Chapter 4
I missed my early morning flight.
It wasn't because I was late.
The company canceled my ticket again.
The staff at the counter looked a bit uneasy as they handed me the printed record. "Ms. Reed, the cancellation was processed through the same corporate account. The reason listed is staff changes."
Those words sent me right back to square one.
I emailed headquarters to explain what happened, attaching the records of both the rebooking and cancellation.
They replied quickly: [Please stay online. Headquarters will keep remote access available during today's Valdoria launch.]
By 9 AM, the company chat group was already blowing up.
[Go Sophie, you got this.]
[Mr. Grant's leading the team himself. We're set.]
[Heard Ms. Reed isn't there? Too bad. Her materials were always super thorough.]
Linda tagged me in the group chat. [Charlotte, forward the livestream link. Don't mess this up.]
I sat in the airport café, and my Americano had gone cold.
The Valdoria launch kicked off on my phone screen.
Sophie stood next to Edward, dressed in a crisp white suit.
She was wearing my blue-light glasses.
Those were mine.
The host said, "Please welcome the project lead, Ms. Quinn."
Applause filled the room.
Edward took the microphone, his voice steady. "For the past three months, Sophie has been leading the team, shaping the core creative vision. Her communication skills and sense of style brought real spirit to this project."
The camera swept over the clients in the audience.
Some of them nodded.
In the live chat, my coworkers were flooding the comments.
[Sophie's killing it.]
[Charlotte's icy expression really isn't stage material.]
[Stick to execution if that's your role. Stop trying to take over the lead designer's spot.]
I kept my eyes glued to the screen.
My stomach was painfully empty, but my fingers were rock steady.
Sophie kicked off her presentation.
On the first slide, she read straight from the script, smooth as can be.
When she got to the second slide, someone in the audience asked about localization costs.
She froze for a couple of seconds, then looked over at Edward for help.
Edward stepped in, taking the mic. "Our team will cover that later."
Another client asked, "Which round of user interviews did the core assumptions in the model come from?"
Sophie's smile froze for a moment. "The third round."
That was not right.
It was the fifth round.
I threw out all the data from the third round because the sample bias was over eighteen percent.
Edward leaned in and quietly prompted her as he flipped the slide. But the mic was still on.
His voice came through loud and clear on the livestream. "Stick to the script. Don't go off-script."
The chat went quiet for a second.
Someone tried to cover for her: [It's a lot of pressure up there, totally get it.]
Midway through the launch, Edward gestured for the staff to change the slides.
The big screen flashed to the credits page.
It read: [Project Lead: Sophie Quinn.
[Strategic Lead: Edward Grant.
[Team Support: Charlotte, et al.]
That "et al." was practically microscopic.
I would need a magnifying glass to spot it.
The host grinned, "Mr. Grant, I heard this project had a lot of internal friction?"
Edward locked eyes with the camera. "Every team has its own voices. But in the end, we let the right person step up."
He paused, then said, "Charlotte gets things done, but she's a bit too headstrong to deal with clients. The company values everyone's role."
Everyone got their own place.
I was stuck in economy class tomorrow night, listed as team support, and a barely visible 'et al.' at the end of the credits.
Sophie took the mic, her eyes misty with emotion. "Charlotte's helped me so much. She always stays up late helping me make sense of my ideas. Without her, I honestly couldn't have brought any of this to life."
The audience broke into applause.
She turned stealing into a favor, acting like she was doing me a kindness.
She took everything I wrote and passed it off as her own ideas.
Right then, Mom called.
I let it ring.
She sent a text. [Charlotte, I watched your company's livestream. Why didn't I see you? The neighbors were asking, and I didn't know what to tell them.]
I stared at her words, and my eyes burned a little.
It wasn't because of Edward.
It was because Mom sent the livestream link to the neighbors last night.
She told them her daughter was going to be on stage.
But in the end, everyone in the neighborhood saw Sophie wearing my glasses, showing off my proposal, and thanking me for helping out.
Linda called, her voice barely above a whisper. "Charlotte, Mr. Grant already went out of his way to save your reputation at the launch. Post a congratulatory message for Sophie on your socials and help keep the rumors under control."
I replied, "What if I don't?"
She let out a cold laugh. "Then you can forget about renewing your contract. And by the way, your mom's got that specialist appointment at our partner hospital, right? The company can yank that benefit anytime."
My fingers slowly tightened.
She knew about my mom's follow-up appointment.
Of course, she did.
The checkup was arranged by the company, and it took three rounds of pleading with her before my mom finally got a specialist slot.
On the livestream, Edward wrapped things up with one last announcement. "Starting today, all credits and bonuses for the Valdoria Initiative go to Sophie as the lead."
Sophie covered her mouth, so thrilled she was at a loss for words.
She turned to the camera. "Charlotte, did you see? I'm finally not the weak link."
Edward actually smiled a little. It was the kind of smile one rarely ever saw from him in front of others.
I stared at the screen, and suddenly, I didn't have it in me to fight for "it wasn't her" anymore.
An urgent video call from headquarters overseas flashed across the top of my screen.
The red countdown clock began.
At the same time, Linda sent over an electronic document.
It read: [Voluntary Waiver of Credit and Bonus for the Valdoria Initiative.]
She followed up with a voice message. "Sign it, and the hospital slot stays yours. Don't risk your mom's health for some empty title."
On the livestream, Edward was standing there, receiving applause.
On my phone, the countdown for the headquarters video call was down to five seconds.
With my left hand, I held down the e-signature box, and with my right, I tapped the video call invite.
Before the video call connected, someone called out my name from the café entrance. "Charlotte."
I looked up.