Chapter 2

I finally sent the files to Chloe at 2:00 AM.

It wasn't because I wanted to stall. After hours, Dennis had dumped two urgent tasks on my desk—an industry report due tomorrow and the quarterly department summary.

"The capable always do more work," he had said over the phone, sounding incredibly righteous. "Audrey, I'm giving you a chance to shine because I believe in you."

I stared at the screen and laughed.

He believed in me, so he worked me like a horse.

By the time I finished everything, the sky was turning gray. I zipped the files and sent them to Chloe's email, adding a note: "Client contact info, meeting minutes, and competitor analysis are attached. Let me know if you have questions."

Send. Shut down. I slept on my desk for thirty minutes.

At 9:00 AM, I was up and ready.

My eyes were puffy, and my face was pale, but my mind was sharp.

Chloe didn't show up until 10:30 AM, holding a Starbucks bag. She dropped a latte on my desk.

"Thanks for last night, Audrey. This is for you." She smiled flawlessly.

I didn't touch the coffee. "Have you reviewed the files?"

"Yeah, yeah," she ran a hand through her hair. "But I don't get some parts. Like, why did you note down that Mr. Logan prefers single-malt Macallan? What does that have to do with the marketing strategy?"

"Everything. During our first meeting, I noticed a bottle of high-end scotch on his shelf, and he mentioned it twice during small talk. Bringing a bottle of Macallan to our next meeting makes it easier to break the ice."

Chloe scoffed, looking completely unimpressed.

"I thought it was something major. There's really no need to keep track of stupid details like that."

I didn't argue.

In the afternoon project meeting, Chloe was in charge of the presentation.

She stood in front of the projector, talking smoothly. The PPT was flashy, filled with animations, but the content was literally my report, just rephrased.

But when she reached the client's core demands, she choked.

"Um... Mr. Logan's main goal is to... raise brand awareness among younger consumers..." She flipped through her notes, her voice slowing down.

"What are the specific targets?" our Marketing Director, Arthur, asked.

"The target is... to increase brand awareness among females aged 20 to 30 by 15% within three months..." Her voice wavered.

"That was last quarter's data," I spoke up. "During my call with Mr. Logan last week, he adjusted the KPI. He wants a 25% increase and wants to see actual conversion rates, not just impressions."

The conference room went dead silent.

Chloe's face flushed red, then turned pale. Her fingers clenched the paper.

"Good catch, Audrey," Dennis said with a forced laugh. "Chloe just took over, so she's still getting used to the details. Perfectly understandable. Audrey, make sure you help her out."

"I will."

After the meeting, Chloe cornered me in the breakroom.

"What was that, Audrey? Were you trying to humiliate me on purpose?"

I filled my cup, not looking at her. "I was just stating facts."

"Facts?" she sneered. "You're just mad because I took your account, so you tried to sabotage me!"

I turned and looked her dead in the eye.

"Chloe, this isn't high school. You didn't just take the account; you took the responsibility. If you screw this up because you didn't do your homework, the company loses a client, and our team loses two months of hard work."

"Don't you dare lecture me!" she snapped. "You think you're so smart just because you've been here a few months longer? Once I get the hang of this, I'll run circles around you!"

"I look forward to seeing that."

I walked past her with my cup.

Her voice trailed after me, low but sharp.

"Just you wait."