She thought about each janitor silently enduring similar things every day but unable to speak out. She thought about Maria, with her eyes welling up in fear when Gerald insulted her, about the bowed heads and the tired sighs when they were made to do meaningless tasks over and over again.
She knew that her endurance today wasn't just to expose Gerald. It was to reveal a much darker truth: the deep rot within the culture of a company that had once been a symbol of respect and equality.
Mary wiped the water from her face, took a deep breath, and her eyes shone with determination and strength like never before. Gerald had no idea that the action he thought was an act of power and humiliation was actually the last straw, the final push that would make her even stronger in her fight against injustice and abuse of power at Williams Innovations.
In the silence, Mary made a promise to herself. She would never let today's humiliation and bitterness be in vain. Gerald might think he had won when he saw her soaked and humiliated, but he had no idea that his actions had sparked a fierce fire of determination inside her.
From this moment on, Mary understood more clearly than ever before that she was not only fighting to regain her own value and dignity, but also to protect the voiceless, to stand up for those who silently endured every day, and to reclaim the true soul of Williams Innovations, her beloved creation, which she cherished more than anything else in the world.
After the painful incident with Gerald, every step Mary took down the hallway of Williams Innovations felt heavier, yet she remained steadfast in her plan, promising herself that the bitterness she endured would not be in vain. Mary knew that aside from Gerald, there were many others in the leadership team who were silently abusing their power just as ruthlessly.
Among them, the most prominent was Derek Phillips, the young, ambitious, and cold marketing director.
Derek Phillips was the type of young manager often featured in business magazines, with a polished smile and perfectly crafted success stories. But behind this glamorous facade, Mary began to see a completely different person. Derek wasn't just arrogant and cold. He also held disdain for anyone he deemed inferior to him.
To Derek, the existence of janitorial staff like Mary was simply to serve and endure every insult without the right to respond. From the very first days that Mary entered the company under the name Janet, Derek had shown clear discomfort at seeing her work near his office. But as time passed, Derek's attitude grew increasingly extreme and aggressive.
While Gerald openly tormented Mary with direct actions, Derek employed a more subtle method. He created difficult situations, intentionally made messes, and forced Mary to repeat her work over and over, aiming to wear her down and make her feel helpless.
One evening at the start of the week, after Mary had just finished cleaning the large meeting room for the marketing department, Derek walked in, glanced around, and slowly shook his head, his eyes showing clear disappointment.
"Janet, I really don't understand why you always do such sloppy work."
Mary looked around the perfectly cleaned room, having meticulously wiped every surface, and responded in a calm voice. "I've followed the company's standards, Mr. Phillips."
Derek smirked coldly, walked over to the meeting table, and deliberately knocked a few chairs that Mary had neatly arranged, causing several stacks of paper to fall to the floor.