My Ambition 4

Chapter 4 

Wellington Corp’s conference room felt like an arctic tundra. 

didn’t explain the delay. Just handed over a supplemental agreement promising to move up the final delivery date by a week, with penalty clauses if we missed it. 

Vincent Wellington. 

Guy in his late thirties, razor-sharp eyes studying me for what felt like forever. 

Then he said: “Don’t let it happen again.” 

exhaled in relief. 

As I was leaving his office, he spoke up again: 

It’s your professional integrity that earned this second chance.” 

Not Crawford Communications.” 

nodded and walked out. 

After this whole mess, Brittany kept quiet for a week-stayed glued to the front desk, didn’t venture out. 

yan tried to make it up to me with a decent project bonus. 

Intil Monday’s client meeting. 

was presenting our new campaign strategy when Brittany barged in again. 

You’ve been meeting forever, must be exhausted! Got everyone coffee to perk up, Director Sterling’s been working so hard!” 

lients and coworkers exchanged confused glances. 

stopped mid-presentation and sat back down. 

yan forced out an awkward laugh: 

Everyone take a coffee break, then we’ll continue with Director Sterling’s second-half marketing plan!” 

The client team looked at each other, said nothing. 

yan was giving me desperate looks. I kept my head down, pretending not to notice. 

Brittany sidled up to him: 

‘I was listening outside-Director Sterling is absolutely brilliant! Such clear thinking, no wonder she can convince big shots like Mr. Wellington from Wellington Corp. I have no idea how she does it!” 

Then she pivoted, looking at Ryan with fake concern: 

“But you can’t dump everything on Director Sterling!” 

Sure, she’s capable, but you’re still the one making final decisions, right everyone?” 

I twirled my pen, watching her performance. 

Nobody at the conference table said a word. 

But everyone caught the “overstepping boundaries” implication. 

Ryan coughed awkwardly a couple times. 

I smiled. 

Right in front of everyone, I pulled up our company’s workflow system on the projector. 

‘Project department protocol, section three: Non-project team members are prohibited from core meetings.” 

The blue screen light hit Brittany’s chalk-white face. 

Need me to read out the front desk job description too?” 

Conference room went dead silent. 

yan’s face cycled through about five shades of red, maxed out on embarrassment. 

Finally looked at Brittany, voice hoarse: “You need to leave.” 

hat meeting was a total disaster. 

lients left without even bothering with pleasantries. 

yan’s face was thundercloud-dark. Once the door closed, he grabbed his files and slammed them on the table. 

Happy now, Jade?” 

kept packing up my laptop without a word. 

Humiliating her in front of clients means humiliating me! Do you understand what ‘big picture thinking’ means?” 

Ryan, my job is protecting projects, not protecting your girlfriend’s ego.” 

closed my laptop, meeting his eyes calmly. 

hat shut him up. His chest was heaving with rage. 

inally stormed out without another word. 

hirty minutes later, client email arrived. 

tyan forwarded it straight to me. 

They politely expressed “concerns about our team’s internal management professionalism” and needed to “reassess our partnership 

Dotential.” 

Few days later, quarterly performance review. 

Ryan slid the evaluation form across his desk, tapping the “Overall Rating” column where he’d marked C-. 

I looked at him, waiting for an explanation. 

He avoided my eyes, voice measured: “Jade, your technical skills are solid, but sometimes, showboating isn’t helpful.” 

He paused, like he was choosing his words carefully: “The company needs reliable team players, not troublemakers who rock the boat.” 

I nodded, picking up the evaluation. 

“Got it.” 

Back at my desk, I folded that paper in half, then half again. 

Shoved it into the deepest part of my drawer. 

Opened my laptop and started organizing my personal files. 

From that day forward, I became the most punctual person in the office. 

5 PM sharp-computer off, bag grabbed, out the door. 

Coworkers would try to flag me down, I’d just say: “I’m off the clock.” 

› PM, project group chat exploded. 

Ryan’s calls kept coming. 

put my phone on silent and tossed it on the couch. 

Next morning, Ryan was waiting at my desk, face like a storm cloud. 

Jade, why didn’t you pick up last night? The project had an emergency!” 

opened my computer, voice flat: “Ryan, you said it was 9 PM last night. That’s after hours.” 

He looked at me like I’d grown a second head: “Since when can’t you handle work stuff after hours? You never used to be like this!” 

My performance rating was C-.” 

looked up at him, enunciating every word: “That tells me my previous work style wasn’t valued. I’m adjusting.” 

He was speechless, chest rising and falling, but finally deflated. 

Jade, I know you’re throwing a tantrum.” 

le switched to damage control mode, dangling carrots: 

Everyone sees your talent. Just get back on track, and I guarantee next quarter’s top performer award is yours.” 

nodded: “Understood, Ryan.” 

He thought I’d bought it and walked away satisfied. 

sat back down, screen full of dense project files. 

Opened an encrypted folder-updated resume and headhunter contacts. 

I clicked on one email address and typed: “Hello, this is Jade Sterling seeking new opportunities.” 

Click. Send. 

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