I had just secured a $10 billion project for the company and was about to report this good news to the CEO. But as I reached the CEO's office door, I heard CEO Adrian discussing me: "That project Jade signed? Pure luck, nothing more!" His secretary immediately chimed in with flattery: "Exactly! A country bumpkin like her landing a major deal is mainly thanks to you and the company's reputation!" Adrian continued: "Don't lay her off yet. She's been with the company for years. The severance would be too high. Transfer her to clean toilets. If she can't handle it, she'll quit on her own!" "Besides, a woman's most important skill isn't work—it's serving men! She doesn't act like a woman at all!" I tore up the project contract in my hands and turned to leave. Then I immediately called Adrian's competitor: "Send the offer tomorrow. I'll take that branch president position." Adrian continued to humiliate me: "Jade is so old and doesn't even have a boyfriend. She's probably psychologically twisted." "A woman's greatest skill is serving men well. What kind of logic is it for women to compete with men for performance? Send her to the janitorial department to reflect!" Standing outside the door, the blood in my veins seemed to freeze instantly. The scene from that rainy night eight years ago flashed vividly before my eyes—me running wildly with a dying child on my back. I had just turned twenty then, working odd jobs in town. When I found the child, he had been abandoned by human traffickers in the roadside grass, burning with fever, barely breathing. I wrapped him in my only thick coat and walked over ten miles of mountain roads in the rain. The old doctor at the town clinic said if I'd been half an hour later, the child wouldn't have made it. I later learned he was Adrian and Lauren's only son, born after many years of marriage. Because he was frail, the traffickers thought he wouldn't survive and casually dumped him. To express her gratitude, Lauren brought me out of the mountain village. She said, "Jade, you're our family's savior. From now on, you're my sister. I'll help you make money and establish yourself in the city!" Later, she really did teach me hand-in-hand how to read reports and negotiate with clients. From a warehouse partition to renting a proper office, almost every hard battle was fought by her and me together. She would put her arm around my shoulders and proudly introduce me to clients: "This is Jade, our company's ace salesperson and my co-founder." Until three years ago, when her heart condition flared up and she had to step back from the frontlines to recuperate. It was also from that time that Adrian's eyes on me became increasingly complicated. At first, Lauren still came to the company often, but later, less and less. Occasionally when I visited her, her smile never reached her eyes. Once, when her son Max threw himself into my arms calling me "Jade," she suddenly turned cold. "This child is closer to you than to me." I found it strange at the time but just assumed she was in a bad mood from her illness and didn't take it to heart. Instead, I threw myself wholeheartedly into the company. Adrian wasn't cut out for business. The projects he led lost money consecutively, and morale plummeted. The suggestions I made were always rejected by him on the grounds that women had shallow vision. When I went to Lauren, she only said, "Jade, Adrian's in charge of the company now. You need to listen to him." This hundred-billion-dollar order I'd fought desperately to secure was already the company's last lifeline. And now, it had become the trumpet call for my dismissal. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The embarrassment on both their faces flashed briefly before being replaced by anger. "Jade, why didn't you knock before entering? Can't shake off those country habits, can you!"
I gently placed the termination notice on the desk. "Mr. Anderson, I need an explanation for this." "I made this decision." Lauren took over, her tone displeased. "The company needs transformation now, fresh blood. You've worked hard and achieved much. You should rest." Adrian leaned back, his gaze lewdly sweeping across my chest. "That's right, Lauren is thinking of you. Administrative positions are easy, low-pressure. Women at a certain age always have to think about family." "Thinking of me? Lauren, do you remember what you said to me eight years ago? You said we would together..." A flash of struggle crossed Lauren's eyes, but she quickly regained composure. "Jade, people can't keep living off past achievements. I'm grateful you saved Max, so I gave you opportunities, but you can't keep using that favor to extort, can you?" She pushed another document toward me. "I've already reserved an administrative position for you. Think it over carefully. With your background, where else could you go if you left the company?" I reached out, grabbed the transfer notice, and tore it to shreds. "I appreciate Ms. Anderson's kind intentions." "But although I'm from the countryside, I still have self-respect. I can't learn to serve people." Ignoring their roars behind me, I turned and left the office. The glass on both sides of the corridor reflected my straight-backed silhouette, and also reflected this city I had once given everything for. Lauren hadn't always been like this. In those first few years, she would often tell me that women should have their own careers. But I don't know when it started changing. Her social media began sharing posts like "A woman's true wisdom is making her husband shine." The company atmosphere gradually changed too. Susan from Finance was transferred to manage archives after refusing to sign off on Adrian's messy accounts. Mr. Quinn from Marketing was sent to the warehouse after questioning Adrian's hole-riddled proposal. When I went to confront Lauren about it, she was learning to make soup from a video. After hearing me out, she put down the ladle and looked up at me with terribly unfamiliar eyes. "Jade, the company belongs to Adrian and me. You need to remember your place." I stood frozen, taking a long time to find my voice. "Lauren, but didn't we together..." She cut me off with a cold laugh. "Together what? I'm the boss, you're the employee. You can only have what I give you. Including... the right to point fingers." At that moment, I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cave. I said nothing more and just turned and walked out. But what chilled my heart even more was how she treated female employees. She promoted "women's workplace skills" in the company, even bringing in a sex expert to preach that "a woman's main battlefield isn't the workplace, it's the bedroom." A promising new female intern liked to follow me around asking about sales techniques. Three days later, Lauren transferred her to receptionist. The intern felt wronged, but Lauren gently patted her shoulder. "Young girls shouldn't always think about learning money-making skills. Finding a capable man—that's the real skill." The intern timidly glanced at me, but I couldn't say anything. Because I knew that if I spoke up for her, she would probably be fired outright. And I wasn't ready to leave at that time. I couldn't let go of this empire she and I had built together. I even foolishly hoped she might return to being the old Lauren. But my silence seemed to fuel her suspicions. After I'd close a major deal, Lauren would praise me in a seemingly casual way.
"I heard that boss is very difficult. Ms. Jade must have put in a lot of effort!" But gradually, rumors began circulating in the company about me using special means to land projects. Lauren would always appear at the height of the rumors: "Everyone, don't spread rumors. Jade is my sister. I know her abilities best." In private, though, she'd hold my hand and sigh. "Jade, reputation is most important for girls. With you acting like this, how can I feel at ease as your sister?" I used to stupidly think that was concern. My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was a formal offer letter from the rival company's HR director. [Ms. Jade, please confirm this offer. Position: Group Vice President and European Regional President, reporting directly to the CEO. Base salary, performance bonuses, and equity incentive details are attached. We look forward to your earliest start date.] Back at my desk, I began packing my things. A photo frame still sat on the desk—a picture of us from the early startup days. Lauren had her arm around my shoulders, smiling bright and radiant. I couldn't reconcile her with the bitter, harsh woman from just now. "Packing up so soon?" Lauren's voice sounded behind me. My movements paused, but I didn't stop what I was doing. "Jade, do we really have to go this far?" She stood behind me, her voice softening, coaxing me like she had countless times before. "Isn't this all for your own good? Why can't you understand my good intentions!" I finally turned around and looked her in the eyes. "For my good? After I land a hundred-billion-dollar order, you throw me into cleaning toilets, and you call that for my good?" The gentle mask on her face finally showed a crack. "Of course it's for your good! Jade, I'm grateful to you, grateful you saved my son and helped me build this empire." "But why do you have to keep reminding me of this? Why do Max's eyes light up when he mentions you? Why do company employees think that without you, Jade, the company can't function?!" "Even when Adrian mentions you, that look in his eyes..." "Let me tell you, Jade—everything you have, I gave you! Without me, you'd still be scraping dirt in the mountains! Me having you clean toilets is elevating you!" I finally understood. Turned out all these years, every achievement I made was one more threat in her eyes. The life-saving favor was a debt, sisterly affection was an act, fighting side by side was foolishness. Perhaps initially, she truly treated me as her sister. But hearts change, and when I became "too accomplished for a subordinate," This sister who once protected me couldn't wait to destroy me. Seeing my silence, Lauren seemed even more enraged. "I wanted to leave you some dignity. But things have come to this, and there are some things I must say." "Several important client files have been leaked recently, and projects keep getting snatched by competitors. I investigated for a long time, until yesterday when I confirmed the leak source was in the sales department!" "Not only that. This person also repeatedly tried to seduce Mr. Anderson. I caught her more than once! Out of old sentiment, I wanted to transfer her to administration to reflect, waiting for her to come to her senses before returning. But what did she do?" "Ungrateful, biting back instead. Since that's how it is, don't blame me for being ruthless." Before I could refute, Lauren had already ordered people to restrain me. "Ms. Jade is suspected of leaking trade secrets. Until the investigation is clear, please have her rest in the storage room." The ones restraining me were Leo from Finance—last year when his mother was critically ill, I privately advanced him $100,000 for surgery.
The other was Zoe from Marketing—when she was harassed by a client, I brought a lawyer in the middle of the night to rescue her. They held my arms on both sides, hands trembling but gripping hard. I was half-pushed, half-dragged toward the storage room at the end of the hallway. Passing familiar faces, some averted their eyes, some pretended to be busy, some hesitated to speak but ultimately stayed silent. My heart sank bit by bit to the bottom. The dust in the storage room made me cough constantly. Leo and Zoe pushed me hard, keeping their heads down, not daring to meet my eyes. "Ms. Jade... I'm sorry, we..." Leo's voice was choked with tears. Before she could finish, Zoe pulled her hard. "Let's go! Do you still want your job or not!" The door was locked again, cutting off all sound from outside. I slowly slid down the wall to sit on the floor. I reached into my pocket for my phone—the screen was pitch black. The last hope of contact with the outside world was gone too. I scanned the narrow space, wondering if I could crawl out through the ventilation shaft. Suddenly, footsteps sounded at the door. The lock clicked open, but my heart inexplicably panicked. Adrian slipped through the door crack and locked it behind him. He walked toward me, his gaze lewdly roaming over my body. "Look at this—our illustrious Ms. Jade, how did you end up like this?" I stood up, looking at him coldly without speaking. "Lauren just has a quick temper, acts impulsively. But I'm not incapable of helping you." He moved closer, his tobacco-scented breath spraying on my face. "You were just too stubborn before! But from now on... as long as you're smart and obey me." "I can talk to Lauren and let you come back, even keep you as sales director. How about it?" I slapped away his hand reaching for my face and shouted angrily. "Don't touch me." The fake smile on Adrian's face instantly vanished. He raised his hand and slapped me. "Ungrateful bitch!" "Jade, if it weren't for your looks, I wouldn't bother with you!" He grinned menacingly, grabbed both my hands, and pushed me against the wall. "You don't want to? Doesn't matter. I just need to have my fun today!" "Let's see how long your stubborn bones can last!" Humiliation and rage made me instantly raise my leg and kick with all my strength toward his groin. Caught off guard, Adrian groaned and released his grip. But before I could run, he grabbed me from behind and slammed me hard to the side. My ears immediately rang, and a rusty, metallic taste filled my mouth. My vision blurred. I could only see his furiously twisted face and his hand raised high again. However, the expected second beating didn't fall. The storage room door opened once more. Lauren stood backlit in the doorway, her expression as twisted as a ghost. "Jade, I knew I was right—you two really are having an affair!" Hearing this, I found it utterly absurd. But before I could refute, Adrian's face was already plastered with flattery. "Lauren! Don't misunderstand! She lured me here, trying to seduce me! She just wanted me to let her out." "She even said she's familiar with all the company business and will take those client resources and go solo, so she won't have to deal with you, this nagging wife." Lauren's chest heaved violently, her eyes stabbing viciously at me.
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