I am the company ghost. Zero presence. My name at the office is literally "That Girl." Everyone can order me around. I have no complaints, no attitude. Even the new interns dump their coffee runs on me. But despite this, I've never thought about quitting. Because in my forgotten corner of the corporate machine, I spend my days slacking off and running my side hustles, quietly stacking cash until my bank account is thick. I thought I would stay invisible forever, until a promotion dropped from the sky... The company went public, and the CEO wanted to give pre-IPO shares to the founding members. A quick headcount revealed me, the invisible veteran. The CEO finally noticed me, this lowly employee who had been there since day one. He was instantly moved by my "unwavering loyalty." On the spot, he decided to give me the position that all the executives were fighting tooth and nail for: Chief Operating Officer. 1 When I was a kid playing "store," I was always the boss, and the other kids were the customers. I'd price a piece of candy at one dollar. After the customers haggled, I'd end up paying them a dollar to take the candy. After years of this, I never made a single cent. My parents shook their heads, confirming I had zero business talent. Because I was so dense, my parents worried I'd get eaten alive in the real world. So, they passed down their corporate survival wisdom. My mom's survival guide was five words: Lay Low, Play Dumb, Slack Off. She said if I mastered these, I'd be a qualified corporate slicker and survive anywhere. My dad, however, scoffed at this. They argued constantly. His philosophy was the opposite: Hustle hard, be loud, read the room, sweet talk everyone. Only by doing these four things could one get promoted, get a raise, and reach the pinnacle of life. My mom told me not to listen to him, or I'd burn out and get replaced by a nepotism hire. My dad told me not to listen to her, or I'd be stuck in entry-level hell forever. My mom argued that putting all your eggs in one basket was stupid. If the company folded, you'd be screwed. So, you need a side hustle. My dad called that heresy. If everyone slacked off, the company would fold. But if everyone hustled like him, the company would grow, benefits would improve, and everyone would win. I was caught in the middle. Sometimes Mom made sense, sometimes Dad did. The key was, they both proved their points with their lives. My mom stayed entry-level until retirement, but her embroidery side hustle sold pieces internationally for thousands. My dad hustled his way from clerk to VP, taking a local company to the Fortune 500. After graduating, I synthesized their wisdom into my own version. I adopted my mom's "lay low, play dumb, slack off." And I added my dad's "read the room." Combining these, I successfully became the most marginalized ghost in the company. 2 Personally, I was very satisfied. Twelve years in the company, zero presence. "That Girl" was my name. Anyone could order me around. Hard work, no complaints. Even interns learned to dump their grunt work on me. Despite this, I never thought about quitting. Because in my forgotten corner, I spent my days writing novels, quietly getting rich. I thought I'd be invisible forever, until the promotion dropped from the sky. The company went public. The CEO, Mr. Sterling, wanted to reward the founding employees with stock options. A headcount revealed me. Mr. Sterling finally noticed me, the veteran entry-level employee. He was moved by my spirit of "never abandoning the ship." He decided on the spot to give me the COO position that everyone was killing each other for. At the executive meeting, Mr. Sterling announced the news. Everyone's eyes shot daggers at me. Me, dragged in cluelessly: "..." Is the boss crazy? Me? COO? Chief Operating Officer? My direct superior, one of the founding members and Marketing Manager David Summer, was the first to object: "Her? Boss, you're joking. She's a little clerk in Marketing. What qualifies her to be COO?" I looked at Mr. Sterling and nodded in agreement: "Yes, I'm just a tiny analyst. I haven't even gotten any certifications since I joined. I'm still entry-level. I'm really not qualified." COO sounds busy. With that energy, I could write more novels and sell more rights. Isn't that better? One of the top contenders, the high-achieving Operations Manager Wayne Hart, also objected: "The COO role should be about ability and strength, not just seniority. Tenure shouldn't push out capable people." I continued to nod at Mr. Sterling: "Yes, I have no strength or ability. I just stayed because it was easy to slack off. Leave the opportunity to capable people." If I become COO, I won't have time to slack off. What about my readers waiting for updates? I'm not that irresponsible. The founding faction stood up: "If the standard for choosing a COO is this casual, we can't have any expectations for the company's future." I just agreed: "Yes, yes, it can't be this casual." The new generation faction stood up: "We won't accept her. If someone like her can be COO, so can we." I sincerely agreed: "Yes, yes. If I can be COO, everyone can." Everyone couldn't take it anymore and roared at me: "Can you shut up?" My cooperation did not earn me respect. Maybe I should just resign! But finding a job with a $1200 base salary, full benefits, weekends off, and no overtime where I can slack off is hard. As if seeing the thought of resignation on my face, Mr. Sterling, who had been silent, spoke up. He stood up and declared against all objections that although I seemed like a small clerk, I was actually stronger than everyone present. Me: ... I accepted everyone's gaze again. Everyone was surprisingly in sync, their faces saying two words: Her? 3 I had to suspect Mr. Sterling was using me as a target. Did he want me dead? What grudge, what grievance? Why target me? Did my twelve years of slacking off upset him? Or was he using the "praise to kill" method? Wanting me to quit voluntarily so he wouldn't have to give me stocks? I couldn't help but spiral into conspiracy theories. Otherwise, it made no sense... Before the Old Guard and the New Blood could voice their doubts again, Mr. Sterling hardened his face and said deeply, "Since none of you accept my decision, for the sake of fairness, I will give you a chance to compete fairly." Now the factions were quiet. It was my turn to speak for myself. But just as I opened my mouth to say "I," hands covered my mouth from behind. I turned in shock and saw Chloe, my former lunch buddy and current CFO: "Don't be scared. Compete with them. Let the boss finish." Me: "???" On my other side, Hank, my former chat buddy and current CTO, put his hand on my shoulder: "Exactly. With us here, your wealth is coming." Me: "!!!" What are these two talking about? Seeing my confusion, Chloe whispered in my left ear: "Actually, the boss has been struggling with who to promote to COO." I looked left at Chloe, asking with my eyes: Boss struggles, what's it to me? Hank whispered in my right ear: "So when the boss asked for our opinion, Chloe and I strongly recommended you." I whipped my head right to look at Hank in shock. I couldn't believe it: "Are you crazy? I'm lazy, greedy, and useless. You dared to recommend me?" Chloe on the left snorted: "Someone who can write 6,000 words of high-quality content daily while working? You call that lazy?" Hank on the right scoffed: "Someone who gets a certification for every profession she writes about? You call that useless?" Me in the middle was going crazy. Just as I was about to explode, David Summer and Wayne Hart stood up and said in unison: "Fine, no problem. We accept this challenge." Then, they both looked at me, eyes blazing with battlelust. Me: !!! They clearly saw me as an imaginary enemy. I was so busy chatting I didn't hear what the challenge was. I didn't plan to get involved in this promotion war. I was about to state my position when I saw Mr. Sterling wink at me. I didn't understand the hint. While I was dazed, Mr. Sterling announced the meeting over and left at light speed, giving me no chance to decline. Once the boss left, David and Wayne walked up to me. David looked at Chloe and Hank standing beside me, smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "You three were close back then. I didn't expect you to still be so close after all these years." Wayne was more direct. He lifted his chin and said unpleasantly: "If you don't want to end up embarrassed, you'd better withdraw from the Zenith Project competition now. Don't smear the company's image." After speaking their piece, they left without waiting for a reply. Now, only Chloe, Hank, and I were left in the huge conference room. I couldn't maintain my calm facade anymore. I clutched my head and screamed at them: "What the hell did you two do behind my back?" 4 I used to think "Don't forget me when you're rich" was a blessing. After hearing what Chloe and Hank did, I realized it can also mean "biting the hand that feeds you." It started four months ago. The company got approval to go public. Before the IPO, the boss wanted to optimize departments and positions. Chloe and Hank, the workaholics, were the undeniable heads of their departments. They had been with the boss since the startup days, surviving bankruptcy crises. With that loyalty, Chloe became CFO and Hank became CTO. But the COO position remained open. Heads of Sales, Marketing, Product, Operations, and even HR were eyeing it. The undercurrents were fierce. But that had nothing to do with me, a lowly Marketing Analyst. I finished my work and slacked off in my blind-spot cubicle, writing my novel. The thrill of potentially getting caught cured my procrastination. I wrote faster at work than at home. But two months ago, my workload exploded. Even people from other departments started dumping work on me. If they didn't bring me snacks or gifts afterwards, I would have thought it was bullying. But it wasn't far off. I was a corporate ghost. How transparent? Department meetings? Not invited. Group meetings? Forgotten. Task assignments? Skipped. Even team building events forgot me. I never dressed up. Black, white, gray. No makeup, messy hair, big glasses. I looked more like an intern than the interns. Newbies often ordered me around, then avoided me in embarrassment when they realized I was a senior employee. Colleagues came and went, promoted or quit. Those who joined with me were at least Vice Managers now. They had zero interaction with me. The newbies didn't know me, and I didn't want to know them. I just wanted to slack off. That good life ended two months ago. Suddenly I was swamped. No time to write at work. To keep my daily updates, I had to write until dawn at home. This wasn't a human life. I had to increase my efficiency at work to free up time to write. Result? Heh... In a company, if you're willing to work, there's endless work. As soon as I finished one task, another snowballed in. And they rushed me. Like they needed it yesterday. So I had to rush too. Baffling. I wanted to quit so many times. Chloe, Hank, and I have a group chat. Every time I wailed about quitting, they told me to endure it. They said my increased workload was because the department heads were fighting for COO and messing with each other. Once the COO was picked, my life would return to normal. I believed their lies. Turns out, the root cause was these two recommending me to the boss. The busy boss remembered me, the first employee he ever interviewed. He was moved by my "selfless dedication." Pure hallucination on his part. Moved, and backed by Chloe and Hank's guarantees, he added me to the COO candidate list. The busy two months were his test of my abilities. And today, getting called into the meeting meant he was satisfied with the results. Chloe and Hank finished explaining, eyes shining, faces saying "Praise me." I almost had a heart attack. Praise? I want to run away. I'm not a workaholic. COO sounds responsible and busy. I saw my dad's busyness growing up. Traveling 365 days a year. He said the higher the position, the greater the responsibility. My mom was the opposite. A slacker expert. Clocked out on the dot. Came home to embroider and play with me. Some people love the corporate grind. Some love stability. Influenced by both, I wanted a stable job and the joy of writing. The balance was perfect. Now it was broken. If I become COO, my happiness is gone. Only endless work remains. But can I blame Chloe and Hank for their good intentions? No. I can't be ungrateful. I can only blame myself. When I started writing, I lacked real-life romance experience. So I looked at Chloe, who had a crush, and Hank, who had a "white moonlight." I became their strategist. I helped Chloe chase her crush and Hank chase his girl. I shipped them so hard I had an epiphany and wrote my first hit sweet romance novel. Sold the rights, made bank. Years later, they both married their loves and lived happily. But seeing me still single and in the same position, they felt bad. The trio promised happiness. They couldn't leave me behind. Their definition of happiness was promotion, wealth, and family. I only had wealth. They figured getting me a boyfriend was harder than getting me promoted to COO. Choice made. Besides, I had the ability.
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