All Chapters of When Pregnancy Becomes an Excuse for Theft: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Debra's words, heavy with concern, made me frown. "Our company actually has nepotism hires?""Of course it does. How else do you think someone who fails her performance review every single month gets to keep her job? It's all because Mr. Niles pulls strings for her."Greg, who'd had his head down and been silently shoveling food into his mouth since the whole thing started, finally spoke up. The resentment from driving an extra 25 miles every day was practically radiating off him.At the mention of Lawrence, everyone's eyes drifted toward me with pity. Penny reached over and patted my shoulder. "Just you wait. Mr. Niles is definitely calling you into his office today."But I waited all afternoon, and the summons never came. It turned out every executive in the company had been pulled into a board meeting. Near the end of the day, Penny glanced over at Bethany's desk."You got so lucky. Let's get out of here the second we clock out. Don't give Bethany a chance to corner you."The

Lawrence was sitting behind his desk with his phone still in his hand. Bethany must have already texted him."If a senior employee assigns you tasks, she has her reasons. You're the new hire here. What's wrong with doing a little extra? You can't even handle that?""It's not that I can't handle it. I just don't want to be singled out and pushed around for no good reason."The words had barely left my mouth when a loud bang made me jump. Lawrence and Bethany really were related. The way he slammed his hands on the desk and shot to his feet was practically identical."What are you implying? That Bethany is deliberately giving you a hard time over a drumstick? You're far too petty for your own good. I'm starting to seriously reconsider whether you're even a good fit for this company."I hadn't expected him to threaten me with my probation. I let out a resigned sigh."Mr. Niles, the company already has a cleaning crew. There's really no need to assign someone else to do the same work

Bethany finally read the room after that outburst. The second she realized her uncle wasn't going to be able to protect her today, she pivoted and started sobbing directly at the chairman."Sir, you have no idea how cruel this woman is! She has absolutely no compassion! She knew I was pregnant and never showed me even the tiniest bit of kindness or concern! That's a direct violation of the company's employee welfare policy!"The more she talked, the more worked up she got, and before I knew it, she shoved me in front of everyone.I hadn't expected her to get physical. The push caught me completely off guard and I lost my balance, tipping sideways toward the floor. But the chairman, who had been standing motionless and stone-faced this entire time, caught me the instant before I hit the ground and pulled me firmly into his arms.It all happened so fast that most people hadn't even processed what was going on. All they saw was the chairman frantically checking me over, his composure

I turned to find a man I'd never seen before, but the woman hiding behind him was all too familiar."Bethany?"Unlike this morning, her face was covered in bruises that were already turning purple. She'd clearly been hit. One look at the state of her and I could guess who this man was.I didn't even have time to think about my own stinging cheek before I turned on Bethany's husband. "You actually hit a woman who's six months pregnant? What kind of person are you?""She lost her job and cut off our income. What's wrong with roughing her up a little?"He raised his hand to hit Bethany again, but the very woman I'd just been defending pointed a finger straight at me. "It's her! That's the one who ruined everything for me! She threatened my uncle into suspending me. None of this is my fault. It's all because of her!""Figures. Some nosy little witch who can't mind her own business!"The slap that had been aimed at Bethany swung toward me instead. The back-to-back blows split the cor