Chapter 1

My client had a sudden heart attack, so I immediately performed CPR and gave him rescue breaths.

My husband actually posted the video of the emergency rescue on SnapChat with the caption:

"I know you were saving a life, but kissing another man in front of so many people? Do you have any shame?"

"How could you even bring yourself to touch lips with a man that old? You became the Sales Champion because of these cheap, dirty tricks, didn't you?"

The post quickly went viral on TikTok and Ins, and the company chose to sweep the scandal under the rug.

I was stripped of my annual bonus, and my promotion went to someone else.

Seeing how my dedication to my clients was dragged through the mud and branded as "sleeping my way to the top," I requested my accumulated PTO that very day.

To my surprise, the CEO called me herself the very next day, begging me to come back.

"Summer, you need to learn a lesson from this. You're a married woman. You need to think about boundaries and how your actions affect your marriage!"

I looked at him calmly, looking at the man I had married.

"Are you done?"

Ethan froze.

"What... what kind of attitude is that? You still don't think you did anything wrong?"

"Whatever." When those words left my mouth, I felt something shatter completely.

Ethan's face flushed bright red instantly, as if he had been deeply insulted.

"Fine! Nice one, Summer! You think you're so smart? Let's get a divorce!"

He screamed, grabbed his phone from the table, and stormed out of the house.

The Sales Director, Victoria, frowned and tapped her fingers on the desk.

"Look at the mess you've made! Look how angry you made Ethan!"

"To minimize the fallout, you need to write a formal self-reflection letter."

"You will read it out loud at next week’s all-hands company meeting and apologize for your inappropriate conduct."

I looked at her, offering no response.

Her eyes flickered with a brief moment of guilt before she quickly put on her authoritative director persona again.

"This is an order. It's also your only chance."

The next day, the company’s internal network and announcement boards published my disciplinary notice. The wording was harsh—

"Conduct severely unbecoming," "Lack of brand representation awareness," and "Summer Miller is hereby demoted and stripped of her annual performance bonus as a final warning."

Every single word felt like a public slap in the face.

Ava, a new hire, secretly sent me a message on SnapChat: "Summer, we all believe you. You were just saving a life. But... you should just take it for now. Victoria is on a rampage."

I turned off my phone screen.

I knew exactly what was going on.

Victoria’s niece, Sophie, who got in through nepotism, had just joined the company last week. Victoria had been trying to find a way to promote her to Sales Manager, replacing me. Ethan’s online tantrum gave her the perfect excuse.

I walked back to my cubicle and opened my laptop.

I organized every single detail of my major clients, contract terms, and follow-up plans, printing them out one by one.

Then, I formatted all the client data and analytical reports saved on my local hard drive.

A week later, at the company-wide all-hands meeting.

Victoria stood on the stage, her voice booming through the microphone: "...In light of Summer Miller's inappropriate conduct, the company has decided to disqualify her from the Sales Manager candidacy."

The auditorium fell dead silent.

"Now, let's give a warm welcome to our newly appointed Sales Manager, Sophie!"

A young woman wearing a brand-new designer suit and perfectly styled hair stood up, nodding gracefully to the crowd with a smug smile.

Victoria looked at her with pride and announced, "Starting today, Sophie will officially take over Summer's core clients and projects."

I sat in the furthest corner of the room, my face completely expressionless.