Chapter 3

Harper threw a look of pure poison at me for a split second before snapping her mask of innocence back into place.

She smoothed her blouse and walked over to me as if nothing had happened.

"Chloe, don't listen to that crazy man. We’re best friends, you know you can trust me..."

Before she could finish, I said a polite goodbye to Mr. Vance and walked straight out the door.

I left Harper standing there, looking like an idiot.

Once my team realized what had actually happened, they swarmed me with apologies.

Meanwhile, Harper, who had spent months basking in everyone’s adoration, became an absolute pariah overnight.

That afternoon, while packing my desk to move to my new department, I glanced over and saw Harper sobbing face-down against her keyboard.

I let out a silent scoff.

Breaking down already?

It was only fair she got a taste of the hell she had put me through in my last life.

The expired inventory crisis was swept under the rug.

A few days later, while conducting an audit in my new district, a little boy stumbled out of one of our franchise diners and collapsed, violently throwing up.

His symptoms were identical to the food poisoning incident I had intervened in during my previous life.

Seeing the grandfather’s panicked, helpless face, I didn't hesitate. I scooped the child into my arms, blew past nearly ten red lights, and sped straight to the emergency room.

The diagnosis was severe aflatoxin poisoning from spoiled meal ingredients. If I had arrived five minutes later, the boy would have gone into cardiac arrest.

The story caught fire across local news outlets, prompting health inspectors to launch surprise raids across every Sterling franchise in the city.

Miraculously, no other contaminated food was found.

The Chairman of the board personally ordered Mr. Vance to host an all-hands assembly to formally commend me.

The moment I stepped up onto the auditorium stage, Harper’s voice echoed in my mind.

{First she miraculously discovers expired batches, and now she just happens to save a poisoned kid? What a convenient coincidence.}

{I bet she hired that kid as an actor. She's desperate for fame and money, and she's playing the GM like a total fool.}

Standing beside me, Mr. Vance visibly stiffened. He shot me a suspicious sideways glance.

Whispers broke out among the audience below.

I looked down at the crowd, feeling a bitter pang. Harper, why are you so obsessed with destroying me?

Flashbacks of my previous life flooded my mind.

Back then, manipulated by Harper’s thoughts, Mr. Vance had believed her lies. He canceled the ceremony on the pretext of "avoiding work delays."

Taking the GM's cue, my colleagues physically dragged me off the stage.

The devastating humiliation triggered my undiagnosed heart condition, and when I collapsed, nobody called an ambulance. I died alone on the linoleum.

But this time, I was ready.

Harper’s inner monologue wasn't done yet.

{There are dozens of intersections on the way to the hospital. How could she navigate them so smoothly unless she mapped out the route beforehand?}

{Chloe, you scheming psycho. You rehearsed the whole damn thing.}

{God, if the company honors a fraud like her, it’s going to alienate every honest employee here.}

Mr. Vance’s expression hardened completely.

Just as I stepped toward the microphone, he reached over and cut me off.

"Chloe, the company appreciates the positive press you generated."

"However, would you mind giving everyone a detailed account of exactly what went down that day?"

I let out a quiet breath.

Thank God the GM still had a shred of professional curiosity left.

Glancing down at Harper in the third row, I smoothly recounted every single detail of that afternoon.

Then, I connected my phone to the stage projector, pulling up my Google Maps location history on the massive screen.

"Mr. Vance, the very first thing I did after transferring to my new department was map out every store in my district, along with every surrounding road and emergency facility."

"I believe thorough preparation is the bare minimum standard for any Sterling employee."

Mr. Vance nodded slowly, his expression softening.

Then, Harper’s frantic thoughts chimed in again.

{A stupid map doesn't prove anything! Anyone can doctor GPS logs nowadays.}

{Look how she’s dodging the real questions. She’s completely vague about the boy's grandfather. There's definitely something shady going on.}

{First Director Hayes gets fired out of nowhere, and now this. She’s so young, but she’s terrifyingly calculating. Who knows if the GM is her next target?}

{I even heard rumors that Chloe told the Chairman she wants the GM's job.}

The warmth instantly drained from Mr. Vance’s face.

His paranoia kicked into overdrive. It was true—right after Marcus reprimanded Chloe, the expired food scandal landed directly on his executive desk.

His gaze turned dark and guarded.

The whispers in the audience escalated into scattered boos.

Mr. Vance stepped up to the podium and looked at me coldly.

"Chloe, doing good deeds and having good character go hand in hand."

"Secrets don't stay buried forever."

"Ask yourself honestly: do you really deserve this award?"

Without waiting for my answer, he turned and walked toward the backstage exit, his voice booming over the speakers.

"It’s the end of the month, and everyone has deadlines to hit. This commendation ceremony will be postponed until next month."

"Back to work, everyone. Dismissed."

I stood frozen under the harsh stage lights.

A pair of burly warehouse leads marched up onto the stage, grabbed me by the arms despite my struggles, and dragged me down the steps.

Just like that, I was the villain all over again.

"What garbage. People like her are a plague on this company."

"Get her out of here! Working next to someone that toxic makes me sick."

I hadn't realized Harper was capable of sinking this low just to ruin my life.

From across the lobby, Harper strolled over, wearing a mocking smirk.

"Wow, that was harsh. How could they just leave our star employee hanging like that?"

"Chloe, what kind of dirty secrets are you hiding?"

"If I were you, I’d be way too embarrassed to show my face here. I’d resign immediately."

I stared into Harper’s smug face and felt a cold smirk tugging at my lips.

I hadn't even gone looking for her, and she had walked right into my trap.

"Harper, my sweet best friend, I’ll return the GM’s words right back to you."

"Secrets don't stay buried forever."

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes.

"What are you talking about? I don't get it."

My smile sharpened.

"Corporate ordered an absolute crackdown on expired meal kits. Why was it that out of dozens of stores across the state, the only spoiled batches showed up in my specific district?"

"You didn't expect the press to blow it up this big, did you?"

"You just wanted me fired."

The color rapidly drained from Harper’s cheeks.

"You... Chloe, what kind of nonsense are you making up? We’re best friends!"

I leaned in, whispering directly into her ear.

"I found the surveillance footage of the courier you hired to sneak the expired boxes into the kitchen."

"If I'm not mistaken, the Chairman of the board is reviewing the file right now."

Harper stumbled backward, her breath catching in her throat.

"No... No, Dad can’t find out about this!"

My eyebrows shot up.

Dad?

The Chairman of Sterling Group was Harper’s father?

Right then, a young man wearing a wrinkled Sterling line-cook uniform stumbled breathlessly up the stairs.

"Excuse me! Where is the General Manager’s office?"

His frantic entrance caught the attention of several lingering staff members.

When Harper saw the boy, the smugness completely vanished, replaced by sheer terror. She lunged forward to intercept him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

The cook avoided her eyes, trembling.

"Miss Sterling... a consumer watchdog investigative crew tracked down the suppliers. They know everything."

"If I keep lying for you, I'm going to federal prison!"

Pushing past Harper, the young man bolted straight toward the GM’s corner office.