Your Scapegoat that Brought You Down

Sapphire's POV

After spending three years abroad on research, I came back home, and my fiancé invited me to join his company.

But only a few days into the job, his secretary handed me a compensation agreement and told me to sign it.

Puzzled, I frowned. “What’s this supposed to mean?”

She rolled her eyes at me and said, “You caused the mess, so shouldn’t you take responsibility for it?”

I thought she must’ve mistaken me for someone else, so I tried to explain patiently.

“I just started here. I haven’t even touched any project yet. How could I possibly mess something up?”

Seeing I wouldn’t sign, she slammed the agreement onto the desk, crossed her arms, and looked down at me with arrogance.

“When I tell you to sign, you sign. Stop wasting time with excuses.”

I didn’t bother arguing with her. Instead, I called my fiancé.

What I didn’t expect was his impatient response.

“Melinda caused some trouble the other day. Just take the blame for her, alright?”

Then his tone turned sharp.

“I’m warning you. Don’t get all stubborn again. She’s the chairman’s daughter. If you don’t handle her properly, both of us will be kicked out!”

At his words, I glanced at the arrogant woman standing in front of me.

Funny. Since when did my dad have another daughter I never knew about?

——

I flipped through the compensation agreement. It accused me of leaking core project data, causing the company major losses, and stated I was willing to bear all responsibility.

What a convenient scapegoat.

When I first returned from abroad, Sylvester Mullins had warmly invited me to join his company. With our wedding coming up, I thought it’d be a good chance to see his true character, so I agreed.

Turned out, he only brought me in to take the fall for Melinda Shepherd.

On the phone, Sylvester must’ve realized he’d sounded too harsh, because he softened his voice.

“Sapphire, I’m doing this for our future. Melinda is the chairman’s daughter. Her record can’t have a stain on it. But you’re different. You’re new here, and it's only natural to suffer a little unfairness.”

I cut him off. “Sylvester, I suggest you think carefully before making this decision.”

Before he could reply, I hung up.

That was when Melinda suddenly poured a glass of ice water over my head.

The freezing liquid slid through my hair, soaking my white blouse, and sent a violent shiver through me.

Sneering, she spat, “You just graduated from some no-name foreign university. If it weren’t for Sylvester, you’d probably be picking trash off the streets right now! And now, when the company needs you to contribute a little, you drag your feet? I’m telling you, if you don’t sign today and the partners start asking questions, once my dad hears about it, nobody will be able to protect you!”

In all my life, no one had ever dared to treat me like this.

And she had the audacity to call my MBA from Oxford a degree from some back-alley school.

Rage surged through me. Without hesitation, I grabbed the steaming cup of coffee on the desk and flung it straight into Melinda’s face.

“Ahhh!” she screamed, clutching her burning skin.

The office instantly exploded into chaos. Everyone stared at me in shock, whispering among themselves.

“She’s Mr. Mullins’s fiancée? The one who just came back from overseas? She’s got guts!”

“She just offended Miss Shepherd the moment she arrived. She’s done for.”

“This is bad. This is going to blow up.”

Looking at the commotion, I couldn’t help but think that if I didn’t know for certain that my father had gotten a vasectomy right after I was born, I might really believe Melinda was his illegitimate daughter.

But now that I got a proper look at her, I couldn’t shake the feeling that her face looked oddly familiar.

With her body trembling in anger, Melinda wiped her face with tissues, her voice shrill.

“Sapphire, are you insane? Do you even realize what you’ve just done?”