Chapter 2

When you're utterly speechless, you really can't help but laugh out loud.

I had simply put on light makeup and worn an appropriate dress, yet somehow I was being labeled with all these accusations.

"Miranda, you should really spend less time scrolling through social media. Just because someone feeds you content doesn't mean you should swallow it whole. Do you even actually know what the term 'disciplined thinking' means?"

"Your binary, single-track mindset is what really needs some training."

Her face instantly turned red. She'd probably never been talked back to by a subordinate in public before.

"Jane! How dare you speak to me like that?!" She slammed the table, her finger almost poking my nose. "I'm your superior! Do you have any sense of propriety?!"

I didn't back down an inch, throwing her own words right back at her. "Propriety? Weren't you just saying we should let our abilities do the talking? I just closed a deal. Let me see your abilities?"

She was just a parachute manager with no real competence.

She flew into a rage and swung her hand toward my face.

I didn't react in time. My cheek stung with burning pain.

After hitting me, she seemed to regain her confidence, breathing heavily as she shouted.

"Let me tell you something, Jane! I know you're capable! But everyone knows how you got those abilities!"

"Right now, in this company, I am your superior! You need to learn respect! Don't think that just because you can seduce men with that face and land some small projects, you can throw your weight around here!"

As soon as she finished speaking, several colleagues who had always been jealous of my better performance immediately crowded around, chiming in one after another.

"Capable? Who knows what kind of capability? Shady tactics will never be respectable."

"Dressing like that—who are you trying to impress? Miranda is trying to save you. Don't be ungrateful."

"Exactly. We honest people earn our living with real skills, not by flirting. Why don't you thank Miranda?"

I covered my face, fury burning in my chest, about to lash back regardless of consequences.

The director grabbed my arm.

"Alright, alright, Jane, say no more! You worked hard today. Come on, I'll treat you to dinner to help you cool off!" He half-dragged me toward the cafeteria, lowering his voice.

"Why are you going head-to-head with her? She's Mr. Hayes's only daughter! We're just employees—we can't afford to offend her!"

Mr. Hayes's daughter?

How come I didn't know my dad had given me such a sister?