Chapter 4Cherry-Picking the Truth

I glanced at Sarah, who hadn't managed to hide her smile in time, and I started laughing too.

Confused by my reaction, the laughter around me died down.

"I think you're right."

I stared at her, enunciating every word.

"I am small-minded. Too small-minded to accept theft being rebranded as 'office politics.'"

I shifted my gaze from her paling face to the group of stunned "tech elites."

"Newbies should bring gifts? Who made that rule?"

"Labor laws? Or company policy?"

"If I had left a stack of cash here today, would you have felt entitled to divide that up too?"

Slick-back Hair opened his mouth but couldn't find words.

I turned back to Sarah. She instinctively took a step back.

"In college, if someone made a joke that crossed the line, you'd argue with them for three days."

"How is it that now, when my property is stolen and eaten, you say I'm the one who doesn't get it? You need to educate me?"

I stepped closer to her, trying to suppress my rage.

"Your idea of 'big picture' is stepping on your best friend's face to fit into your corporate family?"

Sarah panicked. Her eyes darted around, avoiding mine. She stayed silent.

The woman recording probably thought the drama was getting good, so she raised her phone higher.

I ignored her and looked around. On the other side of the front desk was a spread of bubble tea and fancy cakes—clearly their afternoon tea order.

Without a word, I walked over. Under everyone's confused gaze, I picked the most expensive-looking bubble tea and the biggest cake.

"You ate my cherries. I'm taking your afternoon tea as compensation. That's fair, don't you think?"

Without waiting for a reaction from the stunned group, I hugged my "spoils" and walked out the front door without looking back.

As soon as I got home, I blocked Sarah on everything.

I thought that would be the end of it.

But that night, I got another surprise.

I was gaming when my other college roommate called, interrupting me.

"Stella! Check Weibo! You're trending!"

Confused, I opened the link she sent.

It was a video from a gossip account, with a clickbait title:

[Entitled Gen Z Destroys Workplace? Grad Throws Tantrum Over Fruit, Steals Colleagues' Tea!]

The video showed me holding the cake and tea, saying, "That's fair."

But not a single word about the context.

Worse, even though my face was blurred, the top comment doxxed me completely.

[I recognize her. That's my college classmate. She's always been self-centered with zero EQ. She thinks she's better than everyone because she went to a good school. Guess she hasn't changed.]

They even posted a photo of me from college.

Soon, my phone started vibrating uncontrollably as messages from strangers flooded in.