“It’s a five-million-dollar deal today. Do you think I should carry the trash?”
Jade’s remarks left me speechless. On the other end of the phone, I could hear her giggling with delight. The call ended, and her phone was switched off. She had this planned from the start, but Jade was unaware that my brother is the CEO of the client company. I had put up with her harassment for months, but I was at my breaking point. Jade needed to confront reality.
My name is Mary Walters, and I work in the sales division of a trade company. I’m known as the ace of the sales department, but it wasn’t always easy. I started working right out of high school, having lost interest in studying after constantly being compared to my intelligent older brother. No matter how hard I tried, I could never match his grades. I thought I hated learning, but that changed when I helped a customer find a product better suited to their needs than what they’d planned to buy. The customer’s grin and gratitude transformed my life. For the first time, I realized how much I enjoy learning. I started studying product knowledge more than anyone, and my sales performance soared.
But good outcomes can often draw unwelcome jealousy.
Jade joined our organization six months ago. She was reportedly the top salesperson at a rival company. When she first joined, I was assigned to be her trainer.
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m Mary Walters. Feel free to ask me anything.”
“Really? You’re my trainer?” she said, looking clearly dissatisfied. “You seem kind of unreliable.”
I had disliked her from that first encounter, but work is work. I taught her everything, carefully and seriously. She responded with condescending comments. When I included a thank-you note with a shipment, she called my methods inefficient. She sneered at my sales approach, which focused on understanding a customer’s needs rather than just pushing popular items. Being laughed at and criticized for everything I taught was hurtful.
A month after I started training her, the sales results were announced. As usual, I was the top performer. Everyone clapped, except for Jade. She glared at me with jealousy and bit her lip in frustration. From that day on, her behavior worsened.
The harassment didn’t stop after her training period. At first, it was minor things: my pen would disappear, or the sticky notes on my computer would be gone. Then, documents I saved in the shared folder disappeared, faxes addressed to me ended up in the shredder, and calls with customers were abruptly cut off. I had been clueless about who was responsible, until one day, as a call was cut off, I saw Jade with a smug grin on her face, holding the unplugged phone cord.
I asked her to stop, but she just sneered. “Do you have any proof? Don’t accuse me without evidence. You’re so paranoid.”
Then, she reached into my bag, pulled out my wallet, took two twenty-dollar bills, and tossed the wallet back to me. “Thanks for the bonus,” she laughed, walking away.
I consulted my boss, but without proof, he said it was hard to take action. He did caution Jade, but it only made her resent me more. She harassed me almost daily. My schedules would be deleted, and documents would disappear. To catch up, I had to work more overtime.
Finally, something decisive happened. I was chosen as the main contact for a major corporation that inquired about our products. This company is one of the leading medical device manufacturers in the country. If we secured a contract, it would be worth millions. My boss assigned Jade as my support.
She didn’t provide any support. Instead, she sent materials for her preferred products to the client without my permission. A close colleague discreetly informed me, and I quickly called the contact person, casually mentioning the materials and explaining the differences. In the process, I identified the client’s needs and arranged a detailed discussion.
The quote amount was five million dollars. Jade was wide-eyed when she heard the news. “Wow, that’s a huge deal! I guess they went with the product I sent the materials for, right?” she smirked, snatching the estimate I had created. Her smile froze as she read it. The chosen product wasn’t the one she had promoted.
“Looks like it didn’t quite match their needs this time,” I said. “Jade, could you book our flights? We’re scheduled for a meeting with the client in two weeks.”
She immediately broke into a grin. I thought she had finally calmed down.
On the day of the meeting, I was left stranded at the airport. The meeting was at 1:00 p.m., a three-hour trip each way. I was supposed to get my ticket from her before boarding, but Jade didn’t show up. I tried calling, but she didn’t answer. I headed to the counter and asked if I could still board. That’s when I discovered a shocking fact: my ticket hadn’t been reserved. Only Jade’s was.
With a pale face, I called her again. After several rings, she picked up. “Sorry, I was busy with the boarding process,” she said nonchalantly.
“Jade, they said there’s no reservation under my name for this flight! What’s going on?”
She just laughed, clearly enjoying herself. “Today is a five-million-dollar deal. Should I bring the trash along?” Her words made my mind go blank. The call ended, and she turned off her phone.
She had planned this from the start. But there’s something Jade doesn’t know. The CEO of the client company is my brother.
I put myself on the standby list for the next flight and called my brother, Kyle. I had tolerated her petty harassment until now, but this was too much.
Fifteen minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, my phone rang. It was Jade. The call came much sooner than I expected. “Hello? Where are you right now?!” she demanded.
“I’m at the airport. You should know exactly where I am,” I replied. “You didn’t reserve my ticket.”
“Just get here quickly!” she said, her voice panicked. “The client’s CEO says that if you don’t come, the deal is off!” In the background, I heard a familiar voice. A video call invitation appeared on my phone. My brother had likely instructed her to switch.
I accepted. Jade’s pale face appeared on the screen. She turned to show my brother and the manager, who were standing next to me. Her face grew even paler. “The CEO… and the manager… why are both of you with that trash at the airport?”
The reason was simple. After Jade abandoned me, I had called my brother and my uncle, who is the CEO of my company. When chaos ensued, my brother said, “Let’s teach the fool who came without the person in charge a lesson.”
“Calling my sister ‘trash’ is quite disrespectful,” my brother’s displeased voice came through the phone.
Jade blinked in surprise. “Your sister?”
“This ‘trash’ is the CEO,” my uncle added.
But Jade, not noticing, lit up. “So you were favoring her because she’s your sister, Kyle? That’s not good for the company. Look, I’ve brought a new proposal. This product is much more popular than the one that trash suggested.”
“Enough!” my brother’s angry voice cut her off. “I heard that you sent a brochure for a product that didn’t meet our needs. Our staff was puzzled. Now I understand why. No matter how popular it is, if it’s not what we need, it’s useless. My sister patiently worked with us, genuinely understanding our problems. We decided to do business with your company because we believed we could have an honest relationship with her. If you plan to replace her with someone like you, who only sees things superficially, we will cancel this deal.”
Hearing my brother’s angry voice, my heart swelled. I never imagined he thought so highly of my work. The manager and my uncle kept apologizing. Jade stood there, stunned and pale.
When Jade returned to the office, the manager angrily confronted her. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Sir, I was set up! Please believe me!” she cried, clinging to the manager. “The truth is, Mary ordered me to go alone today!”
“Is that true?” the manager asked, looking back and forth between us.
“Of course not,” I firmly denied it.
“You’re just making things up! You don’t have any proof!” she repeated, smirking. She thought she had me cornered.
I smiled sweetly. “I do have proof.” I pulled out my phone and opened the latest audio file. It was a recording of my conversation with Jade at the airport. The exchange played, and when it reached the part where she said, “Should I bring the trash along?” the manager’s eyebrows shot up.
“And that’s not all,” I continued. “You’ve deleted my documents and schedules, shredded my mail, and unplugged the phone while I was on calls, haven’t you?”
“Lying! Show me proof if you have it!” she kept demanding, unaware she was tightening her own noose.
“Don’t you know our company’s computers track who accessed what, when, and where? If we check, it’ll be clear that you deleted my documents and schedules.”
“What?! No one told me that!” she visibly panicked.
“That’s enough,” the CEO said. “We will conduct a thorough internal investigation. Jade, you are on suspension until the investigation is complete.”
The next day, Jade showed up at the office anyway, but she was promptly sent home. That evening, my uncle, the CEO, summoned me to his office. He had my brother on a video call. Jade, having realized she was in serious trouble, had gone straight to my brother’s company, bypassing the contact person and demanding a meeting. When my brother tried to dismiss her, she clung to his arm, completely misunderstanding the situation. Her actions had made my brother furious, and he had called my uncle to complain.
Under intense questioning from the three of us, Jade finally broke, admitting to everything through the video call. “I was wrong! I apologize! I won’t call you trash or mock you again! I won’t delete your files or shred your mail!”
She had been audacious to the end, but her face was now full of despair.
The next day, Jade was terminated. She was also sued for substantial damages by the company. The CEO was so furious that he intended to ensure she wouldn’t be hired by any affiliated companies, making it nearly impossible for her to find decent work.
As for me, I regained peace. Having my work recognized by my brother, to whom I had always felt inferior, boosted my confidence. For the first time in a long while, I felt like visiting my family. With a mix of excitement and anxiety, I looked forward to the approaching Thanksgiving holiday.