At the company celebration dinner, I had just led my team through a major project and was about to go onstage to give my report.

Then someone snatched the microphone right out of my hand.

Freya, the newly appointed director, strode onto the stage and claimed all the credit for herself with a single speech.

“I’m the CEO’s younger sister. My brother sent me to this branch to gain some experience.

“From now on, everyone here answers to me. I promise I’ll get him to give this branch more resources, and I’ll lead all of you to bigger and better things.”

I was so angry I almost laughed.

I asked her what proof she had.

To my surprise, she actually listed several of the CEO’s private habits, things an outsider shouldn’t have known. Then she even pulled out a photo of them together.

I was about to argue, but my boyfriend, Chuck, grabbed me and dragged me off the stage.

“Are you insane? If she’s the CEO’s sister, then just put up with it. Don’t cause trouble for the company.”

I looked at Freya, who stood onstage with a smug smile on her face.

Only one thought filled my mind.

Since when did my brother have another sister?

Onstage, Freya was still showing off her so-called achievements.

She used the PowerPoint I had prepared and claimed the major project I had poured countless late nights into as her own.

And because she was supposedly the CEO’s sister, no one dared to step forward and question her.

Only after finishing the entire presentation did she step down, looking smug and satisfied.

“A low-level employee should know her place,” Freya said, lifting her chin. “You have no background and no real ability. Even if I gave you the credit, could you handle it?”

I held the glass of red wine in my hand, my knuckles turning white from how hard I was gripping it.

Looking at that arrogant face of hers, I finally couldn’t hold back anymore.

I walked up to her and splashed the wine straight into her face.

Then, before she could react, I slapped her hard across the cheek.

“Even if I had no ability, I’d still be better than a fraud like you who only knows how to steal other people’s work.”

“How dare you hit me?”

Freya covered her face and raised her hand to hit me back.

I grabbed her wrist and slapped her again.

“That’s enough!”

My boyfriend, Chuck, rushed over and pulled Freya behind him protectively.

“She only went onstage and said a few words for you. Did you really have to make such a huge scene?

“She’s the CEO’s sister. If you treat her like this, how is our company supposed to grow?”

As he spoke, he took out a handkerchief and gently wiped Freya’s face.

“Are you okay? Don’t stoop to her level. I’ll take you to the restroom so you can clean up.”

The way he fawned over her with that soft, careful tenderness made me sick.

After they left, my coworkers quickly gathered around me, speaking up on my behalf.

“She went way too far. Everyone knows how much work you put into this project, Bailey. You were still revising proposals even when you were sick.”

“We all saw how hard you worked this past year. Is some random rich girl really going to swoop in and steal all the credit?”

“I don’t agree with this. This is straight-up bullying.”

I could only smile bitterly.

My coworkers knew exactly how much I had suffered for this project.

But they were also afraid of Freya’s supposed identity. They were angry, but they didn’t dare say anything earlier.

I understood how they felt.

But I also knew one thing.

Freya’s identity was fake.

“She can’t possibly be the CEO’s sister.”

“But I saw her post a photo with the CEO before,” one coworker said. “Her social media is full of posts showing off her brother.”

She pulled out her phone and showed me.

The moment I saw the screen, my eyes widened.

The person in the photo really was William, my brother.

He and Freya were standing side by side, and Freya was smiling brightly.

I kept scrolling and realized that almost every other post on her feed was about showing off her brother.

“Thanks to my sweet brother for buying me this limited-edition bag.”

“I couldn’t decide what to buy while shopping, so my brother bought out the whole boutique for me.”

But the more I looked, the faster I noticed something was wrong.

After scrolling through her entire feed, I realized there was only one photo of her with William.

Everything else was either bragging captions or photos of expensive things.

I almost laughed.

So these days, all it took was one photo for some random wannabe to pass herself off as me.

The next morning, the moment I walked into the office, I saw Freya sitting at my desk.

Everything that had been on it had been thrown into a corner, scattered all over the floor in a mess.

Freya sat in my chair with her legs crossed and announced loudly, “From now on, I’m in charge of this department. Naturally, the project lead position belongs to me too.”

The anger I had held in all night surged up at once.

I was just about to snap when Chuck walked in.

“Freya is a senior executive sent over by headquarters. From now on, all projects in this department will be handled by her.”

Then he looked at me.

“Bailey, because of the staffing change, I’ve moved your seat. Your new desk is over there.”

He pointed to a dusty, broken-down desk beside the trash can in the corner.

There wasn’t even a computer on it.

“I’m not moving.”

I looked straight at Chuck and Freya, refusing to back down.

“I’ve been handling every project and every task in this department from the start. Sitting here makes it easier for me to communicate with the team. What gives her the right to take my desk just because she says so?”

Freya shot to her feet and raised her voice.

“Because I’m the CEO’s biological sister. I’m the heiress of this family.

“I’m warning you. If you don’t give up this seat today, I’ll have William shut down this entire branch tomorrow. Then every single one of you can pack up and leave.”

The second Chuck heard the words “shut down,” his face went pale.

“Bailey, stop making a scene. It’s just a desk. Is it really worth all this?”

As he spoke, he picked up the things Freya had thrown on the floor and shoved them into my arms.

“How about this? I’ll help you clean up and get you a proper setup. Is that good enough? If you keep this up, you’ll just make things ugly for everyone.”

I looked at him coldly and said each word clearly.

“I said I’m not moving.”

“If she insists on taking my desk today, I’ll hand in my resignation right now.”

Chuck finally lost his temper. He pointed at me and threatened me sharply.

“If you keep causing trouble, don’t even think about getting a single cent of the bonus from this project.”

I was so angry I laughed.

“I led this project from beginning to end. For an entire year, I worked overtime every night and barely slept six hours a day. This project doubled the company’s revenue, and headquarters personally praised our team for it.

“Now this fraud who did absolutely nothing is stealing my credit. Are you planning to give her my bonus too?”

My words stirred the rest of the office.

One by one, my coworkers stood up.

“Bailey is right. This project was our whole team’s work. Why should some new girl get to steal the credit?”

“That bonus is what we earned. How can you just take it away?”

“If Bailey leaves, we’re leaving too.”

One after another, the entire department rose to their feet.

Looking at the coworkers who had fought beside me for so long, I felt an unexpected wave of emotion rise in my chest.

Freya’s face turned bright red.

“You think quitting will solve anything? My brother is the CEO of the entire group. With one word from me, none of you will ever find another job in this industry again.”

There she went again, using her so-called CEO brother to scare everyone.

I sneered.

“You keep saying your brother is the CEO. But in the end, is that one photo the only proof you have?”

Freya glared at me.

Then she reached up and yanked the pendant necklace from her neck.

“Open your eyes and look carefully. This is my family’s heirloom.

“It has our family crest engraved on it. There are only two of these in the entire world.”

I stepped closer.

My brows drew together.

The pendant was real.

When William and I were born, our parents had a world-famous jeweler custom-make two pendants for us. They were meant to represent our place in the family.

Only two existed in the world.

But they weren’t identical.

William had the men’s version.

I had the women’s version.

And the one Freya was clutching was clearly William’s.

How did she get that?

When Chuck saw the pendant, he became even more convinced of her identity.

“Now do you all believe her? Stop being unreasonable and get back to your desks.

“Otherwise, I’ll suspend every one of you.”

I looked quietly at the man in front of me.

He had once been the person closest to me.

Now all I saw in his eyes was greed and ambition.

Suddenly, it all felt laughable.

“Do whatever you want.”

I picked up my things and turned to leave.

“Bailey! Come back here!”

I didn’t look back.

Without stopping once, I walked out of the company I had poured years of my life into.

Less than two hours after I left the company, the disciplinary notice was issued.

“After investigation, employee Bailey refused to comply with management instructions during work hours and disrupted normal company operations. Her actions constitute a serious violation of company policy. She will be suspended for one month, and her full project bonus of two hundred thousand dollars will be withheld.”

Right after that, another notice came out.

“Since joining the company, newly appointed director Freya has demonstrated outstanding performance. After review, the company has decided that she will take over Bailey’s former position and receive an additional performance bonus of two hundred thousand dollars for this month.”

I stared at the two notices on my screen and let out a cold laugh.

How was this any different from robbing me outright?

My phone buzzed.

It was a message from Chuck.

“You were too impulsive today. Freya is the CEO’s sister. None of us can afford to offend her.

“Stay home and reflect on yourself for a while. Don’t cause any more trouble.”

I stared at the message and suddenly felt like the man who used to say he loved me was a complete stranger.

I picked up my phone and called William.

“Hey, are you still wearing the pendant Mom and Dad gave you?”

William paused.

“The chain broke, so I had my assistant take it in to get replaced. Why?”

“Nothing.”

I leaned back against the couch, the corner of my mouth lifting slightly.

“Just don’t forget to get it back soon. It’d be bad if someone with bad intentions got their hands on it.”

“Got it. I’ll ask my assistant about it.”

After hanging up, I tossed my phone onto the coffee table.

Sure enough, Freya had stolen that pendant from William.

At first, I had wondered if maybe she knew him somehow. But after thinking about it, I knew there was no way William would casually lend something that important to anyone.

After being suspended, I suddenly had all the free time in the world.

For the past year, I had barely slept a full night because of that project.

I decided to treat it as a proper vacation.

But to my surprise, a few days later, the coworkers from my team came to my door.

“Bailey, we were all fired.”

I froze.

It turned out that after my suspension, the whole department had gone on strike to demand justice for me.

At first, Chuck tried to shut them down with threats and empty promises.

But Freya didn’t care at all. She simply told all of them to get out.

So they were really fired.

Several of them were senior employees who had fought beside me for years.

Without them, the company never could have completed any of its core projects.

I comforted them and told them not to worry.

“I’ll arrange work for all of you. If you trust me, I’ll make sure you end up somewhere good.”

After our entire department was fired, every unfinished project we had been handling landed on Freya’s desk.

At first, she was full of confidence and promised Chuck, “This little bit of work? I can handle it myself.”

A few days later, her tone changed.

“Just transfer a few people from the neighboring departments to help me.”

But people from other departments didn’t understand our work at all.

On top of that, Freya was nothing but an empty suit who only knew how to talk big. Faced with half-finished projects, she didn’t even know where to begin.

Just like that, day after day passed.

The project didn’t move forward at all.

Chuck finally started to panic.

This project had been assigned directly by headquarters, and the report was due next week.

If he couldn’t deliver, he was finished.

In desperation, he called me again.

“Bailey, the company needs you on this project. We can withdraw the suspension. Come back to work.”

I almost laughed.

“You personally approved that suspension. The notice was officially issued by the company. Now you want to take it back just because you need me? What is this, a joke?”

The line went quiet for two seconds.

“Fine. I was wrong. I’ll put out an announcement clearing your name, and I’ll return half your bonus. Happy now?”

I smiled.

“My entire team was fired because of you. What’s the point of me going back alone?”

“I’ll assign you new people. As many as you need.”

“No. I want my original team back. I trained every one of them myself, and we work well together. I won’t accept anyone else.”

Chuck finally snapped.

“Bailey, don’t push your luck.”

Just then, another voice came from his end of the phone.

“Chuck, my brother agreed to send new people to our branch. I heard some real experts are coming to help.”

It was Freya.

Chuck paused for a second. Then his confidence came right back.

“Did you hear that? You really think this company can’t survive without you?

“With the CEO’s own sister here, we can get whatever resources we want.”

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice had turned cold.

“Bailey, let’s break up. I’ve had enough of you. You have no money, no background, and nothing but problems. Don’t bother me again.”

He thought I would beg him.

Instead, I only asked calmly, “What? Dumping me so you can chase after your precious heiress?”

“Who I chase has nothing to do with you. And you don’t need to come back to the company anymore. Take your little team and get lost.”

With that, he hung up.

Although I no longer had much feeling left for him, I still couldn’t stop my hand from tightening around the phone.

Fine.

Break up, then.

I only hoped he wouldn’t regret today’s decision later.