They Heard Her Lies

I collapsed onto the cold corporate floor, my heart seizing in acute cardiogenic shock. Not a single coworker dialed 911. They just stood there, staring coldly as my life slipped away. In my final moments, a familiar, gloating voice echoed in my head. “I can broadcast my thoughts directly into everyone’s minds. What did you honestly think you could beat me with?” “Chloe, poor white trash like you belongs on food stamps. You never belonged in our world.” Until the very second I died, I couldn't comprehend how a normal girl who worked three jobs to put herself through college and land a spot at a Fortune 500 company could have earned such venomous hatred. Then, I opened my eyes. I was back in the conference room, right on the day I reported the expired meal kits before my sudden death in my previous life. While I was still reeling from the memory of that sickening voice, a thought suddenly invaded my mind. {Should I tell Director Hayes that Chloe altered the expiration dates herself? Once it blows up, our entire team's annual bonuses will be wiped out.} I whipped my head around and stared in shock at my supposed best friend, Harper. She was smiling at me, sweet as honey. She had no idea that this time, I could hear every single word she was thinking. I could hardly believe that the girl who had acted like an angel ever since I was hired was the very monster who had orchestrated my death. In my last life, Director Hayes heard Harper's "thoughts." Assuming I had forged the evidence just to steal credit, he canceled our entire department’s annual bonuses on the spot. Afterward, the whole team ostracized me. Too terrified to challenge the director, my coworkers took all their rage out on me, freezing me out completely. Back then, I blamed myself. I thought I just hadn't explained things clearly. I drowned in guilt. And that relentless stress and isolation had triggered the fatal heart condition that killed me. Snapping out of my trance, I watched Director Hayes scrutinize the photos of the expired meal kits I had submitted earlier. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and he shot a piercing glare in my direction. "Chloe, did you take these photos during your store inspections?" I slowly stood up, letting my gaze drift across the room before lingering on my dearest "best friend." Right on cue, Harper's thoughts rang loud and clear inside my skull. {No wonder I saw her messing with Photoshop yesterday. She was manufacturing fake evidence.} {Director Hayes is staring right at her. He definitely knows something is off.} I pulled my gaze away from Harper’s innocent, wide-eyed face. When I looked up, Director Hayes was glaring at me with contempt. He slammed the photos onto the mahogany table and marched over. Knowing the truth this time, I stood completely calm. Director Hayes leaned in, his voice dripping with venom. "Chloe, Sterling Retail has hundreds of field auditors. How is it that you were the only one to stumble across expired inventory?" "Are your eyes special?" "Or is everyone else in this company completely blind?" I kept my head slightly down and spoke softly. "Director Hayes, I didn't fake anything. I found them during my routine inspection." He let out a harsh bark of laughter. "You had the nerve to fabricate evidence just to chase a promotion and a bonus." "You’re going to pay for this! Starting right now, your entire team's annual bonuses are revoked!" "Anyone who has a problem with it can come to my office, pick up their severance, and walk. I won’t hold back a single cent." Every set of eyes in the conference room locked onto me. My teammates looked ready to rip me to shreds. "Are you out of your damn mind, Chloe?" "You selfish bitch! We were counting on those bonuses to pay off our mortgages, and you ruined everything!" Instead of returning to my chair, I stepped back toward the wall and discreetly pulled out my phone. I fired off a quick text to the store manager where I had found the spoiled food: I can't cover for you anymore. Director Hayes rejects the report, and the GM will find out soon. I suggest you go directly to Mr. Vance and confess before it's too late. Director Hayes caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. He lunged forward and snatched the phone straight out of my hands. "You really have no shame, do you, Chloe?" "You just cost your entire team their bonuses, and you're hiding in the corner texting? Do you feel even an ounce of remorse?" I bit my bottom lip hard, remaining completely silent. Our floor supervisor strode over, red-faced. "Cat got your tongue, you little parasite?" Just as I slowly unclenched my jaw, ready to speak, the conference room doors swung open. The executive secretary rushed in, whispered urgently into Director Hayes’s ear, and hurried out. As Director Hayes rushed after her, I was left alone in the room, battered by a relentless barrage of curses and insults.A few minutes later, the conference room doors flew open again. The General Manager’s secretary summoned me and my entire team down the hall. The moment I stepped into Mr. Vance’s executive suite, the General Manager rushed toward me, bowing slightly in apology. "Chloe, Director Hayes made a terrible mistake. I am going to have him apologize to you personally and clear your name right now." As he spoke, Mr. Vance glared furiously at the director standing behind him. I kept my voice calm. "Mr. Vance, I don’t need an apology. I just want a transfer to another department." He had condemned my integrity and accused me of fraud solely based on Harper’s planted whispers. A man like that didn't deserve to lead me. Mr. Vance nodded without hesitation. "Consider it done." Then, he whirled on Director Hayes. "Marcus, do you have any idea how catastrophic this expired food issue would have been for the entire Sterling Group if it leaked to the press?" "You are relieved of your duties as Director. Hand in your badge." I was genuinely stunned. I thought Marcus would just lose his bonus. I never imagined he’d be fired on the spot. He was in his late forties. Getting terminated at this stage in his career meant his professional life was effectively over. The realization hit Marcus like a freight train. The light drained from his eyes. He didn't dare lash out at me, and he certainly didn't dare challenge the GM. Instead, his eyes darted through the crowd until he spotted Harper shrinking into the back. He lunged forward, grabbing her by the collar. "You manipulative little snake! If you hadn't whispered that Chloe faked the evidence, I never would have blamed her!" "You just destroyed my entire life!" Harper struggled in terror, her face pale. "I... I don't know what you're talking about! Get your hands off me, you creep!" Marcus sounded completely unhinged. "Stop playing dumb! Since the day you joined this company, I’ve caught you glaring at Chloe like a jealous psychopath! You intentionally manipulated me into firing her!" His words hit the room like a thunderbolt. Everyone who had tuned into Harper’s mental broadcasts suddenly froze. A couple of coworkers began murmuring. "No wonder we kept getting bad vibes about Chloe... It was Harper all along." Hearing them, Marcus’s eyes turned bloodshot. His hands clamped around Harper’s throat. "You ruinous bitch! I'll kill you!" The office erupted into utter chaos. Mr. Vance frowned and snapped at his assistant to call building security. Security guards barged in just in time, prying Marcus off her and dragging him out of the suite. Even as they hauled him down the hall, Marcus kept his murderous glare locked onto Harper until the doors slid shut.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.