“How am I supposed to prove this is my project now? The confidentiality is gone! My designs were supposed to be secret. Now they’ve been spread around like public material!”
Celia tilted her head slightly, as if she were calming a child.
“Sam, I promise you’re overreacting,” she said gently. “Have some pity. Look at them.”
She gestured toward the people behind her.
“They’re part of our company too. Don’t you have any compassion?”
She pressed her hand lightly to her chest, looking sincere. “I can’t ignore people when they’re struggling. That’s just not who I am.”
Her voice softened even more. “I’ll give them my portion of the work so they can have their names on the project too. It’s not a big issue. Don’t be so selfish.”
“What portion, Celia?!” Sam roared. His voice echoed across the room.
“Didn’t you already submit your part to management and declare that you were finished? You said the remaining work would be handled by my team?”
A few people gasped quietly.
He pointed at her, his hand shaking with fury.
“You already took your credit. You made it seem like you did most of the work. And now you’re distributing access to my project under your name—and you’re callingmeselfish?”
He let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh.
“Are you kidding me? This is unbelievable. You’re so fucking vicious!”
Celia stumbled a step back, shock and hurt spreading across her face.
“I just wanted to help more people,” she said, her voice trembling as if she had been wronged. “Why are you reacting like this? It’s not such a big deal.”
Her eyes grew moist.
“Or are you just afraid that other people will outshine you?”
Murmurs began spreading through the office.
The people around her shifted closer, forming a subtle wall at her back.
“Sam, calm down,” one of them said.
“We’re part of this company too,” another added. “You can’t keep a project under your name and refuse to let others join.”
“Celia was nice enough to include us,” someone else said loudly. “How can you be so selfish? Why can’t you show half the kindness she does?”
“She was just trying to help people. You’re making it sound like a crime.”
Sam stood there, breathing heavily, surrounded.
His fists tightened, his jaw rigid as he struggled to contain himself.
“If you wanted to help people,” Sam shouted, his voice shaking with rage, “then why didn’t you give themyourproject? Why didn’t you create a separate one? Why did you have to give them my project like it was charity?”
His chest heaved as he pointed at her.
“Do you even know how long it took me to create it? I spent months on that project! Months!” His voice cracked. “I was kicked out of Yulia’s team, so I had no choice but to submit my personal project to the company.”
He laughed bitterly.
