I Was Framed, My Hubby Exposed The Truth

Chapter 4

For two full weeks, I faced constant exclusion and isolation from both coworkers and supervisors.

All the tasks that had originally belonged to me were reassigned and divided among other staff members.

Most people would have given up and resigned long ago under such pressure.

But I refused to leave.

I had done nothing wrong, so why should I do exactly what they wanted?

It was at this point that Linnea finally could no longer hold back and came to my office on her own initiative.

I watched her walk toward my desk; there were heavy dark circles under her eyes, and she looked completely worn out.

I spoke in a calm, steady tone. "What is it? Have you finally realized your mistake and come here to apologize?"

Linnea looked shocked by my question. Her eyes widened, and she spoke in disbelief.

"You let me handle all your work for the past two weeks, and you still have the nerve to ask me to apologize?"

'What? I let her do it?'

I was so angry at her words that I could not bring myself to reply.

Seeing me remain silent, Linnea raised her voice and began to scold me loudly.

"You really are something," Linnea snapped, pointing at me accusingly. "Everyone in the company is trying to avoid you, yet you still sit here as if nothing is wrong. If I were you, I would have lost all face and packed my things to leave long ago.

"The management hasn't formally asked you to resign, but can't you tell what is happening? No one has spoken to you or given you assignments in two weeks... you are just clinging on stubbornly."

Her voice rose with every sentence as she glared at me. "Do you have any idea how busy I am every day? Look at me... running around with this extra work. I have already lost so much weight. Why should you still draw a higher salary than me while sitting around doing nothing all day?"

She nearly shouted the last words. "What right do you have to do that?!"

Linnea raised her voice even higher, growing more agitated with every word, until she sounded almost hysterical.

The noise drew a crowd of coworkers, who gathered at my office door to watch what was happening.

I replied with a sigh of exasperation. "Whether you are busy or not, it has nothing to do with me. You brought this entirely upon yourself."

The workload assigned to each employee in our company is usually quite reasonable.

Except for the major national conference held once every four years last month, most of us finish our duties in time to leave at the end of the regular workday.

Linnea had chosen on her own to take over and try to handle my responsibilities.

When she found the work more difficult than she expected, she was too proud to ask me for guidance.

Instead, she tried to figure it out blindly, which only delayed her own regular tasks and left everything in a total mess.

"You are just getting back at me for saying you hurt that child. You are taking personal revenge and making things difficult for me by forcing me to do your work!" Linnea shouted, her hands clenched into shaking fists, clearly furious.

I spoke slowly and clearly, "When did I ever ask you to do my work? You keep claiming I told you to do it... tell me exactly when and how I supposedly did that. Or is it that you think you have already proven you can take my place, and now you are impatient to force me to quit?"

Standing there under the gaze of everyone watching, Linnea realized I had seen right through her plan.

Her face turned pale, then flushed, and her pride was visibly wounded. She stared back at me with red, burning eyes.

"Stop thinking so highly of yourself! Don't assume everyone is as calculating as you are... pretending to be kind and helpful while playing dirty tricks behind people's backs.

"And for your information, I am Hayden's cousin. I have no need to compete with you for anything!"