Chapter 2

When I got back to my desk, I casually straightened the stack of files piled on it.

After all, in just a few days, I'd be moving into the director's private office.

The next second, a syrupy voice rang out beside my ear.

It was Sophie.

She said, "Sorry, Emily. Doesn't matter how good your numbers are. Honestly, I didn't even want to steal your associate director spot.

"Blame my luck instead. Alex is willing to throw away his future for me."

She looked down at me with smug satisfaction all over her face.

The coworkers around us quickly crowded over and started sucking up to her. "Sophie really is amazing, unlike some people who only know how to grind."

"Ms. Reed, the promotion ceremony's in a week, so let me say congrats in advance!"

Right as those words fell, Alex pushed through the crowd and stepped in front of Sophie like he was shielding her.

Then he shot me a warning look.

"Emily, don't start anything. The associate director role already belongs to Sophie. What's hers is hers, and nobody's taking it away." he warned.

I tapped my fingers lightly against the desk and looked at the couple putting on their little double act.

And at all the coworkers waiting to see me break down and cry.

I just found it funny. "So... anything else?"

My calm reaction clearly caught everyone off guard.

The air itself seemed to freeze.

The smug smile on Sophie's face stiffened on the spot. "What's with that attitude? If I were you, I'd be too ashamed to stay at this company."

"Then leave." I shot right back without giving her an inch.

Alex frowned. "What, Emily? Can't handle losing?

"For old times' sake, I can consider letting you be Sophie's assistant."

I didn't even look up. "You can get lost too."

The second I said that, Alex laughed. Wearing the air of a winner, he grabbed Sophie's hand and walked off.

As they left, I could still hear their mocking voices drifting back. "Emily's been beneath me since we were kids. She's probably losing her mind right now.

"No matter how hard she works, it won't change a thing. If she wants to be associate director, she can wait for her next life."

I smiled too. Let them gossip all they wanted.

It still wouldn't change the fact that I was already the director.

I couldn't wait to see what would happen a week later, when I walked onstage to give the director's speech. Would they still be laughing then?

From that day on, both Alex and Sophie genuinely believed their promotions were in the bag.

So they started acting like they already owned the place, showing up late and leaving early.

At nine in the morning, the time clock still showed they hadn't checked in.

By almost noon, Alex finally strolled into the company building holding hands with a sleepy-eyed Sophie.

After grabbing lunch in the company cafeteria, they simply left again.

They'd vanish the whole afternoon, and if anyone asked, they were supposedly out meeting clients on a major deal.

But their constantly updated social media gave away exactly where they were.

One minute Alex and Sophie were taking pretty tourist shots at some scenic spot.

The next, they were kissing on a Ferris wheel at an amusement park.

They'd turned what should've been a low-key office romance into a full-blown city love drama.

All the coworkers envied them.

They envied Alex for being so devoted, and they envied Sophie for winning at life without lifting a finger.

And me, the workaholic who only knew how to keep my head down and hustle, I became their favorite target.

So while I stayed up all night revising contracts until dawn, a coworker secretly snapped a picture of my exhausted, disheveled face and posted it in the group chat to mock me.

[Look at Emily. All she ever does is grind. It's so damn annoying.]

[I'm guessing she's pissed she didn't get the associate director job, so now she's pretending to work extra hard just to get the boss's attention.]

I took a sip of coffee and watched the messages fly by in the chat without saying a word.

After all, the clients were mine, and so were the commissions.

As for those two idiots popping champagne early because they thought they'd already made it, all I could say was good luck to them.

Hopefully they wouldn't end up screwing themselves over and getting fired without even seeing it coming.