The Intern Replaced Me and Bankrupted My Husband on Credit

The intern my husband hired for Procurement walked in and immediately started telling me how to do my job. “You’ve been bleeding the company dry! Don’t you know how to use AcquiPay?” She tapped her phone, pulling up a discount app — Temu — and flaunting her ridiculous order history from the previous month. I froze, speechless. “Seriously? You’re such a relic, you don’t even know this?” she scoffed. “If I were the Procurement Manager, this company would have gone public years ago!” I swallowed my annoyance, determined not to engage with her nonsensical bravado. “Drew needs help organizing the old invoices. Go see him—” Before I could finish, Skylar Finch slammed her palm flat on my desk. “I’m not here to be a glorified file clerk! I’m here to save this company!” She gave me a dismissive once-over. “Someone like you, who doesn’t even understand basic corporate financing like AcquiPay, should just wait to be replaced by someone who does.” I calm down, slow my breath. Fine, I thought. In that case, let’s make your next paycheck on AcquiPay too.

1 I immediately reached for my phone to call my husband, Ethan Hayes. Where on earth did he find this… creature? The phone rang and rang, but went unanswered. Just then, the office door burst open. Skylar strutted in, clutching two huge plastic bags overflowing with junk food. The plastic rustled loudly. “Come on, everyone, dig in!” she yelled, her mouth full of chips, showering the floor with crumbs. She tossed the bags onto people’s desks. “My treat! You can’t survive a corporate grind without a sugar rush.” The other colleagues swarmed her, grabbing handfuls of snacks and showering her with praise. “Skylar really knows how to play the game!” “She’s got people skills, that one!” Skylar puffed up her chest, brushing the crumbs off her hands with a smug look. “Oh, this? It was nothing. I used AcquiPay for all of it. Didn’t spend a single cent today!” I was about to step out and shut down the unprofessional noise when my phone vibrated. The screen lit up with a notification from the corporate-adjacent market downstairs. [AcquiPay Notification: Your Use First, Pay Later feature was activated this morning. Order total of $999.00 due next month.] The rustle of the plastic bags of chips and the colleagues’ raucous laughter felt miles away, yet Skylar’s triumphant voice was gratingly loud. “It’s the smartest way to stock up! They only deduct the money next month!” I stared at the unfamiliar payment record on the screen, my fingers suddenly cold. I pushed the door open and walked out of the office. The laughter died instantly. Every person in the room froze. Skylar was mid-toss, trying to get the last bag of Doritos to Drew. She turned to me and rolled her eyes for the entire office to see. “Oh, looking for a snack now, are we?” she sneered, her voice shrill. “No way. You don’t get any of mine.” She deliberately shook the empty plastic bag at me—Hssshhh!—the sound echoing in the silence. “Some relics around here,” she announced to the room, “don’t even know what AcquiPay is. Do they really deserve to eat my stuff?” I held up my phone, the glowing screen pointed directly at her. “The $999 payment at the supermarket downstairs. Was that on my account?” 2 Skylar snatched the phone out of my hand, her eyes lighting up instantly when she saw the screen. “Aha! You figured it out!” She shook her head with a triumphant air. “See? Now you know how to use modern tech!” She shoved the phone back into my chest, a look of righteous indignation on her face. “You should be thanking me for setting it up for you!” A few coworkers couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s so convenient, the payment is only next month,” she said, patting my shoulder like a condescending therapist. “Think of this $999 as a little lesson fee. The dinosaurs have to evolve, after all!” With another plastic hssshhh, she ripped open a bag of cookies, crunching loudly. I felt a surge of cold fury. I slapped the bag of cookies out of her hand, sending them scattering across the floor. “What the hell did you do?!” Skylar shrieked, grabbing a handful of chips from the desk and throwing them straight at my face. “You psycho! You’re wasting food!” A shower of potato chip flakes stuck to my cheek. She was yelling now. “The market only lets employees use the corporate feature! I’m just an intern, so I didn’t have the authority. I just used your name—” She grabbed her own phone, pulling up a screenshot of my pending payment. “The market manager knows you. I had him link the bill to your profile, AcquiPay style. You’re definitely paying that lesson fee!” I grabbed her wrist. “You will pay that money back immediately! And I’m shutting that ridiculous feature down right now!” Skylar ripped her arm free, her voice hitting a high pitch. “Ungrateful! I teach you modern finance, and you want to punish me for it?” Her greasy hand grabbed the lapel of my jacket. “It’s your own fault the company is going to phase you out! Why are you so desperate to pay a bill that isn’t due until next month?” My colleagues were trying to hide their snickers. This fueled her. “I boosted your spending power! You should be bowing to me!” I hauled her toward the door, yelling over the chaos, “You’re fired! Get out!” SMACK! The sound was sharp and shockingly loud. I felt the sting on my cheek before the realization hit me—she’d just slapped me. I stood there, stunned, the fiery pain spreading across my face. She shoved me hard, her voice ragged and loud. “Everyone in this company knows you’re the most useless person in Procurement! You need me to teach you basic tech!” I noticed a few colleagues were discreetly holding up their phones, recording. “What are you looking at?” She stepped closer, spittle landing on my face. “Mr. Hayes personally brought me in! Who are you to fire me?” 3 Skylar raised her chin, radiating confidence. “Go on, try to get Mr. Hayes to fire me. Let’s see who he listens to—you or me!” She gave me a final vicious push, grabbed the pile of snacks off the desk. “Honestly, throwing pearls before swine! I wouldn’t even give this to you to feed the dogs!” Shaking with rage, I pulled out my phone and called to Ethan. Let’s see if I can get rid of you today. The phone rang endlessly. No answer. The collective gaze of my colleagues was a physical weight, pinning me in place. The continuous busy signal felt like a series of slow-motion slaps across my face. I redialed. Still no answer. The third time, the phone was just with cold, robotic beeps. Skylar let out a derisive snort and started cracking cashew nuts, the sound loud and obnoxious. “Trying to hire an actor? Get a professional one,” she drawled, waving her phone, the screen blindingly bright. “What’s the point of calling someone who won’t take the call?” She deliberately turned her phone’s volume to max, then slowly traced a number on the screen. “Watch this,” she said, dragging out the words, then thrusting the phone right into my face. “This is Mr. Hayes’ private line.” I knew the number intimately. It was, undeniably, Ethan’s private number. She tapped the screen and hit speakerphone. Beep… Beep… The line was picked up after just two rings. Ethan’s gentle voice floated out of the speaker: “Skylar, what’s going on?” The office instantly went silent. You could hear everyone’s ragged breathing. Skylar threw me a look of pure, unadulterated malice, then her voice turned sickeningly sweet. “Ethan… Mr. Hayes, darling. Someone’s trying to fire me!” She paused deliberately, waiting for my reaction. I stared at the phone, rigid with shock. A two-second silence followed. “Who?” 4 Skylar immediately switched to a shaky, tearful voice, but her finger was pointing triumphantly at me. “It’s that older employee in Procurement! I saw she didn’t understand AcquiPay, so I tried to kindly show her, and she didn’t just refuse—she called me a busybody!” She sniffled dramatically, her voice trembling. “I told her this could help the company’s cash flow, and she actually said… she said it was just a cheap trick and immediately threatened to fire me!” I lunged for the phone, but she deftly dodged my hand. “Even worse, she tried to hit me just now!” Skylar embellished, her voice reaching a dramatic crescendo. “Mr. Hayes, I came here wanting to do meaningful work. I never expected to face this kind of bullying…” Ethan’s voice immediately softened. “Skylar, you’re a high-level grad. Don’t pay any mind to that old gen.” He paused, then his tone turned ice-cold. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get justice.” “I’m wrapping up this meeting and coming over right now.” His voice suddenly rose, sharp and commanding. “This is a perfect opportunity to finally root out the parasites in this company.” I threw myself toward her to grab the phone. “Ethan Hayes! You absolutely will—” Skylar smoothly cut me off, hanging up the line with a sharp, final click. She slid the phone into her pocket, then pointed a finger at my face. “Such an old Karen. Trying to steal my phone?” She rushed at me, shoving me hard with both hands. I was caught off guard, stumbling backward. My lower back slammed into the sharp corner of the office desk. The jolt of pain was blinding, and I collapsed heavily onto the floor. Before I could even try to get up, Skylar’s high heel came down hard, grinding onto my outstretched fingers. A sharp cry of pain escaped me, but she didn’t flinch. She twisted her foot, applying more pressure. “Everyone look!” she yelled, surveying the silent room. “This company is being dragged down by useless parasites like this one!” I curled up on the ground, whimpering from the agony. She stared down at me, a cold sneer twisting her lips. “Mr. Hayes is right. It’s high time we clear you out.” 5 My colleagues didn’t know the true nature of my relationship with Ethan, but seeing Skylar’s close with him on the phone, they instantly made their choice. They rushed forward, a wave of venom. “Skylar’s right!” Brenda was the first, pointing her finger right at my nose. “Taking up postition and doing nothing! You should have been gone years ago!” “Exactly!” Drew, the younger colleague, crossed his arms and sneered. “She doesn’t even understand AcquiPay! This company is stalled because of old deadwood like her!” “Skylar is a high-level grad! Mr. Hayes personally recruited her! Who are you to challenge her?” “She deserves to be hit!” “Walking around here with that attitude like the company is your personal property!” The insults and accusations were a torrent, practically drowning me. Skylar crossed her arms, a look of complete satisfaction on her face. She spat a disgusted syllable near me. “Hear that, old parasite?” “Start from today, Procurement is getting a massive overhaul under my direction!” Skylar grabbed the stack files of current purchase orders off the desk. “What is this trash?” Her sharp eyes scanned the list, her mouth twisting into a sneer. “You’re trying to save a few pennies by sacrificing the company’s image?” She hurled the entire stack of papers right at my face. The sharp edge of the ream cut my cheekbone, stinging me. “Only instant coffee? No fancy fruits, not even decent snacks for clients?” Her finger practically poked my nose. “We entertain clients with this garbage? No wonder this company isn’t growing!” I clutched my burning cheek as she stomped her foot down on the scattered files. “Starting now, make every single item tripled” she announced to the room. “First, we stock the warehouse up to the ceiling!” “And if the money runs out, we use AcquiPay for everything!” She slammed her hand on the desk. “We pay for the goods after we’ve sold them! That’s called capital management!” I couldn’t take it anymore. I scrambled up from the floor. “You’re out of your mind!” I yelled, pointing a trembling finger at her. “AcquiPay? Capital management? That’s utter bullshit!”