Second Chance: Dismantling the Penny-Pinching Mother

The new colleague at my company is a stingy mother.

On her first day, she shows up with a huge pile of expired snacks that her son refused to eat and hands them out to everyone.

Once we're done, she pulls out her PayPal and says, "These are all imported snacks for my son. I'll need 50 dollars from each of you."

During a company team-building event, she refuses to participate, saying she has to go home to take care of her child.

The day after, she comes over holding her phone and asks me for money. "I didn't eat with everyone yesterday. Since the company is footing the bill, just hand me the cash equivalent for my meal."

Furious, I rejected her request immediately. What I fail to realize is that she would bear a grudge against me over it.

One night, her son comes down with a high fever, so she calls me and requests a ride to the hospital using the company car.

Once again, I refuse without a second thought.

Because of the delay, her son suffers severe cognitive damage.

She blames me for everything that happened. In a fit of rage, she ends up running me over with her car.

As I open my eyes again, I find myself transported to her first day on the job.

"It's my first day here, so there's still so much I don't know. I hope everyone will be patient with me."

Before I could make sense of my surroundings, snacks were suddenly shoved into my hands.

As my eyes landed on the production date, a sudden realization hit me. I'd been reborn.

"Eat up, Cora! These are imported!" Sadie Turner said when she noticed me staring at the package in a daze.

As I snapped back to reality, I managed a smile. "These look delicious! I'll take them home and enjoy them later. I've still got some work to finish."

As soon as the words left my lips, Sadie shot me a look of disdain. "What's the point of waiting? Anyway, you should really think about having a kid. My son's already sick of eating this stuff at home."

I couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Sadie acted as if her son was tired of the snacks. However, in reality, she just couldn't bring herself to give him expired food.

In my past life, the HR manager informed me that a new team member would be brought in to ease my workload.

He assured that, despite being away for over a year on maternity leave, she had a solid professional background. Upon her arrival, the manager assigned her the desk next to mine, citing ease of communication.

Before stepping away, he remarked, "If you have any questions, Ms. Shepherd will be happy to help."

That single remark was all it took to set everything into motion.

After spending some time with Sadie, I quickly realized she was a total handful. She wouldn't stop clinging to me.

On her very first day, she gave me expired snacks. Since she seemed so friendly, I didn't think twice and just ripped open the package. The taste was a little sour, but I figured it was just my taste buds playing tricks on me.

Right after I finished, she whipped out her PayPal and started going around collecting money from anyone who'd eaten her snacks. Not only did I end up in the hospital with food poisoning, but I also got stuck paying her 50 dollars.

From that point on, I stayed on high alert whenever Sadie was around. But no matter how careful I was, her schemes always seemed to catch me off guard.

Not long after, the company held a team-building dinner at a restaurant. Sadie excused herself, saying she needed to go home and take care of her child.

I thought that would be the end of it. However, on the very next day, she came asking me for money.

She said, "I've already looked into it. Yesterday's team-building dinner cost over one hundred dollars per person. Even though I wasn't there, I still expect my share. You know what? I'll be nice and round it down to an even one hundred bucks."

I was momentarily speechless. Last night's dinner was organized by the company, with the boss, George Wood, footing the bill. Even if Sadie wanted money, I was the last person she should have come to.

"Our manager told me to contact you if there's any problem, so you can just pay up. If you have an issue, take it up with him yourself," she said confidently.

I shut down Sadie's ridiculous request without a second thought. What I didn't expect was for her to hold a grudge afterward.

One day, Sadie's son, Mason Duval, came down with a fever. In the dead of night, she reached out to me, asking for a ride to the hospital in the company car.

When I asked why she couldn't use her own car, she replied, "Why should I waste my own gas? Just come get me. The company car doesn't cost a thing anyway."

Before Sadie could say another word, I hung up and went back to sleep.

What she did next took me completely by surprise. To save money on gas, she carried Mason to the hospital on foot.

Because of the delay, Mason ended up with permanent brain damage, and Sadie put all the blame on me.

It was a decision that eventually led to my death.

Dying once showed me just how ruthless Sadie could be when it came to saving money. But this time, I wasn't going to let her off the hook.