She Trusts Maps, Not People

The resentment that had been building in my chest since my previous life finally seemed to ease somewhat as I watched Sonia's disheveled figure chasing after the two airport police.

The boarding announcement soon came on, and I grabbed my bag and headed toward the gate without looking back.

I felt incredibly refreshed after shaking Sonia off my tail.

Thankfully, I didn't live with her, so I should be able to avoid her as much as possible. However, that was only theoretical. The reason was that we both worked in the same company.

Things only turned out this way because I made a stupid decision that I regretted immensely in my past life.

Due to some personal reasons, I didn't start looking for a job as soon as I graduated from college. Instead, I decided to take a gap year.

By the time I settled down at my current company after working there for two years, Sonia had graduated from college as well.

Back then, our relationship still wasn't as strained. After all, she was the only female cousin I had, and we would always band together and hang out during family gatherings at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

When Sonia heard about my company, she asked if I knew of any departments that were hiring. She then submitted her resume and applied for a job there.

There was nothing I could do now to reverse the decision I'd made in the past.

The next day after getting back home, Sonia didn't send me any more text messages as she used to in the past, as I expected. I was very satisfied with the momentary peace of mind and wished that she would just continue ignoring me and leaving me alone like this.

On the first day back at work, our manager, Perry Miller, called everyone in my project team into the conference room for a meeting.

"Our client for the Southland Amusement Park project, Mr. Vincent Lafelle, doesn't seem very keen on collaborating with us," he said gravely.

"I asked around and learned that he is a huge mountain-hiking enthusiast. So, I've already contacted him and arranged for our team to go on a mountain-hiking expedition with him this weekend. We'll be hiking Emerald Peaks."

Perry then looked around the office and said seriously, "We must prepare meticulously for this upcoming activity. Failure is not an option!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sonia stood up from her chair like an overzealous student and said, "Mr. Miller! You can leave all the preparation work to me! I guarantee that everything will be executed flawlessly!"

She stood with her chest puffed out, her voice loud and bright, attracting everyone's attention to her.

Lexi Jackson, who was sitting next to me, nudged my arm and asked quietly, "Amanda, I remember you posting about hiking up Emerald Peaks in the past, didn't you?"

Then, she raised her hand and said, "Mr. Miller! I think that Amanda should be put in charge of this expedition instead. It would be safer, because she's more familiar with the route there!"

I felt my heart drop in my stomach. This was bad.

As expected, Sonia's face darkened at once as she looked at me with a resentful glare. She then began berating me in public.

"You want to put her in charge? Mr. Miller, don't let her fool you! Did you know that she couldn't even properly plan a trip I went with her two days ago? It was all because of me and my OmniGo that we didn't end up getting hopelessly lost!

"She even got annoyed with me in the end! She left me alone at the bus station, bought her own ticket herself, and came back first!

"How could you let an irresponsible person like her take charge of such an important project? What if she loses the client in the middle of the mountains?"

She expertly twisted the tale and pointed all fingers at me, painting my actions as reckless and irresponsible.

My colleagues began looking at me in a negative light.

Even Perry frowned at that.

I figured that trying to explain myself to a room full of people who didn't know any context would only make me sound like a joke.

Seeing that I was keeping quiet, Perry believed Sonia's explanation and waved his hand dismissively at us.

"Alright. That's settled, then. Sonia will be put in charge of things.

"And you, Amanda. You should learn from Sonia and be more responsible in the future."