I'm the type who has a ton of allergies. That's why my family has specifically hired a nutritionist to help prepare and monitor my meals while paying her a salary of 7,500 dollars per month.

During my lunch break, the new intern, Julia Hall, suddenly tells me, "Emma, the food that you bring to work looks very healthy! You can prepare another portion for me from now on!

"It so happens that I'm on a diet as well. Think of it as me going down the journey of dieting with you. I'll pay you five dollars per meal. You can earn quite a lot of money from this side gig, you know?"

I'm flabbergasted when I hear Julia's words.

The ingredients meant for my meals are specifically flown in using private jets. Not to mention, my family pays the nutritionist a lucrative salary. Five dollars can't even cover the transportation fees needed for my meals!

I shake my head and turn Julia down on the spot. I refuse to give her a chance to use any plot holes against me.

But the next day at noon, I've just left my desk to refill my water bottle. When I return, I realize that Julia has already taken my lunchbox away and has shared the food with the other colleagues while chatting animatedly with them.

My lips curl into a cold smirk.

Since Julia insists on taking advantage of me, then I might as well teach her a lesson she will never forget.

It was often said that young people nowadays were blunt and lacked propriety in their speech and actions, but in all my years of working, it was the first time I ever encountered an intern who took things that far.

Upon noticing my silence, Julia Hall, the intern, pursed her lips and said, "You can't just give me the silent treatment, Emma. I'm not looking for a free meal—I'm paying. I know five dollars isn't a lot, but I'm trying to lose weight, so I won't be eating much anyway.

"I mean, considering how you're an orphan and how I'm not picky about food, you can just make a little extra when you cook. It's a great way for you to make some extra cash on the side."

I found it hard to believe that she actually thought she was doing me a favor by letting me pack her lunch. I nearly laugh out of sheer frustration.

Mom and Dad were doing perfectly fine, enjoying their retirement at home.

Yet, according to Julia, I was suddenly an orphan with no family. I deliberately kept a low profile and didn't talk about my personal life, but I didn't think I had given anyone a reason to look down on me like that.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and didn't even bother smiling. "I'm sorry, but I have too much work on my plate to do that for you. In addition, you're offering way too little—it doesn't even come close to covering the cost."

I spoke very bluntly. I was just worried she might be shameless enough to look for any loophole to exploit, regardless.

Julia reacted as if she'd been deeply offended, clenching her fists and stomping her feet. "How could you talk to me like that, Emma? I actually thought you were a nice person, which is why I tried to help you out in the first place! I'm just an intern, so I barely make anything a month!

"If you're going to turn it down, fine, but you didn't have to be so harsh. In addition, looking at your diet, it's mostly vegetables and barely any meat. How expensive could it possibly be?

"You're almost 30 years old. Even if you didn't know how to budget, you shouldn't be ripping people off. It's no wonder you're still single, Emma!"

I grew furious after hearing her sudden outburst. I had a naturally sensitive constitution, and eating out for me was like taking a risky gamble with my health, so I always brought my own food. Mom and Dad had even hired a nutritionist with a monthly salary of 7,500 dollars just to manage my health.

In addition, the ingredients used in my meals were shipped directly from their place of origin every day. Just the fuel cost alone for the private jet's round trip amounted to over 1,500 dollars. That wasn't even counting the specially sourced seasonal vegetables and fresh meat.

That five dollars she offered didn't even cover a fraction of the cost, yet she talked as if she were being incredibly generous. She then played the victim and tried to age-shame me just because she couldn't take advantage of me.

I bolted to my feet and stared straight into her eyes. I was just about to tear into her on the spot when Karl Ziegler, my colleague, quickly stepped in to hold me back.

Karl, however, said, "You really don't know what's good for you, Emma! Isn't Julia just telling the truth here? Did she touch a sore spot or something?

"You ought to remember Julia's status as well. She's the future successor of this company! She only asked for your help out of pity, to give you a chance to earn some side income, Emma!"

Karl delivered this lecture with heavy gravity, making it seem as though turning down Julia's request meant I simply didn't know what was good for me.

In reality, this company was only respectable within the local market. It wasn't even on the radar nationally. I had concealed my identity as the primary successor to our family's business solely to gain foundational experience for managing our own assets.

In addition, the largest investor of this company still had to depend on cooperation with my family's business to operate.

I never thought I would end up dealing with someone so unreasonable and ungrateful in this company. I still decided to let it go, though. I knew that if I simply refused to engage, she wouldn't have the nerve to orchestrate any serious drama. It was entirely unnecessary to get upset over someone so insignificant.

I placed my heated meal on my desk, like I always did, the following day at lunch. I got up and went to the water cooler near the entrance to get some hot water, but when I returned, I was met with a shocking sight—the lunch box I had left on my desk was somehow in Julia's hands now.

I noticed that the neatly arranged food in the lunch box was now a complete mess from Julia digging through it with her cutlery, and to make matters worse, she was "generously" sharing my food with everyone else in the office.

In the short time it took me to grab some water, Julia had completely emptied my lunch box.

I felt my breathing stop for a moment because the nutritionist controlled my food portions properly every day, and because of my physical constitution, I couldn't eat any regular snacks. I would have to stay hungry all the way until evening since my lunch was gone.

I was absolutely livid. I rushed over and grabbed my empty lunch box back from Julia. "Who gave you permission to touch my food?"

Upon hearing how fierce I was, Julia flinched dramatically. "Oh, my goodness! Why do you have to yell like that?"

She retorted shrilly, "I was just sharing good food with everyone. I didn't even hold it against you when you were acting like a total miser yesterday, so don't start nitpicking today. If anything, you should be thanking me instead! I mean, thanks to this, people won't view you as a selfish person anymore!"

In that instant, a few colleagues nearby—who had initially looked guilty—immediately grew confident and started taking Julia's side when they heard her remarks.

"Julia is right! You should take it as a compliment that Julia even wanted to eat your food!"

I thought that even though the company was small, the rules, regulations, and departmental procedures were well-defined during my interview back then. I never expected that underneath it all, the place was just full of brown-nosers.

I refused to back down. "You're the ones being shameless here! I brought this food myself, so there's no reason why I should share it with everyone for free! If you're really that starved, go beg on the streets for scraps!"

In that instant, the commotion caught the attention of the colleagues who were further away, prompting them to cast observant glances toward our corner of the office.

Julia flushed with embarrassment and anger, clearly surprised that a low-level employee like me would dare to publicly snap at her. She lifted her chin stubbornly, refusing to give in. "How dare you call me a beggar! I can't believe my kindness is treated with such contempt!

"I told you yesterday that I would have simply paid for it, but you didn't want any of it. Why are you making such a scene when I merely had a few bites today? You don't have to make everyone else suffer just because you're selfish, Emma!"

I was trembling with fury after hearing her fallacious remarks.

"You'd better not twist the facts here, Julia! You ought to know that taking someone else's thing without permission is considered theft! How can you steal my food and act like you did nothing wrong?

"I'm warning you—if you fail to issue a public apology and provide compensation, I won't let you go!" I bellowed before I tossed my lunch box into the trash can. I then grabbed my handbag, turned on my heels, and walked away.

I ate a freshly made meal once I returned home, but I was still absolutely furious.

I unlocked my phone, ready to blast Julia publicly in the company-wide group chat. But at the last second, I realized that even though I didn't care about keeping the job, making a massive scene would only end up causing more trouble for me in the long run.

I messaged Julia privately with that in mind. "You'd better fully reimburse me for the food you stole at lunch and make a public apology by tomorrow morning. Otherwise, I'll contact the police and file a report."

I hadn't even set my phone down when a bunch of voice messages started rolling in. Julia's over-the-top, annoying tone filled the room. "You've got to be kidding me! You should be flattered that I even ate your lunch. Who do you think you're dealing with?

"Do you think I'm just some average person who doesn't know any better? You can go ahead and call the police—let's see who gets arrested and who gets fired from this company!"

It turned out that my attempt to play things down was mistaken by Julia as a sign of weakness.

She immediately took the screenshots of our private chat and posted them right into the company group chat. "Do you see this petty person at our office? She's bitter about her own life, so she expects others to cater to her every whim.

"I only helped her because I felt bad that she had nobody in her life, and now she's trying to frame me for it.

"In the future, everyone should refrain from doing charity needlessly. After all, there's a reason these miserable people end up the way they do. She's got no family, no ties, nothing at stake—we do, so don't get dragged into it."

Those who were normally close to Julia immediately stepped in to stir up trouble before most people even understood the situation.

"I know, right? She never once reciprocates when we share snacks or fruits in the office. She claims that she's allergic to them. How can anyone be allergic to so many things? She could at least come up with a better excuse."

"What do you expect? She's a miserable orphan, so she's bound to be petty and selfish. Julia only got the short end of the stick because she was too kindhearted."

"You shouldn't let it get to you, Julia. You're the heiress of the family behind Grand Epoch Capital, so these absolute nobodies aren't even worth your time."

Those one-sided flattery comments in the group chat finally made me realize why Julia acted so brazenly.

It turned out she had been dropping hints ever since her first day of internship that she was only working there for the "experience" and that she was the successor of Grand Epoch Capital, which just happened to be the company's biggest investor.

In addition, combined with Julia's arrogant attitude and her head-to-toe luxury brands—which I could tell were knockoffs, though regular people never noticed—it worked perfectly with her lies. After all, as long as one appeared sufficiently confident, even a fabricated persona could trick others.

That was precisely why the whole group was dogpiling on me at that moment.

I sneered as I quickly typed out the message. "If she's the actual heiress, then we're really screwed. If you're all so eager to bootlick and power-trip, then don't blame me for not playing nice.

"You guys had better not back down when the police arrive at the scene tomorrow. We're going to lay everything out on the table and see who's the one who should actually be ashamed."