As Kian moved out from the building after clearing up his work desk early morning, Stephenie walked into the elevator at the same premises to start her awful day. While it was the end of an episode for the former, the latter didn’t know that miracles did exist because she was about to know a result that was brewed for a certain period of time already.

In mere 10 months, the department was turned upside down. Alongside Chan’s expanding arrogance, the director called for meeting her more than three times in six months. It was because the board made the decision to hire a chief for the group that Chan would be put under this outsider. It was time to let two parties talk to each other before the top executive got on board.

It couldn’t be more disgraceful to her who often thought she would take the group chief’s position. All the elbow-out tactics over the past three years were useless. Information leaked afterward the bully cried at the director’s room every time when they chatted, while the top boss felt uninspired for any further discussions. It took several months with no progress. After all, the director handed over it to the head of human resources that led to marking the last day of Chan.

Almost everybody cheered with the champagne opened when they heard of it. No one knew if the development was also related to various complaints about Chan from all sides. The tipping point was about inserting a new boss above Chan as she tried hard to place herself just under the director. She thought that by securing her position in the organization chart, her self-worth would be raised with the respect from others. The presence of the newcomer meant she would be demoted in a quiet manner.

An implicit sign of asking Chan to take it or leave it. It was a hostile response of this big company after three years of letting her mess around. No matter how long a person cultivated a facade, the unsustainable exterior would fall apart one day. It was, however, detrimental along the evolution of unfolding the essence. When Chan was busy with polishing her farewell party as the pretense of a glorious departure, Stephanie had her first deep inhalation of fresh air.

The wavering patience of Stephenie was paid off. She put aside the plan of looking out for a new job. The feeling of getting out of the year-long torture was inconceivable. It’s been many times that she wanted to give up. The only reason for pertaining to persistence was because her encounter didn’t give a push to fulfill the wish of escaping. The reluctance of riding through the obscurity bore fruit for good.

After one month of the announcement, the big day arrived. Stephenie shunned all the frivolous goodbye rituals with the others. She hid in her cubicle, looking forward to the new chapter at the same corporation. With the second chance coming in her way, how could she do better and take the best out of it?

Next Chapter: Chapter 9 Reborn