my mind. That actually sounded pretty good. I would treat them to dinner soon enough.

*****

Linda pulled another petty stunt later in the afternoon.

This time, it involved a mandatory monthly department meeting.

Ten minutes before the meeting was set to start, I watched everyone around me pack up their things and get ready to leave.

I turned to Monica Howard, who was sitting next to me. "What meeting is everyone heading to?"

She simply glanced at me and walked away with her notebook in hand without a word.

I hurried after Eric to ask for details. "What time is the meeting? Which conference room is it in?"

Eric kept walking forward without turning his head. "I have no clue."

I stood alone in the office and watched every coworker disappear down the hallway one after another.

The entire office space soon emptied out, leaving only me behind.

I checked my work email and found no meeting invitation.

I scrolled through the department group chat as well, but no meeting information had been posted there either.

I sat back down at my desk and opened my personal document to log the incident. After finishing the entry, I thought for a moment and then added a short note to the file. [The specific meeting details still need confirmation.]

The team returned to the office half an hour later.

Linda led the group back with a displeased look on her face.

She paused for a moment when she passed my workstation. "Claire, why didn't you attend the department meeting?"

I looked up at her. "No one informed me about it."

"We did inform you." She frowned. "The announcement was posted in the team group chat."

"I checked the chat thoroughly. There was no post."

"You must have missed it then," she replied with obvious sarcasm in her tone.

I chose not to respond to her comment.

She said nothing further and walked away.

I pulled out my phone and checked the full screenshot of the group chat history again.

No meeting announcement appeared anywhere in the records.

I saved the screenshot into my dedicated evidence folder to document the incident.

*****

My birthday fell on Friday.

Not a single coworker acknowledged the day or asked me about it.

I sat alone at my desk, eating a simple sandwich from the convenience store and staring out the window.

The sky outside looked dull and gray, overlooking rows of uniform office buildings.

Without realizing it, I had turned thirty-two years old.

I graduated college ten years prior, full of confidence and big expectations for my career.

I moved up to a management role five years ago, convinced my professional future held endless possibilities.

I got transferred to this local branch one year ago and had to restart my career from the ground up.

Now I sat at a desk next to the office restroom, eating a quick meal and spending my birthday completely alone.

My phone buzzed with a new email notification. The message came from the HR department.

The subject line stated a formal notice for an exit interview.

I opened the email and read the message. [Ms. Sutton, please report to the HR department at 3 PM on December 15th for your exit interview.]

I stared at the email for a long time.

The company had actually skipped all informal communication and sent a formal exit interview notice out of nowhere.

I didn't send any reply to the email.

Instead, I opened my personal document and recorded this latest incident. After saving the updated file, I closed my laptop, stood up, grabbed my bag, and left the office for the day.

The elevator was completely empty.

I looked at my own reflection on the elevator wall and smiled quietly.

It had only taken three weeks for them to push for my departure.

They knew nothing about my background or my reasons for joining the branch.

They had no idea what was going to happen at the company's year-end party three months down the line.

I pressed the button for the first floor.

There was no need to rush. I had plenty of time to wait.