Chapter 2

I shut down the live stream.

The next twenty-four hours, I watched my company get destroyed by a single employee's livestream.

The product launch was postponed indefinitely.

The three biggest retail partners sent over harsh contract termination notices almost simultaneously.

The bank's collections department called one after another.

I sat in my empty office, taking a call from my parents.

"Emily Xu! Look what you've done to the company! You've shamed us all!"

"You can't even handle one employee! What are you even good for?!"

I didn't say a word. I just listened.

"Right now, immediately, shut down company operations! Get yourself back home!"

The call ended with a slam.

Before I could even catch my breath, Laura from accounting sent me a Twitter link.

Laura, along with a few other moms at the company, had publicly posted their side of the story.

Laura's post read:

"I'm the CFO of SummerGlow and a mother of a seven-year-old. I want to say a few things about the Bianca White situation. Rules exist to be fair to everyone. If we allow Bianca to bring her child to work today, can Lisa do it tomorrow? Can Mandy? Is this an office or a daycare? Is that fair to the employees who followed the rules and made their own arrangements for their kids?"

"The company's support for single moms is genuine. Bianca White's child has been brought to the office many times, seriously disrupting multiple departments. It's all on security footage. The company did contact daycare providers. She's the one who refused. Within the rules, we can show compassion. Outside the rules, we can't have no boundaries at all."

Their posts lit a small, faint light for me.

But before I could even feel grateful, their posts were buried by a new video Bianca uploaded.

She looked exhausted, her sleeping child in her arms.

She faced the camera, silently letting tears fall.

"I never expected... just trying to fight for a tiny bit of my rights as a mother... would lead to the entire company ganging up on me."

"They're all senior employees, all higher-ups. They banded together to smear me."

"They have power and influence. All I have is my child..."

"I'm sorry. I was wrong to ever resist. It's all my fault..."

She didn't directly accuse anyone, but this show of vulnerability sent public opinion spiraling completely out of control.

The few female employees who had supported me suffered harassment a hundred times worse than what I endured.

Their home addresses, their families' workplaces, their kids' schools—all doxxed online.

Harassing calls and texts flooded their phones 24/7.

Laura was the first to break.

She called me crying, saying her daughter was pointed at and called names at school, told her mom was a "capitalist's attack dog."

"Emily, I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore..."

She deleted her post and submitted her resignation.

Then the second. Then the third.

My parents stormed into the company.

I was ordered to go home and hand over all my access.

The next day.

I sat on the couch at the family house, staring at the breaking news alerts on my phone.

Trending topics: Bianca White, holding her baby, being interviewed by the media.

She was hailed a hero, the "Courageous Mother," the woman who "stood up against cold-blooded capitalism."

I became the laughingstock of this city.

No. The laughingstock of the entire country.

I sat on the bay window on the second floor of my childhood home. My parents took my phone, saying it was for my own good, to let me "clear my head."

Their version of "clearing my head" meant forcing me to watch the company I built from the ground up get "saved" by them in the stupidest way possible.

Price cuts. Public apologies. Trying to win back retail partners.

The result? We got kicked while we were down, beaten for three full days and nights.

My dad's hair turned white overnight. He sat in front of me, voice exhausted.

"Emily... were we... were we really wrong?"

I didn't answer, just stared out the window.

Right or wrong is worthless.

Winning is the only thing that matters.

And right now, the one winning and looking like a star was Bianca White.

I didn't have my phone, but I couldn't escape the living room TV that was on 24/7.

The news of Bianca getting hired by another company was more prominent than anything else.