Chapter 1

I spent two years mentoring an intern, Chloe Miller. I taught her everything from scratch—starting from how to write a professional email to letting her pitch to major clients on her own.

The night before her final conversion pitch, I stayed up with her until 3 AM, editing her PowerPoint slides slide by slide.

When she stood on stage and officially secured her full-time offer, she choked back tears. "Thank you to the company," she sobbed into the microphone. "Carrying the weight of this department all on my own for the past two years... it was incredibly hard."

The room erupted in applause. No one mentioned my name. I didn't care.

But the very next morning, she posted on Instagram.

"Finally free from someone’s toxic, gaslighting management style. It’s time to be myself."

She attached a photo of the two of us. My face was heavily blurred.

The comment section exploded, with everyone unanimously labeling me a "corporate devil."

That afternoon, my boss, Arthur Vance, called me into his office. "Claire, we received a formal complaint accusing you of workplace bullying. HR needs to initiate a formal investigation."

I nodded calmly. "Sure. I’ll cooperate fully."

I set my coffee cup down and added, "But just so we are clear—the contracts for her three major accounts are signed under my name, and I am the sole point of contact. While I’m under investigation, I’ll be pausing all work on those accounts. That shouldn't be an issue, right?"

Arthur’s face instantly went pale.

Those three accounts made up sixty percent of our department's annual revenue.