Three Years Forgotten, Why Go Crazy When I Say Goodbye? novel Chapter 38

Even though she was already doing fine now, Jade still desperately wanted Willow to reclaim the radiant confidence she once had.

A temporary setback didn't define her. She had a long life ahead of her. Rebuilding herself and finding her footing again was the most important thing she needed to focus on right now.

Willow gladly accepted the card, silently making a mental note to pay Jade back for the membership. She was already living in Jade's apartment rent-free, and while her friend wouldn't care about the money, Willow refused to keep taking advantage of her generosity.

But if she was going to pay her back, she needed to budget carefully.

The $300,000 nest egg was absolutely off-limits—that was her mother's medical fund.

The millions of dollars that Mr. Vance had transferred to her were also out of the question. Even though Silas Thorne had been incredibly generous and explicitly told her she didn't need to repay it, Willow's pride wouldn't allow her to just keep it. After deducting her mother's hospital bills, she planned to return the remaining balance immediately and slowly pay back the rest over time.

That meant her only real source of income right now was her upcoming year-end project bonus.

The People & Culture Department had already informed her that her base salary and standard year-end bonus were forfeited. Thankfully, the project-specific bonus was evaluated separately, so Willow assumed she would still receive a substantial payout.

The next day, Monday.

When she arrived at the office, the upcoming bonuses were the only thing anyone was talking about. December was the official performance review month at Sinclair Group, making it the inescapable topic of the day.

The office sycophants wasted no time jumping on the bandwagon, their mocking comments deliberately loud enough for her to hear.

"Wow, some people really don't know their place. You'd think she actually accomplished something. If it weren't for Ms. Sinclair backing her up, do you really think she could've survived in Seattle? Giving the top honor to Ms. Sinclair is exactly what should have happened."

"Right? Ms. Sinclair has a Ph.D. in biology from a top-tier university abroad, and she studied under absolute legends. It makes perfect sense that she's the one who developed the patent. Some people just try to exploit the information gap, thinking they can hide in Seattle and take all the credit. Look what happened the second she came back to headquarters—totally exposed."

"Exactly. This is how you deal with frauds. Expose them in front of the whole firm, or they'll never stop acting so high and mighty. She walks around here looking miserable all day, acting like she's better than everyone. Have you seen the size of her? Ms. Sinclair is a thousand times prettier, smarter, and nicer to us. Who the hell does Willow think she is?"