Mila still acted like she didn’t give a damn. Even after everyone else had arrived, she strolled into the conference room with her coffee like she had all the time in the world.

Anastasia shot her a cold look. “So what’s your excuse this time?”

“Don’t you realize everyone’s been waiting for you to start this meeting?” Anastasia’s voice was ice cold.

Everyone turned to stare at Mila, but she didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. “Look, it wasn’t on purpose. You guys can just fill me in on whatever I missed…”

“I already told you—no full attendance, no meeting.”

“Come on, Anastasia. You’re just the team lead, not the damn CEO! If this partnership falls through because of your power trips, that’s on you!” Mila snapped.

Anastasia let out a bitter laugh and gestured to everyone sitting around the conference table. “Literally everyone else managed to show up on time. Only you didn’t make it. So whose fault is that exactly?”

Mila’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, but before she could get a word out, Anastasia stood up and delivered her final warning: “Three strikes.”

With that, Anastasia walked out of the conference room. Seeing her leave, everyone else followed suit.

Mila was so pissed she could’ve chewed glass. She stormed off to find Narissa and tattle.

Narissa was absolutely thrilled to see the drama escalating. The messier it got, the better. If they could sabotage the whole project, even better.

“Narissa, aren’t you gonna tell Vincent about this?” Mila asked, hoping Narissa would fight her battles for her.

“Just hold your horses. It’s not time yet,” Narissa told her.

“Fine, whatever,” Mila grumbled.

That afternoon, there was another meeting. Mila was actually starting to sweat because she couldn’t forget Anastasia’s warning about three strikes. She had a gut feeling Anastasia wasn’t just bluffing—she’d actually kick her off the team.

When Mila started to get up, Narissa grabbed her shoulder. “Chill out. What’s the rush? I already talked to Vincent. He’s handling it.”

That was exactly what Mila needed to hear. She relaxed completely and didn’t stress about being late anymore. By the time she casually made her way to the conference room, she tried to open the door only to find it was locked from the inside.

Even worse, all the blinds were drawn, so she couldn’t see what was happening in there. Mila frantically knocked on the door, but nobody answered.

Everyone inside could hear the knocking and instinctively looked at Anastasia. If she gave them the green light, they’d open the door immediately. But Anastasia acted like she couldn’t hear a thing and continued running the meeting.

It wasn’t until the meeting ended and they came out that Mila finally got her chance. She charged at Anastasia like a bull seeing red. “What the hell, Anastasia? Why did you lock me out?”

Anastasia barely glanced at her and tapped her watch. “I told you—three strikes. I gave you two chances. You chose not to take them.”

Mila felt like her head was about to explode. She pointed an accusing finger at Anastasia. “You’re gonna regret this! I’m telling Vincent!”

She expected Anastasia to panic at the mention of Vincent, but Ana just looked completely unbothered.

“Go for it,” Anastasia said with a shrug.

Mila looked ready to commit murder as she stomped off to Vincent’s office. “Vincent, you have to hear this bullshit.”

Mila was practically in tears while Narissa backed her up: “Anastasia’s completely out of line. She’s just a team lead—since when can she override your authority and kick people off the team?”

Vincent knew exactly what kind of games they’d been playing behind the scenes, but he kept his mouth shut. This was actually the perfect opportunity to get rid of Anastasia. Talented people were a dime a dozen, but someone like Anastasia who got cocky after one success and refused to follow orders? Better to cut her loose now.

“Fine, I’ll have a word with Anastasia,” Vincent said.

Just then, his desk phone rang. It was the executive office calling to say Griffin Orlando was at the company and wanted to personally review the project’s progress.

“Got it. I’ll have the project lead get ready for a presentation,” Vincent said.

After hanging up, a calculating look flashed in his eyes. “This might be our chance to take Anastasia down for good. But you need to follow my lead exactly…”

Mila listened intently, thinking to herself that Vincent was playing this perfectly—using Griffin as his weapon. This plan was genius. Hopefully this would finally get rid of Anastasia once and for all.