By admin A woman with flawless makeup let out a mocking laugh. “Archer’s career will be ruined in three days? For real? She really thinks Charlie would go after Archer just for her?
“Please. The investors finally managed to build up a cash cow, and she thinks they’d let her mess it all up?”
Someone replied, “But Brianna, I mean, everyone’s saying she’s Charlie’s—”
Brianna flipped her long, wavy hair over her shoulder and said, “They don’t know jack. Back at Ravendale University, Alyssia was already glued to Charle
“Chade was just being nice to younger schoolfellows. Alyssia never stops causing Charlie trouble. When she couldn’t land a job, she asked Charlie for help”
Exactly. The lower level folks love to gossip.” Diana, head of the entertainment division, chuckled in agreement. “Everyone in management knows you’re the one with Charlie. That’s why I got pissed whenever I hear that kind of trash talk,”
“Charlie was ju
just being sentimental about old ties. He didn’t even make a fuss over Archer’s case. Now, Alyssia even thinks she’s hot shit” Brianna twirled a lock of hair tightly around her finger.
Brianna’s father was one of Vanguard Media’s founding partners. After graduating, she walked straight into a cushy exec role as the head of the finance
division.
Back in university, she’d been in the same program, same year as Charlie. They were seen as a perfect couple back then.
Both their parents and even Brianna herself had always assumed the two of them would end up together.
But then in junior year, Alyssia showed up as a freshman. From that moment on, Charlie started acting differently.
Sure, he was always polite and gentle with girls, but when Alyssia came around, he got softer and more patient. He smiled mare and listened more. Brianna hated it. She couldn’t help digging around, trying to figure out what was going on between Charlie and Alyssia.
I grew up together. She’s just a childhood friend I look out for.
But Charle always answered calmly, “Alyssia and I gre
Charlie didn’t lie at all. Aher college, Charlie went to Vanguard, then moved abroad, and just like that, Alyssia disappeared from the picture.
Brianna stayed close, always dropping hints, trying to move things forward. However, Charlie never gave her any response.
A few years back, Vanguard was under siege from
Clairivers Group and other corporate giants. Things got ugly. Charlie flew back home and pulled off a
miracle. He saved the company from total collapse.
They threw a victory party that night. But Charlie vanished halfway through, completely wasted,
When Brianna finally found him, he was sitting on the edge of a hotel balcony with dozens of floors. His legs dangling, he was staring down at the city lights with empty eyes
He asked, “Do you think maybe only the dead
matter? If I die, will she remember me forever?”
Brianna’s heart dropped. She rushed forward, yanked him back, and clutched his arms tightly.
Charlie collared onto the floor, and to Brianna’s shock, the tears just started pouring down his face
I was so stupid,” he choked out. “So fucking stupid. Why did i leave her alone at that cate? Why did it to her? She trusted me so much.”
He hugged his knees, trembling “Twas the one who ended it. I dumped her. Thought I was doing the right thing. Then she left with someone else, and I regretted IL Fried to go back. Am I just a jerk?”
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Brianna whispered, “Who is she?”
Panicflickered inside her, some deep, primal fear she couldn’t name
But Charlie said nothing more. He just sat there, curled up, and remained silent.
It was the first time Brianna had ever seen him fall apart like that. And all she could do was sit next to him, hold space, and offer comfort
By the middle of the night, the alcohol wore off. Charlie stood up and straightened his shirt. The composed Charlie was back, just like nothing had happened
He never mentioned that night again, and Brianna never asked about the girl. She actually didn’t dare to ask.
Something in her gut told her that was the reason Charlie had never chosen her.
She didn’t want the truth. As long as she didn’t know for sure, she could keep lying to herself that someday, Charlie would accept her.
But now, Alyssia was back.
Brianna kept her poker face, but the unease inside her was crawling back fast, especially after what Diana said–Alyssia was brought in by Charlie himself.
When Alyssia ticked off Leonard with one article, Charlie stood up to the board to protect her.
When she screwed up a major interview, Charlie personally told everyone not to blame her.
Brianna know Chile. He might’ve seemed soft on the surface, but he never played favorites, If an employee screwed things up, the hook
ip, he never left them off
But with Alyssia, he was rolling out the red carpet.
Diana muttered, leaning toward Brianna, “Technically, she’s still in her probation period. After a screw–up like that, she should’ve been fired on the spot. But i can’t make any obvious moves either.”
Brianna had a good background, and Diana, whether she admitted it or not,know how to play nice.
Diana said, “I’ll keep pushing her, make it so she quits on her own.“.
“No need “Brianna raised a hand, cutting her off. “Pressure’s fine but don’t run her out.”
She narrowed her eyes and added, “I want you to get her transferred to my division.”
Back at Ravendale University, Charlie had always shielded Alyssia Brianna never got the chance to go after her directly.
But the finance division was her turf, and she had a say in many things.
The office gossip was getting nastier by the hour.
it’s been two and a half days now Remember how someone swore Archer would go down in three days? Thought she had some nuclear bomb up her slaeve,” someone
are added, “Turns out she’s got nothing Archer’s basically the poster boy for hard work. He has zero scandals. Every tabloid in the game’s tried digging up dirt, and no one has found anything You think she’s gonna find something everyone else missed?”
One chimed in, “if she really had dirt, Archer wouldn’t have turned down her interview Faid it before don’t take a job that’s way out of your league.
“Just because she’s got a nice face, she thinks she can skip the grind and leap to the top! What, the rest of us are just idiots?”
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“She’s probably still high off that Leonard and Milena article. Got lucky once and thought she was some prodigy or something” a girl scoffed.
Another man said. “Let’s be real. That article wasn’t even that great. Lauren just handed her the materials because she came in under Charlie’s wing.
“She used the materials dug out by the whole team. And when she was left to handle it herself, she brought everyone a big surprise,”
Someone shook their head. “Don’t even get me started on that. If any one of us had gone instead, the magazine would be on shelves by now. She got the chance, and who ends up scoeping us? Bright Orange Media!”
Someone
snapped, “When was the last time Bright Orange got one over on Vanguard? We’ve all busted our asses to keep that record clean. Now she comes in and breaks it in one po.”
One rolled her eyes. “She’s a damn disgrace to Vanguard.”
Someone reminded others. “Let’s not forget the article about Leonard nearly landing us in court. Do you forget the 25 million dollars?”
comes 25 million dollars herself,” a guy suddenly said.
“Hey, quiet down. Here com
Alyssa already knew her new nickname was “25 million dollars”
She actually kind of liked it.
kod it, it sounded expensive and carried the right kind of weight. It fit her current obsession with money perfectly
Sometimes she found it weird–there were definitely private group chats among the colleagues and ways they could bash her behind her back, but they just wanted her to hear their complaints.
Lunch breaks turned into circle–time roasts, one snide jab after another, loud enough to carry
But the second Alyssia walked by, everyone scattered like pigeons, faces blank, acting like nothing had happened.
Even during work hours, they’d mess with her–laughing suddenly in sync, trading smirks across monitors.
But Alyssia kept calm through all of it.
Lauren, on the other hand, was starting to crack.
She comered Alyssia one afternoon and asked, “Do you actually have anything on Archer?”
Alyssia could feel every pair of ears in the office tuning in. She replied lazily, “Yeah, I do.”
“Then why the hell aren’t you using it?” Lauren snapped, clearly losing i
Diana had just cut another project that was supposed to go to Alyssia. Lauren tried to reason with Diana, but Diana hit her with the same script as always
and this time, with an extra nudge
Diana hinted that if Alyssia didn’t stay in Lauren’s team, things would magically go back to normal.
Lauren argued that she didn’t have the power to fire anyone. Diana only smiled and said the finance division was short on staff. Diana thought as someone who pulled strings, staying in any division would be the same to Alyssia
But Lauren didn’t buy it. Diana was the one in charge. If she really wanted Alyssia gone, she could’ve just told HR to make it happen.
But instead, she played it safe, sitting pretty while pushing all the heat down onto Lauren, manipulating her to dat the dirty work.
Diana was an old for, and Lauren wanit nah like someone else is pulling strings, and Du
suren thought. There’s plenty of deadweight in this division, but she targets only Alyssia. Feels the poor one to take the blame.
Lauren lowered her vue and sa keeps up
to Alysis, “| ook, I’ll be straight with y
you Archer’s case has got our division on edge. Everyone has complaints. If this
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11:01 Mon, 28 Jul
Chapter 37
7 G.
She looked genuinely troubled as she continued, “I won’t be able to protect you anymore. Do you consider transferring to another division?”
“No,” Alyssia said calmly. “I told you Archer’s going down in three days. We’ve still got half a day left.”
Lauren blinked indisbelief. “Then what the hell are you waiting for?”
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Alyssia lowered her wied. “Thead everyone say in the disgrace of Vanguard Archer ditched us for Bright Orange, and Thumiliated the whole
company”
The office went dead silent. Everyone suddenly became very focused on their keyboards
Then Alyssia flashed a smile, “So, Lauren, I want to make up for it, I want to win our pride back. Allow me to hit Bright Orange where it hurts. Is that okay?
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11:01 Mon, 28 Jul⚫WG.
Chapter 37
“She’s probably still high off that Leonard and Milena article. Got lucky once and thought she was some prodigy or something,” a girl scoffed.
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Another man said, “Let’s be real. That article wasn’t even that great. Lairen just handed her the materials because she came in under Charlie’s wing.
“She used the materials dug out by the whole team. And when she was left to handle it herself, she brought everyone a big surprise”
Someone shook their head. “Don’t even get me started on that. If any one of us had gone instead, the magazine would be on shelves by now. She got the chance, and who ends up scooping us? Bright Orange Media!“”
Someone snapped, “When was the last time Bright Orange pot one over on Vanguard? We’ve all busted our asses to keep that record clean. Now she comes in and breaks it in one go.
One rolled her eyes. “She’s a damn disgrace to Vanguard.”
Someone reminded others. “Let’s not forget the article about Leonard nearly landing us in court. Do you forget the 25 million dollars?”
“Hey, quiet down Here comes 25 million dollars herself, a guy suddenly said.
Alyssia already knew her new nickname was “25 million dollars.”
She actually kind of liked it. It sour
sounded expensive and carried the right kind of weight. It fit her current obsession with money perfectly.
Sometimes she found it weird–there were definitely private group chats among the colleagues and ways they could bash her behind her back, but they just wanted her to hear their complaints.
Lunch breaks turned into circle–time roasts, one snide jab after another, loud enough to carry
But the second Alyssia walked by, everyone scattered like pigeons, faces blank, acting like nothing had happened,
Even during work hours, they’d mess with her–laughing suddenly in sync, trading smirks across monitors.
But Alysia kept calm through all of it
Lauren, on the other hand,
d, was starting to crack.
She cornered Alyssia one afternoon and asked, “Do you actually have anything on Archer?”
Alyssia could feel every pair of ears in the office tuning in. She replied lazily, “Yeah, I do.”
“Then why the hell aren’t you using it? Lauren snapped, clearly losing it.
Diana had just cut another project that was supposed to go to Alyssia, Lauren tried to reason with Diana, but Diana hit her with the same script as always
s time, with an extra nudge.
Diana hinted that if Alyssia didn’t stay in Lauren’s team, things would magically go back to normal.
Lauren argued that she didn’t have the power to fire anyone. Diana only smiled and said the finance division was short on statt. Di someone who pulled strings, staying in any division would be the same to Alyssia.
Diana thought as
But Lauren didn’t buy it. Diana was
one in charge. If she really wanted Alyssia gone, she could’ve just told HR to make it happen.
„utting pretty while pushing all the heat down onto Lauren, manipulating her to do the dirty work.
But inud, the played i
as an old fo
Feels
and Lauren wasn’t nane aither Lauren thought. “There’s plenty of deadweight in this division, but she targets only Alyssia. F like someone else is pulling strings, and Dianią as
Lauren lowered her vuce and said to Mys, “Look, I’ll be straight with you. Acher’s case has got our division on edge. Everyone has complaints. If this keep up…..”
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11:01 Mon, 28 Jul
Chapter 37
She looked genuinely troubled as she continued, “I won’t be able to protect you anymore. Do you consider… transferring to another division?”
“No” Myssia said calmly. “I told you Archer’s going down in three days. We’ve still got half a day left.”
Lauren blinked in disbeliel “Then what the hell are you waiting for?”
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Alyssia lowered her eyes and replied, “Theard everyone say I’m the disgrace of Vanguard, Archer ditched us for Bright Orange, and I humiliated the whole company.”
The office went dead sil
silent, Everyone suddenly became very focused on their keyboards.
Then Alyssia flashed a smile. “So, Lauren, I want to make up for it, I want to win our pride back. Allow me to hit Bright Orange where it hurts. Is that
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