Chapter 3

When I pushed open the door to Conference Room 3, Bella was sitting on the sofa by the window.

Her face was paper-white, and her eyes were swollen as if she had cried all night.

Sitting next to her was her husband.

Marcus Vance.

In my past life, this man leaked my home address online and screamed at the camera, calling me a baby killer.

To raise money for the settlement, my father went to the bank to beg for a loan. He suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed right outside the bank doors.

Later, Marcus said in his live stream: "I just wanted justice for my child. I didn't know her father would die."

He didn't know.

How convenient.

Miranda sat at the head of the table with several documents in front of her.

"Chloe, Bella has reported you for severe workplace bullying and abusive management behavior."

I pulled out a chair and sat down. "Be specific."

Hearing this, Bella immediately burst into tears.

"Chloe, I really didn't want things to come to this."

I looked at her. "Then you don't have to make a scene."

Her crying caught in her throat.

Marcus slammed his hand on the table. "My wife just had a miscarriage, and this is your attitude?!"

I looked at him. "A miscarriage is tragic. But tragedy is not evidence of a crime."

"You—!"

Miranda frowned. "Mr. Vance, please calm down first."

Then, she slid a medical report over to me.

"Bella had vaginal bleeding two nights ago. The hospital diagnosed it as a natural miscarriage following embryonic demise."

I flipped the page.

It was written clearly there.

Embryonic demise. The baby had stopped developing.

I put the paperwork back on the desk. "So, what does that have to do with me?"

Bella covered her mouth, her shoulders shaking violently as she sobbed.

"You didn't go to the archives with me that day, but the night before, you forced me to revise the project proposal until midnight!"

"You also said in the breakroom that my pregnancy made me a drag on the team."

"You said if I had any decency, I would voluntarily drop out of the selection for the European relocation."

She looked up at me, her eyes filled with tears. "My stomach was already hurting then, but I was too scared to say anything. I didn't want you to think I was just being dramatic."

Marcus roared with bloodshot eyes, "How can you treat a pregnant woman like this? Are you even human?!"

Miranda looked at me. "Chloe, did you make Bella work overtime during her pregnancy?"

"No."

"Did you use abusive language to trigger her?"

"No."

"Did you exclude and target her because of the competition for the European relocation?"

I laughed.

"Miranda, are you investigating, or are you helping her rehearse her testimony?"

Miranda's face darkened.

"Watch your tone, Chloe. The company is dealing with a major incident involving a pregnant employee's miscarriage. As the project lead, you must cooperate."

"I will cooperate."

I turned on my phone's voice recorder.

"Please continue. I need a record of this too."

Miranda stared at my phone, her frown deepening.

"Chloe, internal company discussions are not to be recorded."

"Then please send me a formal written notice."

She was speechless.

Bella sobbed, "Chloe, why do you have to be like this? I just lost my baby. I'm not trying to ruin you."

I looked at her. "Then why is every single word out of your mouth pointing the finger at me?"

The glass doors of the conference room weren't soundproof.

Soon, notifications started popping up in our office gossip chats.

My phone kept buzzing.

I screenshotted every single one of them.

Miranda placed a temporary suspension notice in front of me.

"Effective immediately, your authority as project lead is suspended."

I asked, "Before the investigation is even finished, you're already handing out punishments?"

Miranda said coldly, "This is risk control."

Risk control.

In my past life, they used those two words to reduce me from a human being to trash.

"Fine," I stood up. "Please send this via email. Copy Legal, Compliance, and me."

Marcus sneered, "Still thinking about suing the company?"

I stared at him. "If anyone defames me, covers up the truth, or passes judgment before a proper trial, I won't let a single one of them off the hook."

Bella's crying quieted down.

But I saw it.

Behind the tissue covering her face, the corners of her mouth curved up slightly.