The new receptionist called herself a "silly baby" and greeted everyone with cutesy whines of "Daddy."
When I caught her stealing my takeout, she blinked those big eyes and pouted:
"Oopsie, baby didn't mean to~ Big sis won't be mad at baby, right?"
I'd been starving all day. My head was spinning, but I held my temper and told her to order me a replacement.
Her eyes instantly welled up with tears. My boyfriend rushed to shield her, frowning at me:
"Anita Fox, Stacy already apologized. It's just takeout—don't be so petty!"
He transferred me the money for the meal. But the next day, the whole company was buzzing with rumors that I'd slept my way to my position.
When I traced the gossip back to its source and confronted the receptionist, my boyfriend coldly berated me—said where there's smoke, there's fire.
During a bidding presentation, "baby" lost our core proposal, costing the company fifty million dollars.
When everyone demanded accountability, my boyfriend stepped in front of her again and pressured me to take the blame.
Watching him play the knight in shining armor, I smiled.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the chairman directly:
"Dad, I give up. I failed your test."
What my boyfriend didn't know was that this had been his final exam to become the son-in-law of a wealthy family.
Since he'd chosen to be baby's devoted slave, he could rot in prison right alongside his precious receptionist.
——
Stacy Pruitt, the new receptionist, had established her "silly baby" persona from day one.
She wore her hair in twin pigtails and dressed in a puffy skirt, blinking those colored-contact-enhanced doe eyes as she struck up conversation with me:
"Hi, big sis~ I'm Stacy. Please take care of me from now on~"
"Wow, your desk is so special—right next to the bathroom! Must be super convenient for potty breaks, hee hee~"
The corner of my mouth twitched. I didn't respond.
My desk was near the restroom because I was the youngest team leader in the Marketing Department, coordinating with over a dozen departments daily. This spot was the most centrally located—maximum efficiency.
She thought she was being adorable. She was actually broadcasting her IQ.
But Stacy's stupidity quickly became the company's favorite entertainment.
She spilled coffee on a client's contract, then whimpered, "Boo-hoo, baby's little hands have a mind of their own~"
The male colleagues acted like they'd been hypnotized, tripping over each other to clean up her mess.
She got a meeting time wrong and made the entire department stay late. All she had to do was pout and coo, "Oopsie, Stacy's such a scatterbrain~"
The department manager just laughed it off: "She's young. Mistakes happen."
Meanwhile, because I refused to participate in this juvenile theater, I gradually got labeled as cold, unapproachable, and jealous of the new girl.
I couldn't be bothered to care.
But I didn't expect the flames to reach me so soon.
Wednesday afternoon, I ordered Japanese food.
I walked briskly to the front desk—only to find my takeout container already open.
Half the sashimi was gone. The sushi had been gnawed into a mangled mess.
Stacy spotted me and lit up, bouncing over.
"Hee hee, baby was so hungry, I didn't look carefully before eating~ Big sis isn't mad, right?"
She tilted her head, all wide-eyed innocence, but smugness flickered beneath the surface.
I'd been slammed with work all day. My blood sugar had crashed. Black spots swam in my vision. I snapped:
"My name is written right on the label. You didn't see it?"
Stacy blinked, then suddenly covered her mouth, eyes reddening:
"I'm sorry~ Stacy has bad eyesight, and big sis's name is so complicated... Stacy reads slowly..."
I didn't have the energy to argue. I just wanted her to order me a replacement.
Instead, she started crying, all wounded innocence: "Big sis is so mean... Stacy's scared..."
That's when my boyfriend Arnold James appeared out of nowhere, pulling the teary-eyed Stacy behind him. He turned to me with a frown:
