Reborn Ten Minutes Before the Pitch, No One Touches My Flash Drive

Kirsten Fox, my colleague, said her slide deck had suddenly crashed, so I lent her my flash drive out of pity. She turned right around and copied the entire user growth plan I'd spent three months building, then accused me of plagiarizing her.

My boyfriend of two years publicly took her side, scolded me in front of everyone, and even stripped me of my position.

Branded with the stigma and with nowhere left to turn, I went to the riverbank and threw myself in.

When I opened my eyes again, I'd been rebornback to ten minutes before my promotion defense presentation.

Kirsten smiled at me and said, "Aileen, mind if I copy your slides off your drive? We've got pretty much the same ideas anyway."

This time, she wasn't going to touch a single thing of mine.

Nine in the morning in the Operations Department, and I sat at my desk in a daze.

I'd actually been reborn!

Kirsten's voice pulled me back to reality. "Aileen, did you hear me?"

"My presentation just crashed all of a sudden, and I didn't bring a backup. Could you copy your plan over to me?"

"I'm only going to use it as a reference. I'm definitely not copying the whole thing."

I took a deep breath and said flatly, "No."

Her smile froze instantly, and she put on a wounded look. "Aileen, how can you be like this?"

"Aren't we usually the best of friends? Just let me copy itit's not like it costs you a piece of your flesh."

"Besides, this is for our whole department's performance!"

I laughed, plugged the flash drive into the computer, and a folder full of plan files popped up on the screen. "You don't even know what the core of the plan is, and you've got the nerve to talk about department performance?"

The keyboards at the desks around us went quieter, and several glances turned our way.

Kirsten's face couldn't quite hold its composure. "I I basically know it. It's just user growth, right? We talked it over together before."

I clicked open the core data page and pointed at the model diagram on the screen. "Then tell mefor this lower-tier market conversion model, what percentage is the seven-day retention threshold set at?"

"How many days is the redemption period for the referral bonuses?"

"At which order does the first-order subsidy hit its break-even point?"

With every question I asked, Kirsten's face went a shade paler.

Her eyes darted away, and she said guiltily, "I how would I remember details that fine? They're all just rough numbers, aren't they?"

I gave a cold laugh. "You can't even answer the core parameters, and you still have the nerve to claim our general ideas are pretty much the same?"

"Kirsten, if you want to do a plan on your own, then do it. Stop always reaching out to copy other people's work."

"Why should my work become a stepping stone for you?"

The moment I finished speaking, Clay showed up.

He was the head of our department, and also my boyfriend of two years.

His face full of tenderness, he comforted Kirsten. "What's the matter? You were fine a second agowhy are your eyes all red?"

Kirsten's voice caught with tears. "Clay, I just wanted to borrow a proposal from Aileen for reference. If she didn't want to, that's fine, but she went and accused me of copying her..."

Clay looked at me, displeased. "Aileen Henson, haven't you made enough of a scene?"

"The presentation is about to start. We're all on the same teamwhat's wrong with helping each other out?"

"Lend Kirsten the flash drive, let's get through the defense first. The team's interests come first."

I sneered coldly. "Supervisor Harding, the team's interests mean everyone does the work on their own merits, not that I hand over three months of my hard work to someone else so she can use it as a stepping stone."

"If she's really capable, she can get up there herself."

"If she doesn't have what it takes, she shouldn't be taking up a spot."

Clay hadn't expected me to contradict him in public, and his expression turned ugly.

I picked up the presentation materials off the table and walked around them toward the conference room. As I passed Kirsten, I said quietly, "You're not even worthy of copying my work!"

Behind me came Kirsten's soft sobbing, and Clay's low, comforting voice.

In my last life, this was where I softened my heart, lent out the flash drive, and ended up disgraced and ruined.

In this life, starting with refusing at this very step, I was going to take back everything that belonged to me.

The conference room door closed behind me. The five judges were already seated, with Operations Director Miles Finch in the middle.

I took a deep breath and set my materials down on the table.

This comeback fight had officially begun.

My presentation was scheduled second.

The first up was a veteran employee from another group. He gave a by-the-book presentation, the judges barely asked any questions, and the mood stayed flat.

When it was my turn to go up, I opened the presentation. The cover page had the title of my growth plan, the one I'd rewritten three times overnight.

Director Finch said quietly, "Aileen Henson, right? Go ahead."

Holding the clicker, I walked them through everythingfrom market background to user profiles, then to conversion models and viral growth mechanismsknowing the data on every slide by heart.

When I reached the core strategy for penetrating lower-tier markets, I added three contingency plans, each corresponding to a different scenario: customer acquisition costs running over budget, insufficient user retention, and competitors poaching customers.

When I finished, the room was quiet for a few seconds.

Director Finch spoke first. "Did you come up with all three contingency plans yourself?"

I nodded. "I went through the records of pitfalls from similar projects over the past six months and built the plans to address them specifically."

Another judge asked, "Where did the data come from?"

I answered crisply. "Part of it is from reviews of the company's past projects, part is from third-party industry reports, and part is from three small-scale tests I ran myself. It's all attached in the appendix."

The judges glanced at each other and nodded.

Director Finch made a couple of notes in his notebook, a hint of approval in his tone. "Not bad. Very thoroughmuch more mature than the version you submitted last time."

I felt a wave of relief, thanked them, and stepped down.

The moment I walked out, I ran into Kirsten Fox. She was clutching her laptop, and when she saw me come out, she went inside looking guilty and nervous.

I leaned against the hallway wall to wait for the results, and I could faintly hear what was going on inside.

Kirsten's voice was a little tense, and she stumbled over her words. She'd only gotten through two slides when Director Finch cut her off. "What's the basis for your customer acquisition cost estimate?"

"It's it's the industry average," Kirsten's voice trembled.

Director Finch frowned and pressed on. "The average of which industry? Which data range? What's the source of the report?"

Kirsten stammered and couldn't answer.

Then another judge asked her about the logic behind the retention model, and she couldn't explain that either, just repeating, "It's just the standard logic!"

Less than five minutes later, Kirsten came out of the conference room, her eyes red.

I ignored her and turned to head to the break room for a cup of water.

I'd only taken a couple of steps when Clay caught up from behind and grabbed my wrist. "Aileen Henson, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"You knew perfectly well she wasn't prepared, yet you buried all those details in your plan just to watch her make a fool of herself, right?"

I shook his hand off and said coldly, "Clay, the defense is a fair competition. If she's unprepared and can't answer the questions, what does that have to do with me?"

"Was I supposed to feed her the answers?"

Clay said angrily, "It's just one promotion spot. You'll have other chances later. This is her first time going for it. Couldn't you have cut her a little slack?"

I laughed, furious. "Last time she copied Abner's plan, you said she was a newbie who didn't know any better."

"This time she tried to copy mine, and instead of blaming her, you're blaming me."

"Clay, what is she to you, that you keep protecting her at every turn like this?"

Clay steeled himself and said, "I just think we're all colleaguesthere's no need to be so ruthless about it."

Before I could respond, the conference room door opened, and the HR person came out carrying the scoring sheets.

When they saw the two of us, they paused. "You're both out here? The defense results are in. Aileen Henson, you're in first place so far."

Clay's expression instantly turned even worse.

I went back to my desk, knowing full well that this was only the beginning.

Neither Kirsten nor Clay would let it go that easily. There was more trouble coming.

Sure enough, near the end of the workday, Clay posted a notice in the department group chat, saying the promotion results would go through a further overall evaluation and be announced in two days.

No one said anything in the chat, but everyone understood exactly what this wassomeone was about to stir up trouble.

I smiled at my screen and opened a folder on my computer ahead of time, the one holding everything I had already prepared.

In my last life, they could twist black into white. This time, I wanted to see just how they'd manage to call black white.

Two days later, in the afternoon, the department held its weekly meeting, supposedly also to announce the promotion results.

When I got to the conference room, Kirsten was sitting next to Clay, head down, talking to him in a low voice. The two of them looked very cozy together.

The moment she saw me walk in, Kirsten sat up straight.

Clay cleared his throat. "Everyone's here, so let's start with the promotion."

"After the overall evaluation, taking into account the growth of newer employees and the team's future development, this promotion spot goes to Kirsten Fox."

The instant he finished, the conference room went silent.

Everyone looked at me first, then at Kirsten, with all kinds of expressions.

Kirsten raised her head, a touch of smugness on her face. "Thank you, Clay, thank you everyone. I'll work hard going forward and won't let any of you down."

I said coldly, "Supervisor Harding, this overall evaluationwhat exactly is being evaluated?"

"I had the top score in the defense and the best project performance in the group. So on what grounds does the spot go to her?"

Clay frowned, displeased. "Aileen Henson, the company bases promotions on overall ability, not just the defense and performance."

"Kirsten has strong communication skills and works well with the team, which makes her a better fit for a supervisor role."

I said mockingly, "Clay, don't try to fob people off with that line. The reason you picked her is simply that the two of you have something going on, isn't it?"

Clay slammed his hand down on the table. "Aileen Henson, you'd better have evidence for what you say. Spread rumors again and I won't go easy on you!"

I took out my phone, opened the photo album, and set the phone down on the table with the screen facing everyone. "You want evidence? I'll give you evidence."

Two screenshots were on the screen.

The first was security camera footage from the break room, timestamped last Wednesday at eight p.m. In it, Kirsten was leaning into Clay's arms, and Clay had his hand on her hair, stroking itan intimate pose.

The second screenshot was a chat log. The profile picture was Kirsten's, and the message she'd sent Clay read: "Clay, you absolutely have to help me with this promotion. Once I'm supervisor, I'll do whatever you say from now on."

Clay had replied: "Don't worry, baby, the spot's yours for sure."

The meeting room instantly blew up.

"Whoa, the two of them actually got together?"

"No wonder Supervisor Harding kept covering for herturns out that's what's going on."

"Isn't Clay's girlfriend Aileen Henson? This is way too much!"

"Two-timing? What a scumbag!"

"Kirsten knew perfectly well they were a couple and still shoved her way in. She has no shame at all!"

The chatter rose on every side. Kirsten's face was as white as paper, and she waved her hands in a panic. "No, this is faked!"

"Aileen Henson, you set me up on purpose!"

I raised an eyebrow. "The footage is from the company Security Office. Should we call security over right now and pull the original?"

"The timestamp and profile picture on the chat log both check out. Or would you two like to take out your phones and show everyone?"

Clay's face turned livid. He reached for his phone, and I snatched it back.

I said coldly, "Supervisor Harding, in such a hurry to delete the evidence?"

In my last life, I didn't find out until the day I died that the two of them had gotten together long before. Back then he told me Kirsten was his junior from school, all alone with no one to lean on, so he had to look out for her.

And back then, I was foolish enough to believe it.

Looking back now, I really was too naive!

Right in the middle of the uproar, the conference room door was pushed open, and Operations Director Miles Finch and the HR director walked in.

Director Finch frowned. "What's all this shouting? This is a meetingwhat does this look like?"

The HR director had a sharp eye and spotted my phone screen. "What's going on here?"

I handed over the phone and gave a quick rundown of the situation. "Director Finch, HR Director Lambert, I scored first in this promotion defense, but because Supervisor Harding has an improper relationship with Kirsten Fox, he gave the spot to her on his own."

"I have the surveillance footage and chat logs to prove it!"