I thought my biggest challenge that day would be closing a $5 million deal. Instead, it became a battle against a jealous co-worker who tried to sabotage me at the airport — only to find out the client’s CEO was my brother. What followed ended her career and proved I was stronger than she ever imagined.

The $5 Million Betrayal

My name is Emily Carter, and I work in the sales department of a mid-sized trading company. Over the years, I’ve built a reputation for consistently landing big deals and being one of the top performers. I’m known for my positive attitude, strong communication skills, and deep product knowledge. But it wasn’t always this way.

When I first joined the company straight out of high school, I made a ton of mistakes. I didn’t have enough product knowledge, and my early negotiations often failed. I’ll be honest — back in school, I hated studying. No matter how much I tried, I could never outshine my older brother, Daniel Carter, who was practically a genius.

While I was barely scraping by with average grades, Daniel scored near-perfect on college entrance exams and got into one of the most prestigious universities in the country. I studied every day, had private tutors, even went to cram school — but no matter what I did, I couldn’t catch up. Eventually, I lost the motivation to study and decided to start working right after high school.

Ironically, it was my job that made me realize learning was still essential. One day, I suggested a product to a client that better suited their needs than what they originally planned to buy. Seeing their smile and hearing them say, “Thank you for listening to me,” was a turning point. I started studying our products more than anyone else in the department.

This effort paid off — I became one of the top salespeople. But with success came jealousy. And that’s when Samantha Reed entered the picture.

Samantha joined our company six months ago. She was also 26, just like me, and had been the top salesperson at a rival firm. On her first day, I was assigned as her trainer.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Emily Carter — I’ll be your trainer. Feel free to ask me anything,” I said warmly.

Samantha gave me a once-over and smirked.

“You’re my trainer? Honestly, you don’t look that reliable. Are you sure this is okay?”

From that very moment, I knew we wouldn’t get along. Still, work is work. I tried to teach her everything carefully — even including small touches like adding thank-you notes to shipments.

But Samantha was quick to criticize.

“Seriously? That’s so inefficient. You should just push the most popular products. That’s basic logic.”

I explained that it’s not always about popularity — it’s about matching the client’s needs. But she wasn’t interested. She seemed more focused on proving me wrong than learning.

A month later, the monthly sales rankings came out. As usual, I was at the top. The entire team congratulated me — except Samantha. She glared at me with open jealousy, biting her lip. From that day on, her attitude toward me changed.

Harassment in the Workplace

At first, it was petty things. My pens disappeared. Sticky notes went missing. I brushed it off. But then my schedules on the company’s shared app were deleted. Documents I’d saved vanished from the shared folder. Faxes and mail addressed to me ended up in the shredder before I could read them.

One day, while I was on a call with a client, the line suddenly went dead. Looking around, I spotted Samantha smirking — holding the unplugged phone cord in her hand.

I confronted her.
“Stop interfering with my work.”

“Do you have proof? Don’t accuse me without evidence. You’re paranoid,” she sneered.

The final straw that day? She reached into my bag, took two $50 bills from my wallet, tossed it back, and said with a laugh,

“Thanks for the bonus. Accuse me all you want.”

I reported her to my boss, but without solid proof, nothing serious was done. If anything, she became more hostile.

The Big Deal

Five months later, I landed a huge opportunity — a meeting with one of the top medical device manufacturers in the country. If we secured the contract, it would be worth $5 million.

My boss assigned me a support person. I wanted someone I trusted, but Samantha volunteered, hyped herself up, and somehow convinced my boss.

I thought we’d at least act professional for the sake of the deal. I was wrong. She sent the client promotional materials for her preferred products without my consent — products that didn’t even match the client’s needs.

Thankfully, a colleague tipped me off in time. I called the client, clarified the confusion, and steered the conversation back to what they actually needed.

Two days later, they confirmed the order: $5 million.

When I told Samantha we’d be meeting the client in person, I asked her to book our flights. She smiled — a little too much. I should have known something was up.

The Airport Betrayal

The meeting was set for 1 p.m., three hours away by plane. Samantha had both tickets. We agreed to meet at the airport.

I arrived early. She never showed. After 15 minutes, I called her.

“Sorry, I was busy boarding. Couldn’t answer,” she said casually.

“The airline says I don’t have a reservation. What’s going on?”

She laughed.

“Today’s a $5 million deal. You think I’d bring… trash?”

She hung up.

What she didn’t know was that the CEO of the client company — Daniel Carter — was my brother.

I got on the standby list for the next flight and called him. But every seat was booked until late afternoon.

At 1:15 p.m., Samantha called again, panicked.

“The CEO says if you don’t get here, the deal is off!”

The video call came through. Samantha’s pale face appeared, and next to her was Daniel, arms crossed.

“Calling my sister ‘trash’ is pretty bold,” he said flatly.

Samantha froze. “Wait… your sister?”

Daniel didn’t hold back.

“If you replace Emily with someone who pushes irrelevant products without listening, we’ll cancel this deal.”

Our CEO and manager apologized profusely. Daniel agreed to let it go — for now — but Samantha was ordered to return to the office immediately.

The Evidence

That evening, she walked into the office looking disheveled. The manager confronted her.

“Explain yourself.”

She burst into tears. “Emily told me to go alone! She said she’d harass me until I quit if I didn’t.”

I shook my head. “Not true. In fact, she’s been harassing me for months.”

“You don’t have proof,” she smirked.

“Oh, I do.”

I played the audio recording from the airport. Her voice rang out:

“Today’s a $5 million deal. You think I’d bring… trash?”

The manager’s eyes narrowed. “So it was you.”

I played more clips — every insult, every taunt. Then I mentioned the internal system logs proving she’d deleted my schedules and files. Her face drained of color.

The CEO’s voice came over the phone.

“That’s enough. We’ll conduct an internal investigation. Samantha, you’re suspended. Do not come to the office.”

The Final Straw

The very next day, she ignored the suspension and went straight to Daniel’s office, trying to pitch him again. When he rejected her, she clung to his arm.

Daniel called our CEO immediately. On a video call with all of us, Samantha claimed I’d ordered her to secure the contract alone.

Daniel shut her down.

“This woman is untrustworthy, both professionally and personally. Terminate her.”

The CEO agreed.

“Samantha Reed, you’re terminated effective immediately.”

Aftermath

She didn’t even make it past her probation period. The company sued her for damages and blacklisted her from every firm in the Vestelle Group — a near-total career wipeout in our industry.

As for me, the office felt lighter the very next day. My sales numbers climbed. A long-time client told me,

“You’ve always been reliable, but now you seem even more confident.”

I smiled. For the first time in years, I felt like I’d stepped out of my brother’s shadow.

This Thanksgiving, I won’t just be “Daniel Carter’s little sister.”

I’ll be Emily Carter — the one who landed a $5 million deal, stood her ground, and came out stronger than ever.