That afternoon, Melanie knocked on the director's office door. She tried to explain that her project still had too many flaws and asked if it could be withdrawn and replaced with another.
The director gave her a polite but firm reply: the project had already been submitted, and the CEO himself had approved it. If she wanted to pull it back, she'd have to wait until he returned from his business trip.
As she stepped into the hallway, her phone buzzed a few times.
It was a message from Maurice, along with a photo.
[Melanie!!! OMG! OMG!!!!! Edwin proposed! We're going to look for wedding rings later. Can you help me pick from these designs? Which one do you think is best?]
The attached photo wasn't of rings, though. It showed Maurice nestled in Edwin's arms, gazing up at him like she was about to kiss him.
Two seconds later, the photo was deleted and replaced by photos of diamond rings.
[Oops! Sorry! Wrong pic!]
This wasn't the first time Maurice had "accidentally" sent pictures like this. Every time Melanie would stare at their intimate photos, they left her crying and sitting in silence for hours, struggling to keep the pain at bay.
But this time was different. She had decided to quit loving Edwin, so she could look at such intimate photos now.
She studied the pictures of rings, feeling oddly calm. After carefully considering the options, she picked one and replied with her suggestion.
Less than an hour later, another photo came through. This time, it was Maurice wearing the ring Melanie had suggested.
[Here, does it look beautiful in my finger?]
The diamond was huge and clearly expensive.
Melanie stared at the photo for a moment, her expression still calm. Then she typed a short reply.
[It looks perfect. Congratulations to you both!]
Later that day, her company's private group chat exploded with two pieces of gossip.
The first: [the new girl in Game Development, Melanie, is President Setchfield's sister!]
The second: [President Setchfield has proposed to Mr. Steffensen's daughter!]
The chat lit up like wildfire, with one comment after another scrolling by.
Sitting on the bus, Melanie scrolled through the messages, her heart sinking as she read them.
She had just joined the group that afternoon. She hadn't even updated her display name or introduced herself yet before those two "explosive" messages shoved her into the spotlight.
[No wonder a rookie's project got approved! Nepotism much?]
[Yep! Did you see the budget for that project? No way they'd greenlight it, right? Well, turns out the CEO's her brother, so he doesn't mind investing in such a risky proposal!]
[I was working so hard for a promotion, but what's the point? She's obviously getting the lead role in this. Gosh, can you imagine a rookie bossing around?!]
[Please don't assign her project to my team. I don't want to waste my time making her look good.]
The comments just kept piling up. Different words, same meaning—they were all mocking her, painting her as incompetent, relying entirely on connections to get ahead.
But Melanie didn't bother defending herself. She simply turned off her phone, leaned back in her seat, and stared out the window.
By the time she got home, the sky was dark.
Mrs. Claire, the housekeeper, had dinner ready, but Melanie barely touched her food before heading upstairs.
She tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.
The next morning, when she finally came downstairs, Edwin and Maurice were already back. They were sitting at the dining table, waiting for breakfast.
Melanie noticed that her usual seat had been taken by Maurice. But without saying a word, she just sat at the far end of the table.
She didn't want to sit next to Edwin.
Breakfast was unbearable—the couple giggled and chatted like they were the only two people there.
Melanie just kept her head down, quietly sipping her coffee.
