Chapter 1

“Eve Cook, do you think this proposal I put together is good? This client is your old one, so you know them well. Can you give me some advice?”

In the office, Olivia flashed a bright smile as she placed a proposal in front of me.

She’s my childhood friend, my best friend.

I’ve always been genuine with her. Not only did I introduce her to the job, but when she first joined, I personally taught her the ropes.

To help her settle in, I even worked overtime for free, helping her revise reports and proposals.

I was the one who promoted her, supported her as she grew, and helped her gain a foothold in the company.

But what I didn’t expect was that a few days ago, she’d stolen my client right out of my hands.

When the department manager announced that I would have to hand over the project I was working on to Olivia, I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought I must have misheard.

I spent the entire day feeling frustrated.

Until a colleague told me that Olivia had used a weakness of mine to report me to the manager.

I still couldn’t believe it—someone I trusted so much would stab me in the back like that.

I confronted Olivia.

But she put on a pitiful look and started crying, saying, “Eve, you’re my childhood friend, my best friend.”

“You know me, you know I can’t lose this job. I had no choice but to move forward.”

“I didn’t want to steal your client, but I had no other option.”

“You understand, right?”

I was in shock. I couldn’t believe Olivia was actually saying all this to my face, acting like she was the victim!

I had trusted her so much. I had helped her every step of the way.

I’d always treated her like my closest friend.

But here she was, blatantly admitting to her betrayal, and even making it sound like I was the one who owed her something!

I’d never felt so heartbroken.

The last time I felt this way was when I broke up with my first love in college.

And now, this ‘best friend’ of mine had the nerve to ask for my opinion on a proposal she had stolen from me!

Maybe I was naïve, but I wasn’t a fool!

I shoved the proposal away with disdain, “Who do you think you are? Are we really that close?”

My cold response caught Olivia off guard. She looked at me in shock, as if she had been frightened.

“Eve, I know you’re still angry about what I did, but I really had no choice! If I had any other options, do you think I’d steal your client?”

“We’re childhood friends, the best of friends!”

“When I came to the company, you helped me get to where I am today. We’re like teacher and student, friends with such a deep bond. Can’t you just help me out?”

She still had the nerve to emphasize that we were childhood friends, best friends!

I could hardly believe how thick her skin was!

I couldn’t take her fake, innocent, and calculating act any longer.

I was boiling with rage inside but still tried to keep my composure as I said, “I must’ve been blind, or maybe I did something terribly wrong in my past life to have you as my friend. But from now on, we’re done. Don’t come to me again!”

Olivia’s lips curled into a mocking smile, and then she switched to a pitiful expression, saying, “Eve, do you have to be so harsh with me?”

“It’s just one client I took. What’s the big deal?”

“You’ve been in the company for years, built up so many connections. What’s one client to you? Why are you being so petty?”

Tears welled up in her eyes, drawing the attention of our colleagues.

She stole my client, stole my achievements, and yet she played the victim, making it look like I was bullying her.

If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have believed someone could be so deceitful!

I couldn’t stand her filth any longer.

I completely exploded.

Grabbing her proposal, I threw it across the room.

Of course, just at that moment, Manager Lee walked in with a young man.

The proposal hit Manager Lee square in the face, knocking his glasses off and sending them crashing to the ground, shattered.

The entire office froze in shock.

Manager Lee’s face turned an angry shade of dark. “Who’s acting like this? If you don’t want to work here, just leave! The company doesn’t tolerate people throwing tantrums like this!”

No one said a word.

Everyone lowered their heads, pretending to be busy.

Olivia, wiping her eyes with one hand, pointed at me with the other. “Manager Lee, it’s all my fault. I asked Eve to look over my proposal, but I didn’t expect her to get so upset.”

Chapter 2

“It’s my fault. I thought we were all working for the company and that things shouldn’t be so divided, but it upset Eve.”

“Manager Lee, if there’s punishment, it should be on me.”

I couldn’t help but admire Olivia!

With just a few words, she made herself look like a saint.

And here I was, being painted as the envious villain.

Manager Lee’s face darkened even further. He coldly walked over to me, holding the proposal. “Eve, you’ve been here for years. How can you be this thoughtless?”

Olivia, looking utterly wronged, said, “Manager Lee, don’t blame Eve. It’s my fault. She’s just in a bad mood today, and I shouldn’t have asked her for help.”

“Not your business!” Manager Lee snapped, his anger rising. He threw the proposal down in front of me. “Eve, don’t think that just because you’ve been with the company for so long, you’re safe! If you don’t get your act together, don’t think we won’t fire you!”

“You’re lucky you only hit me today. If you’d thrown that at the new CEO, you’d be done for!”

The new CEO?

Everyone’s eyes turned to the young man.

He was confident and handsome, with an aura of authority that immediately captivated the women in the office.

Of course, the most obvious was Olivia.

She wasted no time, walking up to the CEO, tears in her eyes as she spoke. “I’m so sorry, CEO. I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I just took on a new project, and I didn’t expect to be bullied by an older colleague…”

As she presented herself to the CEO, she didn’t forget to smear me further.

The CEO gave a slight smile, walking up to me with a playful look in his eyes. “So, this is the employee? My first day here, and you’re already giving me this much attention?”

Naturally, everyone wanted to curry favor with the new CEO.

But at that moment, I couldn’t care less. I simply sat back at my desk, giving off the vibe of a person who couldn’t care less. “Whether you’re happy or not doesn’t matter. Don’t think just because you’re the new CEO, or even if you were the chairman, you could do anything to me.”

“Preposterous!” Before the CEO could even speak, Manager Lee slammed his fist on the desk, furious. “Eve, what kind of attitude is this? Do you treat your superiors like this? Do you think I won’t fire you?”

Olivia immediately played the part of the good Samaritan, rushing over to drag me into an apology. “Eve, quickly apologize to the CEO. He’s a bigger person and won’t hold this against you.”

If this had been before, I might have believed Olivia was truly looking out for me.

But now, all I saw in her was a fake and ugly skeleton.

And I understood exactly what she was trying to do.

She was trying to show off in front of the new CEO while conveniently stepping on me.

What did she mean by “the CEO’s a bigger person, he won’t mind”?

It basically meant I was at fault, while casually flattering the CEO in the process.

I shrugged off Olivia’s hand. “Whoever wants to apologize, go ahead. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

With my fearless attitude, everyone’s eyes were fixed on me, and the tension in the room was palpable.

Manager Lee was gritting his teeth, ready to blow up, but the CEO, William Smith, spoke up first. “Eve, right? You’re quite the character. I’ll remember you.”

William didn’t issue any punishment. He just left those words and walked out in a casual, carefree manner.

Seeing him strut out, I was even more furious.

He didn’t even stand up for me!

But his actions only led to a swarm of office fangirls fawning over him.

“So handsome.”

“I didn’t expect the new CEO to be so young and good-looking.”

“And he’s got such a good temper. Even though Eve was like that, he didn’t lose his cool!”

“Right? Most leaders wouldn’t tolerate that attitude from a subordinate.”

“Not only is he handsome and high-ranking, but he’s also a warm guy. I’m in love.”

“Does he have a girlfriend? I think I’m a perfect match…”

After William left in a carefree manner, Manager Lee pointed at me repeatedly and said, “Eve, I’ll fire you sooner or later!”

With that, Manager Lee stormed off.

His parting words had a noticeable impact, and the way my colleagues looked at me changed.

Perhaps in their eyes, I had completely offended Manager Lee, and being fired was no different than a foregone conclusion.

After all, with the current job market pressure, such a listed company never lacks employees.

Olivia no longer pretended to be indifferent. She sneered and said, “Eve, to be honest, I never respected you before, but now I have to admire you. You actually dared to confront the leader like that. Truly unbelievable.”

Her words dripped with sarcasm, but I wasn’t about to let her have the last word. “Even if I did clash with the leader, it’s still better than being a scheming, backstabbing little rat like you!”

Chapter 3

I made sure my voice was loud enough for the entire office to hear.

Colleagues glanced at Olivia, and though no one dared openly offend her, the contempt in their eyes was clear.

No one likes someone who plays dirty behind others’ backs.

A few days later, I wasn’t fired. However, rumors started swirling that Manager Lee was about to be dismissed by the company.

Also circulating was the news that the new president was considering candidates to replace Manager Lee.

The company was in an uproar.

“What’s going on? Manager Lee was doing just fine—why is he getting fired?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Mr. Smith doesn’t like him.”

“I think it has something to do with Eve.”

“Really? Mr. Smith would fire Manager Lee because of Eve? Does she even know him?”

“Of course, she doesn’t know him, but that incident might’ve left a bad impression on Mr. Smith. Maybe it’s because of that, he’s firing Manager Lee.”

“I think you might be right.”

Rumors spread like wildfire.

Soon, a new directive came down. Within the next month, whoever had the highest performance in the department would be considered for Manager Liu’s position.

Suddenly, everyone in the department, eager to hit their targets, put in maximum effort to boost their performance.

Some speculated that this was a clever move by Mr. Smith, who, as a newcomer, wasn’t familiar with the team’s abilities. By letting everyone compete, he could easily spot who had the skills and results to match, allowing him to gain control of the company more quickly and accurately.

After this analysis, William rose even further in the eyes of his admirers in the office, with many now calling him the “irreplaceable idol” of their hearts.

As the competition heated up, many colleagues brought out their best tricks and used any connection they could—nothing was off-limits, even if it was just a stray dog.

I, too, joined the competition, not for anything else, but to fight for my dignity!

After two weeks of frantic performance pushes, a clear divide appeared among my colleagues.

Olivia, having secured a few of my old clients, took the lead and became the front-runner for the department manager position.

Moreover, President Mr. Smith personally asked to speak with her in his office.

No one knew what they talked about, but rumors spread that Olivia was about to become the new manager, with some even claiming she had become Mr. Smith’s girlfriend.

I didn’t pay much attention to the rumors, focusing instead on closing my big client deal.

But that evening, as I was leaving, I ran into William and Olivia entering the elevator together.

As soon as Mr. Smith saw me, he said, “You’re here too? Getting off work so early? Aren’t you going to fight for the department manager position?”

Before I could respond, Olivia smirked and said, “Mr. Smith, you wouldn’t know, but Eve looks like she doesn’t care about the manager position. In reality, after work, she’s out visiting big clients every day.”

“Oh?”

When William heard that I was also striving for the department manager position, he looked intrigued and asked, “Are you really so dedicated?”

Seeing William walking so closely with Olivia made me uncomfortable.

I shot him an irritated glance and said, “You should focus on your own business. My matters don’t concern you.”

Before Mr. Smith could respond to my glare, Olivia started fawning over him, “Eve, honestly, how can you speak to Mr. Smith like that?”

“If it weren’t for Mr. Smith’s tolerance, any other leader would have fired you by now!”

While saying this, Olivia subtly inched closer to Mr. Smith, practically pressing her body against his.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think they were a couple.

Watching her shameless behavior made me sneer. “Do you really think that by sticking so close to Mr. Smith, he’ll start admiring you? All you’re doing is making yourself look cheap!”

Ding. The elevator door opened.

I left those words hanging in the air as I exited with a flair.

Olivia was so angry that her face turned red, and she pouted in front of William, “Mr. Smith, you see, I told you, Eve is of such poor character. It’s bad enough that she insults me, but she even doesn’t spare you. She’s hopeless!”

I ignored whatever else Olivia might say behind my back.

It no longer mattered.

All that was important now was one thing. I had to win this big client and prove myself!

Time flew by.

With only one day left in the month-long performance competition, I had finally secured the big client.

It was originally agreed that today the client would visit our company to meet with Mr. Smith and sign a contract, completing a massive order worth over one hundred million.

But when I arrived at the company, I found all my colleagues already congratulating Olivia.

Some even began calling her “Manager Lee,” eager to flatter her.

I couldn’t hide my disdain. I coldly said, “Thinking you’ve won already? It’s too early to celebrate!”