From His Fake Wife to Billionaire Heiress Chapter 100: Sense of Professionalism

Riley followed where Sophia pointed, and she understood immediately.

That spot—three walls around it, right next to the humming printer and filing cabinets—was the worst seat in the whole office. This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Sophia had clearly picked it out ahead of time.

She wanted to have it both ways—steal Riley's work while refusing to give up even a shred of the director's dignity.

She wants me to fight over a desk?

Too bad. She'll be disappointed.

Riley gave a small nod. "Fine."

She caught the flicker of surprise in Sophia's eyes, then slowly smiled and added, "At the end of the day, results matter more than where you sit, don't they?"

"Well then, thank you for your hard work, Riley," Sophia said flatly, forcing out the words. Then she turned and walked into her office.

Riley calmly made her way to the corner desk.

A few seconds of silence passed. Then one of the veteran employees—one of Riley's best former subordinates—couldn't hold back anymore. She walked over, looking frustrated, and said, "Riley, you're finally back!"

"Yeah! If you'd stayed away any longer, the marketing department was going to fall apart!"

"We're all going crazy because of Sophia!"

Within seconds, five or six old-timers gathered around Riley, surrounding her as they started venting.

"Sophia is totally useless. She doesn't know anything. Last time, we had a great client, and we were already on the third version of the proposal. But she killed the whole thing just because she didn't like the look of their logo. We tried to explain, but she wouldn't listen!"

"Tell me about it! Every day she comes in, drinks her coffee, and throws her weight around. First, she complains our document formatting is wrong, then she says our email salutations aren't polite enough. She doesn't do any real work—just bullies us over stupid little things. Several of our best people couldn't take it anymore and quit."

"And then she hired a bunch of new people," another colleague added, pointing at some younger, uneasy faces across the room, her expression full of disdain. "Look at them. All bootlickers. Can't do a single useful thing, but they know how to suck up. Now the department is totally split—old and new. We can't even work together anymore. Everyone's just exhausted."

Riley listened quietly, her expression barely changing.

When Sophia had gathered everyone earlier, Riley had already noticed all the unfamiliar faces. She'd guessed there must have been some major personnel changes.

Listening to everyone's complaints now just confirmed what she'd already suspected.

Sophia really was something else.

In no time at all, she'd managed not only to accomplish nothing but also to turn a company's core team into a complete mess.

Seeing her old colleagues so bitter tugged at something in Riley.

These were the people she trusted most—her right-hand team. She'd trained them herself.

And now Sophia had drained all the fight out of them, leaving nothing but frustration and resentment.

But this wasn't the time for a group venting session.

She raised her hand in a quiet "settle down" gesture.

"I know everyone has a lot to say," Riley said, her voice still cool but steady, reassuring. "But this is a workplace, not a place to unload emotions. Organizational changes and personnel shifts happen in every company. As employees, we shouldn't let personal bias cloud our judgment.

"Right now, the most important thing is doing your jobs. Go back to your desks, pull yourselves together, and go through all the unfinished work you've got piling up. New tasks will be assigned soon."

She didn't promise to fight their battles. She didn't say a single bad word about Sophia. Everything she said was strictly professional. But that focus on work over emotions—that alone woke up the veterans' sense of professionalism.

"Yes, Riley!" they answered in unison.

Then they scattered and went back to their desks.

No extra scolding or motivation was needed. With just a few simple words from Riley, half of the department, made up of old-timers, already felt completely different.

But of course, this whole scene didn't go unnoticed by the other group in the department.

The new hires Sophia had brought in huddled together from a distance, watching with looks of contempt and confusion.

A girl with permed curls pressed her lips together and said to the person next to her, dripping with sarcasm, "What's her deal? Does she still think she's the director? Anyone walking in would think some big-shot executive came for a visit. Our actual director is still sitting in her office. Who does she think she's putting on a show for?"

Someone else jumped in right away. "Exactly. I heard she got kicked out before because she screwed up—couldn't do her job. Now she's back, who knows what dirty tricks she used."