He Replaced Me and Regretted It

"Mr. Lambert, you're lucky to have someone as capable as Ms. Jensen on your team. I want her to be our main point of contact for this project!"

"Thank you for the compliment. Here's to a successful partnership!"

At the business dinner, Laura Jensen had her arm linked through my boyfriend Sebastian Lambert's as she elegantly toasted our business partners.

The coworkers who had come along started whispering among themselves.

"Mr. Lambert and Laura look perfect together!"

"They're made for each other. With those two together, this company is going places!"

Sebastian didn't deny it. Instead, he pulled Laura even closer until they were practically pressed against each other.

A bitter ache filled my chest. I bit down hard on my lip and tightened my grip on the tie in my hand. Blood welled on my lip, but I barely felt the pain.

I should have been the one standing beside Sebastian.

To prepare for the business dinner, I stayed up late working on the proposal. I also ran myself ragged asking everyone I could for help before I finally lined up the prospective partner.

They were highly influential in the industry. If we closed the deal, it would only be a matter of time before our company became an industry leader.

Before we left for the dinner, Sebastian sent me back to get his tie, saying he couldn't show up looking bad. He even told me he'd pushed back the dinner and would wait for me.

But when I came back with the tie, a cleaner told me Sebastian and the others had left an hour earlier. Laura had already put a new tie on Sebastian herself, one she'd brought for him.

I rushed straight to the business dinner and even fell on the way there. When I finally made it, this was what I walked in on.

Laura had taken the design proposal I'd worked so hard on and replaced me as the project lead. And that wasn't all. She had her arm linked through Sebastian's, and the two of them looked incredibly close.

Thinking back, I realized the tie had only been an excuse. Sebastian had deliberately sent me away so Laura could attend the dinner in my place and take over everything that was mine.

She had taken my boyfriend, my proposal, and even my place on the project. I was the fool they'd been playing all along.

After they saw the business partners off, Laura finally noticed me and pretended to be surprised.

"Cindy, why are you only just getting here? The dinner's already over. Did you get so caught up looking for that tie that you lost track of time?"

I glanced at her and replied coldly, "Funny. I heard you all left an hour early. So why didn't anyone tell me the time had changed?"

Laura's expression stiffened, but she quickly softened her voice.

"Cindy, you've got it wrong. Sebastian said we couldn't keep the business partners waiting, and he was worried you wouldn't make it back in time. That's why he asked me to take over your proposal and attend in your place."

As she spoke, she edged behind Sebastian. She looked every bit the victim, as if I were the one bullying her.

Laura was the woman Sebastian had never gotten over, and she'd been brought into the company just two weeks ago.

With Sebastian backing her, Laura got the easiest assignments and one of the biggest paychecks in the company. She was still a new hire, but she was already earning almost as much as I was as head designer.