4: 4
4
I sat at my desk, watching it all with the calm of someone who'd seen it a hundred times, and said nothing.
Virginia, though, rose from her workstation and told the others in a frail little voice,
"Thank you all for caring. Fighting for the company's numbers, bringing in revenue—I've never once found it hard. If anything, I feel honored. Honestly, compared to fussing over salary and chasing whatever perks are right in front of you, carrying the load for the team and doing right by the company is the mindset every working professional should have."
I looked at the daily reports, at Virginia's numbers that had sat frozen for three straight days.
Something cold turned over in my chest.
Then I pushed open my door and walked out.
"Virginia, you're so busy. Do you need the company to assign you a few assistants?"
Virginia turned her pale face toward me.
She wanted them badly, of course—yet she still put on the picture of someone giving her last drop of strength.
"Thank you for the thought, Flora, but I can shoulder this much on my own. The company should save its resources for coworkers who really need help breaking through. There's no need to give me special treatment and waste company resources for nothing."
Another round of applause filled the office.
Virginia was still basking in the praise when—
thud—her body listed to one side and she crumpled to the floor.
The office broke into chaos.
My hand tightened on the arm of my chair for a few seconds, then let go, and I calmly called 911.
Ten minutes later, the paramedics arrived.
After looking her over, one of them said, "Ms. Shepherd, work matters, but you have to watch your rest and your diet too."
They started her on an IV drip.
Virginia took hundreds of photos from every angle,
carefully picked out a set for a photo grid, and posted it online.
In every shot she looked so fragile a gust of wind could have scattered her.
An hour later, a post tagged #CollapsedAfterThreeDaysAndNightsGivingHerAllForTheCompany went viral across the whole internet.
The picture of Virginia still working while hooked to an IV shot straight to trending.
The comment feed was one long pile-on against the company for being heartless and cold-blooded,
against me, the newly installed East Coast Director, for abusing a veteran employee,
and a mindless chorus praising Virginia for pouring herself out for the company without taking so much as a nickel more.
Some anonymous employees who didn't know the truth only made it worse in the comments:
*I actually work here! Word is Virginia landed a billion-dollar deal not long ago, and she didn't just turn down the company's extra three-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus—she turned down the East Coast Director position too. All so she could build experience on the ground floor and help the new hires.*
*Oh my god! And here I thought she only refused it for show! Turns out she really is that devoted!*
*Ladies, I've got a bold theory. Is Virginia maybe some executive's relative? Sent down to the ground floor to see how the common folk live!*
*If you ask me, that Flora Dickerson should get out here and kneel and apologize! If she hadn't slept her way up, if she actually had the ability to lead a team, would Virginia have had to work herself this hard during a billion-dollar project?*
*The comment above nailed it! Flora Dickerson, kneel and apologize!*
Half an hour later, a topic tagged #FloraDickersonKneelAndApologize was trending too.
I watched the heat on the topic climb and climb, and the fire in my chest burned hotter and hotter.
Virginia curled the corner of her mouth in satisfaction and, on her lunch break, started a livestream—
and made a point of switching off the gift and tip function.
On camera her face was pale and drained of color,
yet she put on the look of a saint and coaxed her viewers,
"Everybody calm down. I trained Flora myself. I know her real ability better than anyone, and this East Coast Director position belongs to no one but her."
"As for that three-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus, I've always held that I shouldn't take it. The company nurtured us with care, gave us a platform to grow and gain experience—we should be grateful and give back with everything we have. How could we only ever take? Wanting both fame and money is just too greedy."
"I also want to clear something up. I have no executive backing whatsoever. I'm just an ordinary employee from an ordinary family. But I've always kept work and personal matters separate, and I genuinely love what I do. I would never fixate only on the paycheck. That kind of thinking is too small."
"I've said everything that needs saying. I hope you all won't make things hard for Flora, and please don't make things hard for the company either. If you insist on picking at this and stirring up conflict, I honestly won't sleep tonight, and then my work will suffer, the project will fall behind, and the whole team will pay for it."
The moment those words were out, the livestream erupted.
All of it praising Virginia's 'noble, self-sacrificing' character.
The viewer count shot straight to a hundred thousand.
Just then, a commotion rose from downstairs in the lobby.
Virginia assumed some viewers had come to the company to demand justice for her,
so she told everyone not to do anything rash while she headed for the elevator with her phone,
and made a point of swinging the livestream camera toward the front doors.
But the moment the elevator doors opened,
the sight in front of her froze her on the spot.
Her aged father, Landon Shepherd, stood hunched in the company lobby, a coffin set beside him.
Behind him, on a blood-red banner, the words stabbed at everyone until they could barely keep their eyes open:
【Undutiful daughter Virginia Shepherd chased a good name and traded her mother's life for it.】
