I Was Replaced

I stumbled out of the Finance office, my head spinning, my face as white as a sheet.

The woman in Finance said the year-end bonus for Ava Ross had already been claimed. The paperwork was signed half an hour ago.

I tried to tell her that I was Ava Ross, but the look she gave me made it clear she thought I was a liar.

I burst out of the office in a daze and ran straight into Mr. Henderson, the head of HR.

He asked me what team I was on, then flatly stated that it was impossible for the company to have two employees named Ava Ross.

I quickly explained that I was on Team 5, that Id been with the company for six months, and that all of the teams performance data was my work.

But Henderson cut me off. He said the Ava Ross on Team 5 was the niece of Vice President Crofta returning graduate with a master's degree and a complete, verified file.

He then warned me not to try and pull a fast one on the company, telling me to think carefully about the consequences.

A fast one? I stood there, frozen, my mind a complete blank.

Who was it? Who had stolen my name, my achievements, and my hundred-thousand-dollar bonus, and was now brazenly impersonating me?

The door to the Finance department clicked shut behind me.

I stood in the hallway, clutching my employee ID badge. The plastic card was printed with my nameAva Ross, Team 5, Operations Specialist.

I took two steps back and pushed the door open again. "Brenda, could you please check one more time? Maybe there's a system error?"

Brenda didn't even look up from her monitor. "Ava Ross, employee ID 20231017. Year-end bonus, one hundred and three thousand dollars, signed for at 10:12 AM this morning. It's all here in black and white, the wire transfer is complete. What do you want me to check?"

"But I was in the weekly meeting at 10:12! How could I have signed for it?"

Brenda finally looked up, her eyes scanning me from head to toe. "Then go talk to your team lead. Talk to HR. Talk to anyone you want, just not me. The process on my end is finished. I can't issue a duplicate payment."

I backed out of the room, my head buzzing.

One hundred and three thousand dollars.

I had spent six months building our account matrix from scratch, generating over one point two million in GMV. That bonus was mine. I had earned it.

I pulled out my phone and checked my bank account. The balance was three hundred and forty dollars. No incoming transactions.

So whose pocket did that money go into?

I practically ran to the Human Resources department.

Mr. Henderson was sipping tea. He set his cup down when he saw me. "Mr. Henderson, my bonus was picked up by someone else. Finance said someone forged my signature"

"Hold on." Henderson held up a hand. "What's your name?"

"Ava Ross. From Team 5."

He swiveled his monitor around and clicked his mouse a few times. "Ava Ross, Operations Specialist, Team 5, ID 20231017, correct?"

"Yes!"

"That individual was already here this morning. She signed the bonus confirmation form and collected her payment." Henderson stared at me. "You say you're Ava Ross. Then who was she?"

"How should I know who she is? I'm Ava Ross! My driver's license, my bank cards, my"

Henderson pulled a folder from his drawer, opened it, and pushed it across the desk toward me. "See for yourself."

Inside was a complete employee file.

The photo wasn't me. It was a woman with glamorous waves in her hair, flawless makeup, and a designer suit.

Name: Ava Ross.

Education: University of Manchester, Master's Degree.

Emergency Contact: Jonathan Croft (Relationship: Uncle).

Jonathan Croft. The company's Vice President.

"Mr. Henderson, this isn't me. I was an internal referral from Mark. You guys simplified the onboarding process for me"

"A referral?" Henderson frowned. "There's no record of a referral in our system. If you're claiming to be Ava Ross, where are your hiring documents? Where's your contract?"

"I signed a contract! Two copies. One for me, one for the company"

"The only copy the company has is this one." Henderson closed the folder. "It belongs to Mr. Croft's niece."

My mouth fell open, but no sound came out.

"Young lady, I don't know what your situation is, but the company's records are crystal clear. There is only one Ava Ross in Team 5. She has the degree, the connections, and Mr. Croft as her guarantor. If you have an issue with your identity, you can file a formal complaint. But if you're planning to cause a scene here"

"I'm not causing a scene! I"

Henderson's phone rang. He answered it. "Mr. Croft. Yes, someone just came in to complain... says her name is also Ava Ross... Yes, of course. I understand."

When he hung up, his face was a grim mask. "Mr. Croft says the company is cracking down on employment eligibility. If you can't produce valid hiring documents, you should leave on your own. Don't disrupt company operations."

My nails dug into my palms. "The presentation slides from this morning's meeting are still on my computer. All the performance data, the dashboard screenshots"

"That's enough. Go back to your desk for now. HR will investigate this."

Henderson looked down at his papers, dismissing me.

I turned and almost walked into the doorframe. Two colleagues from the admin department walked by, shot me a look, whispered something to each other, and laughed.

I hurried back to the Team 5 workspace and sat down at my desk, turning on my computer.

A pop-up window appeared.

"Your account permissions have been changed. Please contact the system administrator if you have any questions."

I tried to open the backend dashboard.

My operator account, my data panels, my admin accessall of it was grayed out. I was locked out.

I logged into the company's internal messaging platform. My name was still on the Team 5 member list, but when I clicked on it, the profile picture had been changed.

It was now a picture of the woman with the wavy hair.

I stared at the screen, my fingers numb with cold.

Three days ago, there had been a system-wide maintenance update. IT said they were reassigning backend permissions.

It wasn't an update.

Someone had transferred my account, my achievements, all traces of my work, to another "Ava Ross."

My ID, my education, my employment file, my system access.

On every possible level within this company, I had been replaced.

And the person who replaced me was using my name to walk away with my money.

I sat motionless at my desk, replaying the events of the last three months in my head.

Three months ago, the IT department sent out a company-wide email about a system data migration. I didn't think much of it at the time, just reset my password and moved on. But now I rememberedafter that "migration," I'd had trouble logging into the dashboard a few times. Once, a notification popped up: "This account is already logged in on another device."

I reported it to IT. They said it was a system bug and told me to just log in again.

I believed them.

Even back then, someone was already using my employee ID to access my account.

I opened the company directory and searched for "Ava Ross."

One result.

The profile picture was the woman with the wavy hair.

Department: Operations Team 5.

Position: Operations Specialist.

Direct Supervisor: David Chen.

Start Date: Six months ago.

Exactly the same as mine.

I searched for my own name again.

Nothing.

There was only one Ava Ross in the directory. Her.

I took a deep breath, stood up, and walked toward my team lead's office. David was on the phone. He saw me and waved for me to wait.

When he hung up, I spoke. "David, my backend access has been revoked, and my name is gone from the directory. Is there some kind of mistake?"

David looked puzzled. "Revoked? When did this happen?"

"I just found out. The system says my account permissions were changed, and all my data was transferred to someone else's name."

"Someone else? Who?"

"Someone who is also named Ava Ross. David, do you know this person?"

He pushed his glasses up his nose and typed on his computer. "Oh... Mr. Croft assigned her here last month. Said she was on loan from the parent company and just needed a temporary placement on my team roster. I thought it was weird that her name was also Ava Ross, but it came from Croft, so I didn't ask questions."

"A temporary placement? David, she's using my placement. She's using my employee ID."

The expression on his face changed. "What did you say?"

"Check the system logs. The permission changes from three days ago. All of my performance data, my accounts, my backend accessit was all transferred to this person. She used my name and my work to claim the year-end bonus. One hundred and three thousand dollars."

David was silent for a full ten seconds. "Ava, this... have you spoken to Henderson in HR?"

"I did. He said the system only has one Ava Ross, and she's Mr. Croft's niece. He told me to show him my employment contract."

"What about your contract?"

"I was referred by Mark, so the process was simplified. The company should have my file"

"Let me check." David picked up his phone and dialed HR. "Hey, Cindy? Can you look up the employee file for Ava Ross on Team 5 for me? Right, ID 20231017... yeah... what? There's only one file? Okay, got it."

He hung up, his expression grim. "HR says there's only one file for Ava Ross on Team 5. The one belonging to Mr. Croft's niece. Yours... is gone."

"How is that possible? I signed a contract! Two copies, the day I started. The company stamped them"

"Ava, I believe you," David said, lowering his voice. "But this involves Mr. Croft. I'm just a team lead... you understand, right?"

I stood in front of his desk, speechless.

"Don't panic," he added. "I'll ask around quietly. But whatever you do, don't confront Croft. He's been here for years, he's got deep roots. You won't win."

I nodded and backed out of his office.

When I got back to my desk, Gregthe resident old-timer from the team next to usmoseyed over with his mug. "Hey, Ava. Heard there was some trouble down in Finance? Didn't get your bonus?"

News traveled fast.

"Yeah, there's an issue."

A smirk played on his lips. "I knew it. A kid fresh out of college for less than two years pulling in over a million in sales? Sounded too good to be true. It's good the company caught on."

"Greg, I did that work."

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say." He took a sip of his tea and walked away.

My hand tightened on my mouse, my knuckles turning white.

At two o'clock, I received a message from Henderson's assistant: "Mr. Croft wants to see you in the third-floor conference room at 3:00 PM sharp."

What did this mean? A confrontation? Or a resolution?

I gathered what little proof I had: screenshots of conversations with clients, check-in posts on social media from the office, and a few screenshots from our team's group chat. It wasn't much, but it was something. It proved I had worked here.

At 2:55, I arrived at the conference room. The door was open.

Three people were sitting inside.

Vice President Croft was at the head of the table, his hair perfectly combed. Henderson from HR sat beside him.

The third person sat across from them.

Wavy hair, a three-thousand-dollar coat, perfect makeup, and nails glittering with rhinestones.

She turned her head and looked at me.

This was the first time I had ever seen the "other Ava."