Chapter 1

Tyra bit her lip, her eyes turning red.

"Stella, I just wanted you to come with me. I never said I had to move the boxes."

I set my phone down. "You said you wanted me to help move them."

Her face went pale.

"I... I guess I said it wrong."

"It's fine." I smiled. "That's why I made sure we followed procedure."

She stared at me.

Just for a second.

Long enough for me to catch the hate in her eyes.

Then it was gone.

She looked hurt again.

"Are you still mad because I messed up the proposal before? I know I haven't been as productive since I got pregnant, but I really don't want to hold the team back."

My coworker Angela Parker jumped in right away.

"Tyra, don't overthink it. Stella's probably just trying to look out for you."

Another coworker, Blake Molloy, scoffed. "By calling her out in the group chat? Pregnant women deserve some privacy too."

I looked at him. "Cool. Then you move the boxes."

Blake froze. "I never said I wouldn't."

Right then, our admin supervisor, Linda Grigg, rolled a cart over.

She looked at Tyra. "You don't need to go downstairs. Just send me the document names and box numbers. We'll grab them."

Then she added, "Pregnant employees don't go into storage or lift heavy stuff. Standard procedure."

Tyra froze.

I chimed in, "If they're bid documents, log how many boxes there are and take pictures for the record."

Linda nodded. "Yep. All bid documents have to be documented."

Tyra's face darkened.

She never cared about those documents.

She wanted me alone in the basement fire stairwell, where the security camera had been busted for three months.

Last time, she fell right there.

No cameras. No witnesses.

So her word became fact.

She said I pushed her.

I said I didn't.

The company wanted proof.

I had nothing.

Not this time.

I'd never be alone with her again. Not anywhere she could turn it into her word against mine.

Tyra dropped her gaze and sent Linda the document names.

After Linda left with other co-workers, Tyra stayed by my desk.

After a long beat, she said, "Stella, you're really guarded around me now."

I pulled up the meeting notes without looking at her. "Keeping a paper trail is just smart. It protects both of us."

At three that afternoon, the documents showed up in the conference room.

Admin posted photos in the group chat.

Everything was done by the book.

Before she left, Tyra posted on social media.

A photo of a hospital hallway.

One caption:

[Baby, I'm sorry. Mommy tried so hard.]

Ten minutes later, the comments exploded.

[Tyra, what happened?]

[Did work make you stay late again?]

[Pregnancy is so hard. Sending hugs.]

Tyra gave everyone the same reply:

[It's okay. I don't want to be a burden to anyone.]

I stared at it for two seconds, took a screenshot, and put my phone away.

Tyra wasn't done.

She wanted my overseas assignment.

And more than that, she needed someone to blame for the baby she was already going to lose.

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

On the third day, HR director Helen Moore messaged me.

[Stella, come to Conference Room Three.]