I've spent five long and devoted years at the company.

At first, I think I'm getting a promotion soon. What I don't expect is that my superior, Jacob Hale, decides to burn bridges with me by forcing me to voluntarily quit the job. He also promotes Megan Osborn, a pretentious woman who spends her time kissing up to the right people.

That's when I also find out that the employee I've been training from the start, Cindy Sutton, and Megan are actually best friends of many years. They keep hunting for my faults just so they can send them to Jacob behind my back.

To make things worse, my boyfriend of seven years, Felix Wilkins, is even being flirtatious and intimate with Megan in public!

Fine!

I don't mind changing my identity and rejoining this game!

Early in the morning, someone from my company's Human Resources messaged me. They informed me that my team was being disbanded and that my team members would be reassigned to other groups.

Before I could even process that, the HR staff member secretly let slip another detail. The person being promoted to manager this time was another team lead from our department, Megan Osborn.

Megan's team had the worst performance in the entire department. She was only good at sucking up to others. She would spend her days buying drinks or bringing desserts into our superiors' offices.

I instantly felt my temper flare.

I had worked diligently at this company for five years, having joined just two months after the company was founded.

I was proficient in every functional department's operations and often trained other departments. I was also the one who handled most of the business dealings with headquarters.

My team also had the best performance in the entire company.

And now, they were telling me the person being promoted was the one who performed the worst? Also, my team was being disbanded?

Shortly after, the official email was sent to the company-wide mailing list. My team members all looked at me with obvious concern.

I closed my laptop and stormed into the manager's office.

"Mr. Hale, why is my team being disbanded?"

I was in a bad mood, so I didn't bother beating around the bush and got straight to the point.

Jacob Hale looked up at me with a somewhat impatient expression.

"Ivy, the company's been overstaffed lately, so we made some adjustments," he said. "Your team was the smallest, and after discussing it, management decided dissolving your group was the most cost-effective option."

I was absolutely floored. This was the first time I'd ever heard such a ridiculous reason for disbanding a team!

Besides, didn't the company know why my team had so few members?

I never withheld anything and worked hard to train my team—some for business roles, while others moved on to management.

Several of them had already been promoted in recent months.

Last month, Cindy Sutton was even selected as a team lead, putting her on the same level as me now.

"Mr. Hale, my team has fewer people because several were promoted recently. We haven't received any new hires; that's why the number is low."

Was it wrong for me to train my staff well? So everyone should just slack off and spend their day chatting over tea instead?

"But your team does have the fewest people, doesn't it?" Jacob retorted.

I tried hard to suppress my anger and attempted to reason with him. "But even with the fewest people, my team has the best performance in the company!"

I had produced the best results with the fewest people. Wasn't that proof of my capability?

Upon seeing that I wasn't backing down, Jacob's tone turned cold. "Ivy, this is the company's decision. You just need to comply."

I knew further discussion was pointless.

Jacob had never liked me anyway. I had offended him several times while standing up for my team. It wasn't the first time he had deliberately found fault with me during weekly meetings.

"So if my team is disbanded, what about me as the team lead?" I asked.

Jacob smiled, barely hiding his contempt. "If the team is disbanded, naturally, you'll return to being a regular employee. How about this? Since you usually work hard, I'll let you choose which team lead you want to work under."

"So, this is a demotion?" I shot back.

How laughable! The top performer got demoted, while the worst performer got promoted.

He was even letting me "choose".

This was utterly ruthless. It was even worse than just discarding someone after they were no longer useful.

I took a deep breath and told myself to stay calm. "Mr. Hale, you said it yourself that I usually work hard. Is this how the company treats its employees? It's too disheartening!"

"Ivy Benson, I said that so you wouldn't be humiliated. I haven't even brought up how you slack off during work hours. Wouldn't it be better to leave with some dignity?"

As he spoke, Jacob pulled up some photos on his computer.

The photos were all taken from hidden, sneaky angles.

One showed my computer screen displaying a music app. Another was a photo of me sitting at my workstation with my eyes closed, making it look as though I was sleeping.

There was only one person who could have taken these photos—Cindy Sutton.

For the past few months, I had been mentoring her, often taking her through analytical reports.

Sometimes during lunch breaks, when I was too tired, I'd listen to some music. However, when I got busy, I would forget to close the app.

Also, during a particularly hectic period that resulted in me getting headaches, I often closed my eyes for a few seconds to rest.

I never expected that Cindy would use certain angles to photograph these moments, turning them into "evidence" that I was "slacking off" during work hours.

What an ungrateful wretch!

I initially wanted to explain myself, but when I saw Jacob's expression, I knew it would be useless. He was already in cahoots with Cindy.

"What if I refuse to go back to being a regular employee?" I asked.

"This is the company's decision," Jacob replied coolly. "You can only comply. Otherwise, you'll have to leave. If I remember correctly, your contract has expired, and the new one you just signed hasn't been confirmed yet, right?"

His confident manner made me lose all hope.

I had been wondering why the renewed contract hadn't been confirmed and returned to me. So this was why!

These people had already set a trap for me.

I could either endure this humiliation and return to being a regular employee, or resign on my own.

They also knew me well enough to know that there was no way I'd tolerate that kind of humiliation.

"Fine, you win. I quit," I said simply.

This time, Jacob's smile was genuine. "Think it over. Don't change your mind after. Quitting means no severance. But for the sake of us being ex-colleagues, I won't make you wait a month to file your resignation. Pack up and leave now."

He just couldn't wait to get rid of me, huh? He had even trapped me with the "no severance for quitting" clause.

Coincidentally, I couldn't wait either. Just looking at these people made me sick.

When I left Jacob's office, I saw Megan at her workstation, receiving congratulations from our colleagues.

It was getting a bit noisy.

Cindy walked over, shot me a disdainful look, and then linked arms with Megan. They looked really close.

At that moment, everything became clear to me. I had been blind all along!

I returned to my workstation and started packing. I also cleared all my personal information from the laptop.

Then, I sent a message to Felix Wilkins, my boyfriend. Back when we graduated, I chose to stay in this city because of him. Our relationship had been good all these years.

He also worked at our company, but in the technical department.

I thought Felix would call me immediately, but there was no response for a long time.

I checked my phone again and saw a single gray tick in the message I had sent. Felix's profile picture was grayed out too.

Had he blocked me?

Before I could fully process it, I saw Felix standing in front of Megan's workstation. Cindy pushed him to stand next to Megan.

Felix naturally wrapped his arm around Megan's waist, and the two gazed at each other affectionately.

Well, well. They had all been playing me for a fool!

Cindy suddenly looked over, her face full of smug satisfaction. Even Megan looked at me provocatively.

It was only Felix who didn't even bother glancing my way.

Whatever. I didn't want a piece of trash like him anyway.

I went to the HR department to turn in my laptop and return my employee badge.

While I was still thinking about what to do next, my phone rang.

"Ivy, I've noticed how well you've been handling your work. Have you thought about returning to Norell?"

It was Gregory Brown. He was the chairman of our company, which was headquartered in Norell.

He was also my dad's, Harvey Benson, best friend, and their companies were each other's closest strategic partners.

I majored in the relevant field in college, and Mr. Brown—who regarded me like his daughter—was dead set on bringing me into the company.

When I graduated, Mr. Brown wanted me to go back to Norell to work at headquarters, but I chose to stay at the Stonehaven branch for Felix.

Back then, the Stonehaven branch was undergoing a reform to clearly separate the roles of its headquarters and external branches.

The external branch was a separate subsidiary that was newly established not long ago.

I thought it would be a good way to train myself, so I went to the external branch. I just never expected that five years of my youth would be wasted on these ungrateful people.

Well, in that case, it was time to play the game with a new identity.

I returned to Norell that same day.

When I got home, Mr. Brown was also there, having tea with my dad. They were even talking about me.

They were both stunned to see me suddenly show up.

"Ivy, what are you doing here?" Mr. Brown asked.

I collapsed onto the couch and grabbed his arm. "Can't I be here? I missed you so much that I flew back just for you!"

Mr. Brown happily patted my hand and flaunted to Dad.

Dad only rolled his eyes in response.

"If you're back, don't leave again. It'd be great if you were to work in Norell!" Mr. Brown exclaimed.

"Mr. Brown, I was just about to talk to you about that. I'd like to intern at headquarters. Which department do you think I should start with?"

During my years in Stonehaven, I had familiarized myself with—and even mastered—the operations of every functional department in the company.

Mr. Brown knew that too. He kept praising me for being hardworking, unlike his foolish son who only knew how to mess around with music.

Now, when he heard me mention this, his eyes practically lit up.

"Given your excellent performance, why would you need to be an intern? Just tell me which department you want, and I'll arrange it!"

"Thank you, Mr. Brown!"

Mr. Brown smugly glanced at Dad again and received another eye roll in return.

"But wait," Mr. Brown said. "You were doing so well, Ivy. Why did you suddenly come back? Could you bear to leave that what's-his-name… that heartthrob boyfriend of yours?"

Everyone knew I had stayed in Stonehaven for Felix.

Mr. Brown had been furious back then and gave Felix the nickname "heartthrob" to mock me for going crazy over him.

Dad also sensed that something was wrong and looked at me seriously.

I knew I couldn't hide it, so I told them everything.

It made Dad so angry that he smashed a teacup.

Mr. Brown's expression also turned dark with rage. He was so angry that he forgot his manners and started cursing.

"Fuck! Even I've heard about your performance at headquarters. How dare they bully you like that? Tell me the names of those pieces of garbage! I'll kill them!"

"Greg, my daughter's being picked on by your staff. How do you plan to answer for that?" Dad asked.

"Don't worry, Harvey. I'm not going to let anyone mistreat Ivy," Mr. Brown said solemnly.

Only then did Dad's expression improve slightly.

I quickly sat between the two of them and held each of their arms. "Dad, Mr. Brown, please don't get involved. I want to handle this myself."

Getting back at someone personally was the only way to make it satisfying!

Mr. Brown glanced at Dad. When Dad didn't object, only then did he nod.

…

The next day, I reported to headquarters. Because my performance was truly outstanding, my name was already known there.

I was appointed as team lead right off the bat.

Over the next few months, I took turns leading teams in various functional departments.

Every team's performance was excellent, and I was quickly promoted to manager.

Mr. Brown was both pleased and anxious. "Ivy, when are you finally going to deal with those pieces of trash? Did you forget about it?"

Forget? How could I ever forget?

"Don't worry, Mr. Brown. I'll get my revenge, but not in a crude, reckless manner. Sure, I could use your authority to punish them directly, but that would be too easy on them.

"Besides, I genuinely like this job. I want to return to Stonehaven on my own merit and then deal with them!"

Revenge was important, but I didn't want to taint my genuine fondness for this work because of it.

I would let them enjoy themselves for a little longer. They needed to fully enjoy every gain they stole, because only then would the loss truly destroy them!

Seeing that I had a plan, Mr. Brown didn't say anything more.

…

Another two months passed, and the general manager of the Stonehaven branch was promoted to headquarters, leaving the position vacant.

I knew it was time for me to make my entrance.

Since I was an external appointee and the new general manager of the branch, I went directly to the headquarters' HR department for the handover.

The moment I stepped into the building's lobby, a loud squeal rang out.

"Ivy! What are you doing here? Get out immediately!"