I Got Laid Off And They Celebrated Her Promotion Chapter 04

The next morning, I opened my laptop to organize the onboarding materials for my new job.

Several folders had vanished from the desktop.

I checked the recycle bin. They weren’t there either.

My design files, contracts, and project materials I’d spent several nights putting together were all gone.

I searched again by filename.

Only one line appeared on the screen:

No items matched your search.

I carried the laptop out of my room. Sophie was brushing her teeth in the bathroom.

“Did you use my laptop last night?”

She nodded sleepily around her toothbrush.

“I had some urgent work and didn’t bring mine. Luke said I could use yours, so I did.”

“Why are my files gone?”

She spat into the sink and seemed a little more awake.

“I deleted them by accident.”

“Those were onboarding documents for my new job, along with design files I’d been working on for a long time.”

Sophie froze.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you needed them today. I saw the folders on your desktop and thought they were old files from your previous job.”

Luke heard us and came over from the living room.

He looked at Sophie first and said with a smile:

“Soph, how are you always this careless?”

Only then did he turn to me.

“Come on, Hannah. She didn’t do it on purpose. You’re good at this. You can recreate them in no time.”

“They’re due today.”

“Didn’t you just get laid off? You’ve got time now. What’s the difference if they’re a day late?”

I stared at him.

“So deleting my work wasn’t a big deal?”

Luke frowned.

“I didn’t say that. Soph’s giving her first presentation to her department today. She just got promoted. She can’t afford to mess it up now.”

“You used to be great at handling this kind of thing. Redoing it shouldn’t be hard for you.”

A key turned in the front door.

Charlie and Noah walked in with breakfast, just in time to hear his last sentence.

Charlie put the bags on the table.

“What’s going on? Why are you arguing this early?”

Luke gave them a quick account.

Charlie looked at me and took out a coffee.

“Hannah, eat something first. It’s just a few design files. You’re fast. You can do them again.”

Noah opened the breakfast box.

“Sophie didn’t mean to. Stop holding it over her head. Eat, then take another look for the files.”

I stared at the food and suddenly asked:

“Did you get the spinach and feta pastry I like?”

No one answered.

I gave a short laugh.

“Let me guess. You got nothing but Sophie’s favorite beef breakfast sandwiches.”

Luke’s face darkened.

“It’s breakfast. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?”

Charlie added:

“Just eat. Don’t get worked up over something this small.”

Noah frowned.

“You can redo the files, and we can buy more breakfast. Why are you being so difficult today?”

I looked at them. Days of frustration I’d swallowed finally rose into my throat.

“Every time, you say it’s ‘just’ something.”

I picked up my laptop.

“When have any of you ever acted like my things were worth taking seriously?”

No one answered.

I turned and left.

At the computer repair shop, the technician checked my laptop for a long time.

“The files were deleted accidentally. Don’t save anything new to the drive. I should be able to recover some of them.”

I waited beside him.

Two hours later, he’d recovered most of my work.

When I got home, they’d all left for work.

I packed my clothes, ID, and laptop, then left my spare key to the apartment on the dining table.

At the airport, my phone buzzed again.

Luke had sent a message.

[Did Sophie leave her flash drive at home? Could you bring it to her office?]

I looked at the message for a moment and blocked him.

I removed Sophie, Charlie, and Noah from my contacts, one by one.

Then I left the five-person group chat.

As the plane climbed above the clouds, the city grew smaller outside the window.

From then on, I wouldn’t have to squeeze into their photos anymore.