From Sick Leave to Public Shame

I was pale from menstrual cramps.

The moment I asked for leave, my department supervisor Lydia Rivers threw a stack of adult diapers at me.

Who are you putting on this dying act for? Are you actually dead from the pain right now?

Put on the diapers and get back to work. Don't use your period as an excuse to slack off.

Before I could react, she launched into another tirade.

"You clearly said you were healthy and could handle the work when you joined. Are you faking this just to take advantage of the company's menstrual leave policy?"

After saying this, she took a photo of me and posted it in the company group chat.

"Don't use your period as an excuse to slack off! Everyone, please take note!"

Lydia Rivers slammed a stack of adult diapers onto my desk.

"Sophia, what are you standing there for? Waiting for me to change them for you?"

Before I could process what was happening, she half-dragged, half-pulled me into the restroom.

The overwhelming stench hit me.

My stomach churned violently.

The janitor had clearly cleaned the bathroom thoroughly.

But the intense discomfort from my cramps made my senses unbearably sensitive.

I rushed to the toilet and threw up everything.

"Oh my, putting on quite a show, aren't we?"

Lydia leaned against the doorframe, waving her hand in front of her nose in disgust.

"Is it really necessary? It's just a period! What's with the fake vomiting? Your acting skills are wasted not being a Hollywood star."

My coworkers slowly gathered around.

"So dramatic. There are so many women in this company, and I've never heard of anyone needing time off for cramps."

"Come on! Once you're done with your performance, hurry up and put them on. Not everyone gets Miss Rivers' special care."

"Back when I had cramps, no supervisor personally came to check on me. You're really blessed."

Blessed?

I'd never seen someone treat harassment as a benefit.

What era is this to still be pulling workplace bullying tactics?

Everyone experiences pain differently to begin with.

Otherwise, the company wouldn't have humanely given women two days of menstrual leave each month.

Now I was in so much pain I couldn't straighten my back, and I just wanted one day off. What was wrong with that?

I said coldly, "If this is such a blessing, do you want it?"

My coworkers were about to snap back at me.

Lydia stepped forward, waving her hand and deliberately raising her voice several octaves.

"Alright, alright. She doesn't know any better, but as a supervisor, I can't be petty."

"I won't deduct the cost of the diapers from your paycheck. Consider it my personal sponsorship."

The coworkers sitting on the outskirts of the group stood up and applauded at these words.

"See that? Our supervisor Lydia is so considerate. Tell me, what company supervisor pays out of their own pocket for employees?"

"Unlike some people who don't know how good they have it!"

Lydia smugly adjusted her collar, chin held high.

"As long as it improves company efficiency, spending a little of my own money is nothing."

"Sophia, I won't hold it against you for slacking off in the bathroom this time, but don't let it happen again."

"Now go put on those diapers. Don't delay everyone's project progress."

Lydia blocked the bathroom door, forcing me to put on the adult diapers.

The familiar cramping and nausea hit me again.

I turned and threw up once more.

A loud noise startled me.

Lydia was holding a megaphone, shouting into the bathroom.

"Sophia! You've been in the bathroom for three minutes! Are you done yet?"

"Do you need me to come in and help you?"

The entire floor went silent.

Then suppressed laughter erupted.

I pushed open the door and walked out.

The anger I was suppressing and my physical pain made my whole body tremble.

When Lydia saw me come out, she immediately grabbed at my pants.

My white underwear was exposed in front of everyone.

I was furious and humiliated.

"If you want to talk, then talk. What gives you the right to pull at my pants?"

Lydia didn't get angry, but her eyes turned cold.

"You didn't change them? Looks like you're determined to defy me."

She grabbed a thick stack of archived documents and slammed them down hard next to the copy machine.

"Since you don't want to wear them, stand here and make copies. Don't talk to me again until you've printed all one thousand of these."

"Standing while you work will improve blood circulation and the pain will stop. You can't possibly expect to lie down on the job, can you?"

The surrounding coworkers chimed in with approval.

"This is exactly right. The rest of us are working ourselves to death here. Why should she get to slack off just because she has her period?"

They went back and forth, completely forgetting that I was the one who had just been publicly humiliated.

Lydia was getting a bit carried away by their praise.

She turned to me with a friendly expression.

"You finish copying all of these, and you can leave an hour early today. How's that?"

"I've already given you special treatment. I'm not mistreating you, am I?"

"Show me which other female employee gets this kind of treatment when she has her period."

I looked at the mountain of documents piled up.

And laughed.

These files would take at least three days to copy, even working non-stop.

What special treatment indeed!

But right now I didn't feel like wasting another word on her.

I'd gotten too worked up earlier, and the cramping in my abdomen became even more severe.

My body felt unbearably uncomfortable now, and cold sweat was pouring out.

I gritted my teeth and moved to the copy machine.

Mechanically repeating the motions: lift the lid, place paper, press the button.

A bone-breaking ache spread through my lower back.

The pain in my lower abdomen felt like knives churning, with a heavy pressure constantly pushing downward.

Cold sweat soaked through my underwear, and the double vision before my eyes grew worse.

Five hours later, I couldn't hold on anymore and slid into a chair beside the copy machine.

"Slacking off again?"

Lydia appeared behind me like a ghost.

She even reached directly into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

"Looks like I can't control you anymore. Fine! Let your mother teach you what workplace rules mean."

She grabbed my finger and unlocked my phone.

Then dialed my mother's number.

The second the call connected, she put it on speaker.

"Hello, is this Sophia's mother? I'm her supervisor at work."

I tried to grab the phone back.

But the moment I stood up abruptly, everything went black and I fell back into the chair.

"Please educate Sophia better. She fakes being sick at work. Do you know how much work she's delaying for us?"

"Your daughter is really somethingusing her period as an excuse just to take advantage of the company's leave policy?"

"Does she think we won't do anything about it?"

"They say children learn from their parents. Were you this delicate when you were young too?"

In her matter-of-fact tone, there was a perverse pleasure in destroying someone.

She kept saying I was delaying company progress.

But in reality, I hadn't delayed any of the work I was responsible for.

When I asked for leave, I had already worked overtime to complete my assigned tasks.

At the end of the day, wasn't she just jealous that my salary was a thousand dollars more than hers?

If she's so capable, she should take on assignments from headquarters too!

My mother's labored breathing came through the phone.

Lydia wasn't planning to stop.

"The company has decided to fire her. We can't afford to keep such a delicate princess."

Then came the dull thud of something heavy hitting the floor.

"Mom! Mom, don't listen to her nonsense!"

I lunged forward frantically to grab the phone.

But Lydia dodged nimbly.

The call disconnected.

"My mother has a heart condition. Didn't you hear that she just collapsed?"

"I need to go home..."

I pushed past Lydia and ran toward the exit, but she blocked me firmly at the door.

"Want to leave? Fine, but first sign this agreement voluntarily waiving menstrual leave."

"The two days you take off will be deducted from your pay as personal leave!"

She threw several sheets of paper in my face, blocking the only way out.

"I won't sign!"

I pushed past her through the pain.

Then rushed into the elevator.

I called for an ambulance while rushing home.

Watching my mother, pale-faced, being wheeled into the emergency room, I sat on the bench with palms full of cold sweat.

My phone was vibrating frantically in my pocketall messages from Lydia.

"If you're not back at the company in five minutes, you'll be marked as absent without leave."

"Sophia, don't be ungrateful. Get your ass back here right now and write a self-criticism."

I stared at those cold words and directly blocked her.

Not long after, an unfamiliar number called.

It was Rachel Greene, the deputy director of HR.

"Sophia, due to your serious violation of company regulations and insubordination to your superior, we are formally notifying you that you have been terminated."

"Don't even think about any compensation. The company will also pursue damages for losses caused by your absence."

I hung up directly.

It wasn't until half an hour later, when my mother was wheeled out of the emergency room, that my heart finally settled.

The doctor said if we'd arrived any later, it would have been too late.

The anger that had been building up for so long finally erupted.

I dialed the internal hotline for the company's senior management oversight department.

I explained everything that had just happened in detail.

And sent over the recordings of Lydia humiliating me, along with all the surveillance footage from above the copy machine.

I thought with such solid evidence, I could at least get some justice.

But what awaited me was a trap that had been set up long ago.

They called me to the conference room.

Sitting across from me was Rachel Greene, with Lydia standing behind her, her face unable to hide her smugness.

She threw my complaint materials on the table.

"You've got some nerve, accessing company surveillance directly?"

"And these recordingsthey were all made without Supervisor Rivers' permission, weren't they?"

I was stunned.

"I just wanted to keep evidence to prove I was being bullied."

Rachel gave a cold laugh.

"Evidence? I think you're trying to steal company secrets and sell them to competitors!"

This accusation was too serious. I couldn't bear it.

"I didn't!"

Rachel slammed the table and stood up.

"You recorded all this audio and blatantly distributed our company's surveillance footage. If it's not to leak information about our company's internal operations, then what's it for?"

I fell silent for a moment.

Because I knew she didn't want to hear my explanation.

She just wanted to pin the crime on me directly.

Seeing me say nothing, she had HR post an announcement in the company-wide group chat.

[Sophia, for stealing company trade secrets, the company has decided to terminate her employment and will never rehire her.]

[The company has reported this to the police. Let this be a warning to everyone.]

The group chat exploded instantly.

"Oh my God, you never really know people. Sophia is actually this kind of person!"

"So scary. And to think we sympathized with her."

"Exactly. I always said she looked sketchy, so disobedient. Turns out she was up to no good all along!"

At this moment, my coworkers jumped out one after another to distance themselves from me.

They even started rumors to curry favor with Lydia, claiming I was promiscuous and that my cramps were because I'd been sleeping around with men.

So I had developed gynecological diseases.

Lydia sent me a private message with a laugh.

"See that? Idiot! You want to fight me? You're still too green."

I looked at those vile words on my phone.

An indescribable sense of injustice welled up inside me.

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and two uniformed police officers walked in.

"Who is Sophia? Come with us. Someone has reported you for suspected theft of trade secrets."

Lydia was overjoyed and immediately pointed in my direction.

"Here, here!"

She leaned in close and lowered her voice.

"Going to the station looking like this saves me the diaper money after all."

My rationality snapped completely at that moment.

I slapped her hard across the face.

"You!"

But the next second, my wrist was seized by the police officer.

The officer's face was cold.

"A young woman doing this kind of thingdon't you have any shame?"

Just as I was being led away, a new message suddenly popped up in the company group chat. It was from the CEO's secretary.

"Attention all members: Mr. Lancaster is arriving at the company shortly. All department heads, please report to the main conference room."

Various smaller group chats went crazy with messages.

"Mr. Lancaster?"

"That legendary elusive boss of the conglomerate, Adrian Lancaster?"

"What's he doing here?"

Lydia immediately perked up.

"Officers, please wait a moment. Let this criminal meet our Mr. Lancaster first."

I was pushed to the front row of the conference room.

Rachel stood on stage and began her commendation speech.

"Everyone, look! This is the evidence!"

The video had been maliciously edited, showing only the footage of me arguing with Lydia.

Rachel pointed at me on the screen, her voice booming.

"This Sophia not only used her period to gain sympathy, but also stole internal company footage with the intent to sell it to competitors!"

"I hereby declare that Sophia is immediately terminated, and the company will pursue five million dollars in damages for reputational harm!"

Applause broke out across the room, and Lydia was laughing so hard she could barely stand.

Five million dollars.

What a bold demand!

I just wondered if Adrian Lancaster would be willing to pay that amount.

Rachel scurried down from the stage.

"Mr. Lancaster! Does our handling of this bad apple meet your approval..."

Adrian Lancaster didn't give them even a glance.

He walked straight up to me.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

Adrian took my ice-cold hand and gripped it tightly, then turned to face everyone and picked up the microphone.

His gaze swept over Lydia and Rachel like a blade.

"SheSophiais my legal wife, Adrian Lancaster's wife."

"What you just slandered her for, what you forced her to sign an agreement to waivethose are the rights that belong to the wife of the Lancaster Group CEO!"

"Menstrual leave is also written into company policy, so does this mean you're refusing to implement it?"