Chapter 2

Bella bit her lower lip, her eyes turning red.

"Chloe, I just wanted you to walk down with me. I didn't say I was going to make you do all the lifting."

I put my phone back on the desk.

"You literally just said 'come help me carry them.'"

Her face turned pale.

"I... I must have phrased it wrong."

"No worries," I smiled. "That's why I'm helping you follow the official safety procedures."

She stared at me.

The look in her eyes lasted only a fraction of a second.

It was too quick for anyone else to notice the pure hatred in it.

A few seconds later, she put on her victim face again.

"Are you still mad at me because I didn't finish editing the project proposal last time? I know my efficiency went down after I got pregnant, but I really didn't mean to drag the team down."

Emma Jenkins immediately whispered to comfort her, "Bella, don't overthink it. Chloe is probably just looking out for you."

Tyler Carter sneered.

"Looking out for her by blasting her pregnancy in the main group? Pregnant women deserve some privacy, don't they?"

I looked up at him.

"Then you go carry the boxes, Tyler."

Tyler choked on his words.

"I didn't say I wouldn't."

Just then, Sarah, the admin supervisor, walked over pushing a utility cart.

Sarah glanced at Bella and said politely, "Bella, you don't need to go down there. Just email me the file names and box numbers, and we'll get them. Pregnant staff are not allowed in the archive room or to lift heavy loads. That's company policy."

Bella stood there, totally paralyzed.

I added, "Since those files contain bidding drafts, please log the box numbers and take photos of them for the record."

Sarah nodded. "Right. Bidding documents must have a clear paper trail."

Bella's expression grew even uglier.

She didn't actually want the files.

She wanted me alone with her in the basement, in the emergency stairwell where the security cameras had been broken for three months.

In my past life, she "fell" there.

No one saw it.

So whatever she said became the absolute truth.

She said I pushed her.

I said I didn't.

The company asked me for proof.

I had none.

In this life, I would never go to any secluded spot with her again.

Bella lowered her head and sent the file details to Sarah.

After Sarah left with her team, Bella remained standing by my desk.

After a long silence, she whispered, "Chloe, you seem so guarded against me now."

I opened the meeting minutes on my screen without even looking up. "A paper trail in the workplace protects you, and it protects me."

At 3:00 PM, the files were delivered to the conference room.

Sarah posted the photos in the chat group.

Every step of the process was perfectly documented. No one could find a single flaw.

Before leaving work, Bella posted an update on her Snapchat story.

It was a picture of a hospital hallway.

The caption read: "I'm so sorry, sweetie. Mommy tried her best."

Within ten minutes, her comment section blew up.

"What's wrong, Bella?"

"Did the company make you work overtime again?"

"Being pregnant at work is so hard. Sending hugs."

Bella replied to all of them with: "I'm fine. I just don't want to be a burden to anyone."

I stared at that sentence for two seconds, took a screenshot, and saved it.

Then I turned off my phone.

Bella wasn't going to stop.

She wanted my spot for the European relocation program.

And she wanted to find a scapegoat for the baby she was already bound to lose.

Sure enough, she didn't show up for work the next day.

On the third day, the HR Director, Miranda Blake, sent me a message.

"Chloe, come to Conference Room 3 immediately."