Chapter 1

I got cyberbullied. An employee I personally hired, Bianca White, went live on Twitter holding her baby to publicly shame me.

"I'm a single mom. Sometimes I bring my kid to work because I honestly have no one else to watch him."

"The company claims to support women, but when it comes to me, it's a different story."

"My boss said rules are rules."

"But we're not machines. Should single-parent families just get screwed over like this?"

The kid stared at the camera, confused, and wiped her tears with his little hand.

This stunt pulled in a massive wave of sympathy online.

"This boss is probably some bitter, unmarried old hag."

"She must be childfree for life to have zero empathy for the struggle of raising a kid."

"What kind of monsters raised such a heartless jerk?"

Even my own parents called to scream at me.

"Everyone has kids! If she's struggling and wants to bring her kid to work, just let her do it for a couple of days!"

I refused to back down. I went live myself to fire back.

"If you feel your rights are violated, feel free to seek legal recourse. The company is always open to that."

"But bringing your kid to work? Absolutely not!"

When everyone online saw I was still standing my ground even after getting doxxed, they went berserk!

My office got splashed with paint. Employees started quitting one after another...

Then, another company reached out, bragging that they not only had great benefits but also let you bring your kid to work. They welcomed the entire internet to hold them accountable.

But who could've guessed? One day after Bianca White started her new job,

the whole internet was on its knees, begging for my forgiveness!

The live chat went insane.

[What kind of cold-blooded capitalist is this? She's basically a modern-day slave driver!]

[Don't cry, sis! We support you! Drop the company name!]

[I already placed an order. About to go leave them a one-star review!]

My phone finally went quiet.

Not because people stopped calling. It was almost dead.

The last notification on the screen was my personal phone number and home address getting leaked on trending topics.

Attached to it was a death threat in bright red letters.

"Die, Emily Xu."

My name is Emily Xu. Right now, I'm the most hated woman on the internet.

My assistant, Chelsea, pushed the door open, looking pale as a ghost.

"Emily, the PR department's phone is exploding. The business partners are also..."

I raised a hand to cut her off.

"Start a live stream."

Chelsea froze. "Now? Emily, this is just adding fuel to the fire..."

"That's exactly the point," I looked at her. "That's the only way we'll see who's actually setting the fire."

The moment I hit the "Go Live" button, hundreds of thousands of people flooded in.

The screen was overrun with comments telling me to "get lost" and "die, capitalist."

I faced the camera and spoke slowly.

"I am Emily Xu. I have a few points to address regarding the content Bianca White has posted online."

"First, company policy states children are not allowed in office areas. This rule applies equally to all employees."

"Second, Ms. White, as a single mother, received an additional monthly allowance of one-thousand dollars from the company. HR also assisted her in contacting three licensed daycare centers, and the company offered to cover half the cost. Ms. White refused."

"Third, if Ms. White believes company policy has violated her legal rights, I suggest she pursue legal recourse through proper channels. The company will fully cooperate."

The moment I finished talking, the chat exploded even harder.

[Listen to this! Is this even human language?]

[Legal recourse? You just want to use your corporate legal team to bully a poor single mom and her kid!]

[Disgusting! Heartless! Still standing there pretending to be so calm and rational!]

Right then, an account named "StrongMomBiancaW" requested to join the stream.

I accepted.

Bianca White's tear-streaked face appeared on screen again. She shook her head weakly.

"Emily, I don't want your money. I don't want a lawsuit."

"My baby is too young. He can't be away from me. I just wanted... to spend a little more time with him."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face again.

"I just wanted to be a good mom. Was I really wrong?"

That question completely ignited the internet's sympathy.

And I became the demon who wouldn't let a good mother be with her child.

Behind me, my assistant Chelsea was getting frantic. She leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Emily, that's not how it happened! Last time her kid was here, he knocked over the critical documents for Mr. Harrison, and almost trashed the server..."

Her voice was very low.

But the mic in the live stream amplified every single word.

The chat froze for a second, then retaliated ten times more viciously.

[Wow! Publicly bullying someone and then pulling shady stunts?]

[I knew this boss was trash. Look at the people around her, birds of a feather!]

[What is this? A threat? Trying to force a helpless woman to admit her kid is a brat?]

[You people bullying a single mom, don't you have any conscience?!]

Instantly, my assistant and colleagues' explanation was twisted into "the entire company gang-bullying a helpless single mom."

My image as the "cold-blooded boss" was permanently cemented.

And it got worse.

Someone in the live stream leaked the name of our upcoming smart home product line.

"It's called 'SummerGlow'! Remember this! Don't you dare buy it!"

"Boycott! Total boycott! Let this heartless company go bankrupt!"

"I'm not buying! Anyone who buys this has no soul!"