After the Rise

I was brillant. Everyone knew and said it. I was the type of person many companies would be glad to see as a member of their staff. There were many compliments, and expressions of approval in meetings whenever I was the one speaking.
It made me feel that I was made for something bigger than the small desk I was given.

So I started aiming bigger. I wanted to be the vice chairman. I knew that sounded nuts. But, each time I stayed in the office working on proposals when everyone else was leaving, I felt myself getting closer to it. Everyone was aware that I wanted a better position, I don't think I ever had to say it. Some of my colleagues called me "too ambitious", but I did not care. Mediocrity is not going to build me an empire. I had come too far to just to blend in.

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I used the humble card well when I first got a job at the company. I smiled, I greeted everyone, and I volunteered to help before anyone asked. I wasn't pretending, not entirely. I just understood early that people liked humility, especially when it comes with intelligence. So I gave them that version of me, the quiet genius who never complained and never bragged. It worked. The board noticed and I climbed faster than anyone expected.

I can still remember the day I was promoted to Head of Operations. The vice chairman himself shook my hand.
"You've done exceptionally well, Miss Adanna. We see potential in you."
Potential. That word meant I was just getting started. Everyone else in the office clapped, some really happy, others hiding their envy behind smiles. I thanked them all, while already thinking about what was next. Vice chairman - that was the real prize and my aim.

I tried to stay grounded at first. I still ate lunch with few of my juniors, cracked jokes in the elevator and, said "please" and "thank you". But when I realised how differently people spoke to me now, something changed. There was hesitation now. Deference. The kind of careful tone that comes when someone knows you hold a little power over their future. I liked it. Maybe a little bit too much.

At a project briefing one day, I interrupted one of the senior managers.
"Let's just cut the bullshit." I said, navigating through the report. "If you check what's written here properly, you would see this strategy makes no sense." The room fell silent.
Mr. Odu, a man old enough to be my father, adjusted his glasses and said, "Perhaps you could explain your alternative, Adanna." I didn't look up.
"I already did. You just weren't listening." Mr. Odu jaw tightened, but he said nothing. I could almost hear his pride cracking. And it thrilled me.

I didn't bother pretending anymore from then. I started sitting alone during lunch. I sent one line emails. I stopped using "please" unless it served me. People whispered that I had changed. They weren't wrong. Power changes people, it exposes what was always there. I had always believed I was smarter than most of the workers at the company, now I had proof to back it up.

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Jonah from finance walked into my office one day with a report in hand.
"Ma, about the budget projection..." he began
"Jonah, I told you to run those numbers twice before bringing them to me."
"I did" he said. "But I just wanted to confirm..."
"Do we pay you to always confirm things or finish them? Then do your job and stop confirming everything with me." I snapped. He apologised and left.
I knew Jonah thought I was no longer the same person, I didn't care. I was not supposed to be.

When the company started pursuing a major international contract, I knew it was my chance to prove I could handle vice-chair-level kind of work. The project was massive, millions in potential revenue, global recognition and everything that could put my name in headlines.
Naturally, I took over.
"Adanna, maybe we should slow down and review the client's restrictions." Mira from HR said to me one evening. We were working overnight and the office was quiet.
"Mira, you handle HR, not strategy. Leave the technical part to people who understands it." She said nothing more. I had no patience for caution. This was my breakthrough moment.

On pitch day, I stood before the clients, a mix of foreign investors and corporate executive, and delivered what I thought was the best presentation of my life. The slides were perfect and the confidence sharp. Every head in the room nod in approval. Until one man frowned and leaned forward.
"Where did you get these data?" He asked.
My smile didn't falter. "Internal analysis." I said. Another man looked at the document. "These look identical to MegaTech's, that's proprietary data."
My heart skipped but I kept my tone even. "It's our own data." I said firmly. They exchanged looks and, then one of them closed his laptop and said, "This meeting is over."

The fallout was sudden. The company lost the contract. The data I had used came from an old partnership file that I had mistakenly included. To the board, it looked like I had stolen confidential information. To staffs, it looked like my arrogance finally caught up with me.
I brushed Mira off when she tried to warn me
"They are just overreacting." I told her. "It was a misunderstanding."
She signed. "Adanna, this could ruin the company's image."
I laughed, "The company will survive. It always does.'

I was called to the boardroom two days later.
The chairman's tone was firm, "Adanna, the breach of data was unacceptable. You've done great work here but we can't afford this kind of risk."
I folded my arms, "You're acting like I committed a crime."
"You did. We have to protect the company's image so we have to let you go."
I stared at him for a moment and laughed "You'll beg me to come back." I said. No one responded. Someone slid the termination papers across the table and i signed them without hestitation.

When I got home that night, a message came in from management - I have to vacate the company apartment within two weeks. The official car was to be returned the next morning. Well... it wasn't mine anymore. I thought about all the money I had spent trying to keep up appearance. The designer suits, heels, makeup and fancy dinners just to "look the part". I didn't save much. The small amount left in my account couldn't cover rent in half the places I would want to stay.

I watched the driver take away the car the next morning and, I thought about how far I had come and how easy it had taken for it to slip away. But I had no remorse really. I had experienced what it felt like to have power and even if that had a bad ending, I knew that if I worked hard again, I would go higher than I had gone. Some people fall and break. Me? I just find another mountain to climb.

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