Twenty Years Later, I Became Her Boss Chapter 01

Twenty Years Later, I Became Her Boss Chapter 01

On the day my mom suffered a massive hemorrhage during a difficult labor with her second child, my biological father, a man worth nine figures, pulled every doctor off her case to treat his mistress’s migraine just because she complained, “Her crying is giving me a headache.”

That night, my mom and my unborn baby brother both died. Then that same mistress set me up and had me thrown out of the family.

Over the next twenty years, I survived on help from my mom’s best friend and on my own reckless, desperate drive until I became the woman everyone now called Ms. Parker, the head of a multibillion-dollar tech empire.

At the company’s annual intern conversion review, my assistant brought me five names.

He pointed to the girl on the first page and could not stop praising her.

“Ms. Parker, this intern, Anna Bradford, has performed extremely well. Several supervisors gave her near-perfect evaluations.”

I opened Anna’s profile, and my eyes stopped on the family information section.

Those two names were burned so deeply into me that I’d know them in my bones, even after twenty years.

After a long silence, I told my assistant to bring in all five interns.

The full-time offers were handed out one by one.

When it was the last person’s turn, I looked up and met her eyes, which were calm with the certainty of someone who believed she had already won. Then I quietly pushed the termination letter toward her.

“Anna, you didn’t pass.”

…

The air in the conference room seemed to freeze.

The other four interns stood there holding their full-time offers, completely at a loss, and instinctively looked toward Anna.

My assistant froze too. Standing beside me, he kept giving me urgent looks.

“Ms. Parker…”

I acted as if I had not seen him and calmly studied the girl in front of me.

She looked so much like her mother.

She had the same beauty, the same intelligence, and the same effortless sense of superiority, as if she had been born above everyone else.

Of everyone in the room, Anna was the only one who did not panic.

She only paused for a second before regaining her composure.

Then she unhurriedly opened the folder she had brought with her and laid the documents flat on the table.

“Ms. Parker, I interned at your company for three months and handled four projects. I completed two of them independently, and the client renewal rate was one hundred percent.”

Her tone was steady and measured, and every point was clear.

“I also received top marks in two consecutive quarterly evaluations, and my performance was the highest among all interns in my cohort.”

After laying everything out, she paused and looked up at me.

“With results like that, I ranked first among everyone in my group. If you’re rejecting me, you owe me a reason.”

When she said it, her chin was slightly raised. There was no grievance in her eyes, only restrained composure after being insulted.

That was the kind of confidence that came from never having had to fight for her place in the world.

It was the confidence and pride that only came from being spoiled since

childhood and growing up in a happy, protected family.

I leaned back in my chair and looked at her for a long time before finally speaking.

“There is no reason.”

Anna’s expression stiffened.

“This is my company. If I want to let you go, that’s all there is to it.”

At last, a crack appeared in Anna’s composure.

Her expression changed slightly, but she quickly scoffed.

“Ms. Parker, this is workplace bullying.”

She closed her folder, and her tone instantly turned cold.

“If I make this public, I’m afraid it will damage your company’s reputation.”

I smiled.

“I’m not bullying you.”

I stared at her without a trace of expression on my face.

“If you think this is bullying, maybe that says more about you. After all, truly capable people don’t assume they’re being targeted. Only guilty people do.”

The moment I said that, Anna’s face changed completely.

I had finally provoked her.

Just then, my assistant leaned in from the side and lowered his voice beside my ear.

“Ms. Parker, maybe you should reconsider. Ms. Bradford really did perform exceptionally well during her internship, and the board looked into her background. Her father is Richard Bradford of Bradford Group—”

“Richard Bradford.”

I raised a hand and cut him off, then looked at Anna.

“He’s your father, isn’t he?”

Anna paused for a moment, then lifted her chin, as if that identity alone gave her something to be proud of.

“So Ms. Parker has heard of my father.”

Her voice carried undisguised confidence.

“In that case, you should also understand that if I stay, there may be opportunities for your company and Bradford Group to work together in the future.”

When she said it, her posture was composed and certain.

After all, twenty years had passed. Bradford Group was a long-established company, and though it was nowhere near as powerful as it had once been, it still carried a kind of influence most companies could only envy.

“No need.”

Anna’s expression froze.

“I don’t need Bradford Group’s business.”

I pushed the termination letter in front of her.

“You may leave now.”

Anna lost control completely. Her face flushed scarlet, not from shame, but from anger.

After all, she had grown up as the family’s golden girl. She had never been rejected in public before.

“Fine.”

She glared at me viciously and snatched the termination letter off the table.

“Ms. Parker, I’ll remember what happened today. I hope you won’t regret it later.”

After she left, I dismissed the other four interns as well.

My assistant clearly still had not recovered and was still trying to talk me out of it.

“Ms. Parker, why would you do that? Bradford Group may not be what it once was, but it still carries more weight than most companies could ever hope for. Firing the Bradford heiress in public like this isn’t a wise move.”

“Are you finished?”

My voice was cold, and my assistant immediately shut his mouth.

“Make copies of every project file from Anna’s internship and send them to my office.”