I spent fourteen months on the port project. No weekends. No holidays. Three straight weeks sleeping on a cot in the control room. At the celebration ceremony, Sofia, the Caporegime, scratched my name off the contributor list in front of everyone. “Marlena, you’re young. There will be other opportunities.” She took the million-dollar bonus and the Underboss nomination for herself. I didn’t fight back. Instead, I handed her the lifetime liability charter and watched her sign it. Three days later, in front of the Council, the system collapsed. Trial version expired. My little gift buried deep in the code had detonated. She screamed that I set her up. I smiled. “That signature on the liability charter? It says your name. Embezzlement. Fraud. Five million in losses. All yours.” …… End of year. The Gambino Family Celebration Ceremony. The port project was finally complete. I had poured fourteen months of my life into it, no weekends, no holidays. During the hardest stretch, I had slept on a cot in the control room for three weeks straight just to push it through final inspection. The ceremony hall blazed with light. Everyone was clapping, toasting, slapping my shoulder. “Marlena, hell of a job. Couldn’t have pulled this off without you.” I smiled and started toward the podium to give my speech. But Sofia, the Caporegime, snatched the microphone from my hand. She took a pen and, in front of the entire room, scratched my name off the contributor list. “Don’t misunderstand, everyone. Marlena was just running errands for me. The core of this project was all my sweat, all my late nights.” “Marlena, you’re still young. There will be other opportunities. As for the million dollar bonus and the Underboss nomination this time, I won’t be modest about taking them.” She held my gaze, daring me to push back. Around us, my colleagues cast sympathetic glances my way. Someone whispered, “Sofia’s being way too blatant.” Another voice said, “She deserves it. If you don’t fight for yourself, you’re just asking to be walked on. Who can you blame?” I didn’t argue. Sofia had shown up to this project exactly three times. The first time was the groundbreaking ceremony, where she stood in the front row for a photo. The second time was a progress meeting. She arrived forty minutes late, sat down for a cup of coffee, and left. The third time was tonight. Everyone waited to see how I would react. Instead of fighting back, I handed her the project’s lifetime liability charter with both hands. “Sofia, you’re absolutely right. More responsibility for the more capable. That means the final approval signature on the project should be yours as well.” Sofia paused for a moment, then nodded with satisfaction and signed her name without hesitation. As soon as the celebration ended, she stormed into my office with her people. “Marlena, you’re just a runner. You don’t deserve this office anymore.” She had them stuff my belongings into cardboard boxes. Papers scattered across the floor. Picture frames shattered. “The supply closet at the end of the hall has decent Wi-Fi. You can work there.” She looked down at me. “Not like you’re useful anymore.” I watched my things get tossed into the trash. My hands tightened. “Sofia, was that really necessary?” She laughed, her crimson nail pressing into the center of my chest. “Too far? This is just how the game works. No connections, no protection. You’re nobody. And nobodies get stepped on. That’s not cruelty, that’s the rules.” Just then, the wide announcement blared through the speakers. A commendation from the Don. All credit for the port project had been awarded to Sofia alone. The million dollar bonus. The Underboss nomination. All hers. The same colleagues who had pitied me moments ago switched sides instantly. “Congratulations! Well deserved!” “See? A project like this needs a Capo at the helm. Marlena never had what it takes.” They swarmed around her, handing her drinks and lighting her cigarettes, trampling me to lift her higher. Sofia shot me a triumphant look. She announced that drinks were on her tonight. Then she walked right up to me and slammed a scalding hot espresso onto the corner of my desk. Coffee splashed across my hand, leaving a red burn. “Marlena, stick to this. Cool yourself down. Don’t let jealousy eat you up.” Laughter erupted around me. I said nothing. I quietly wiped the coffee from my skin. I pulled out my phone and wired a generous cut straight into the Family group chat. The message read: Congratulations to Sofia on her promotion to Underboss! The group went silent for a moment, then exploded with people grabbing the money. Sofia glanced at her phone and smirked. “At least you know your place.” She warned me: “Keep your mouth shut, do what you’re told, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” I immediately bowed my head, my face full of respect. “Of course, Sofia. You have my word. Oh, and here is the final project transfer document. All the accounts and details are inside. Just need your signature.” I handed her a thick stack of papers, dense with financial records and progress logs for the dock project. Sofia didn’t even glance at it. She was too drunk on her own rise. She took the pen and signed her name without a second thought. “Don’t bother me with this small stuff anymore. I’m the Gambino Family’s second in command now.” I looked down at her signature. The corners of my mouth curled upward. That wasn’t just a transfer document. That was a death warrant confirming her as the project’s sole responsible party. With her name on that page, any problem that came out of this project would fall on her and her alone.
Sofia’s celebration barely lasted two days before trouble hit. A partner family sent an encrypted dispatch demanding that the project’s lead personally present the results. Sofia stared at the red error codes on her screen, her eyes practically bulging out of her head. She knew nothing about the project. She did not even know how to launch the program. All she could do was read from someone else’s slides. She came running to the supply closet, her heels clacking frantically against the floor. “Marlena, write me an automated presentation script.” Her voice was still sharp, still commanding, as if this was my duty. She had already forgotten how she had humiliated me just days ago. I kept typing, not looking up, my fingers flying across the keyboard. “Sofia, I’m just a runner now. You pulled my core team access. I want to help, but I can’t.” She slammed her hand down on my keyboard. “Cut the crap. I’ll give you temporary access. Can’t handle something this simple? I’ll have you disappeared from this Family before midnight.” People around us turned to stare, their eyes gleaming with anticipation, waiting to see me fall flat on my face. I put on a show of trembling, shrinking my shoulders and stammering. “Please. Don’t cast me out.” Seeing her intimidation work, Sofia softened slightly. She pulled two stacks of cash from her bag and tossed them on the table. “Twenty thousand dollars. Make this work, and the money is yours. Fail, and you’re gone.” I stared at the money, putting on a greedy, desperate look. “Deal. Thank you, Sofia. I’ll get it done right away.” I took the temporary access and wrote the script as fast as I could. But deep in the code, buried in the backend logic she would never understand, I planted a small gift. A gift set to trigger at a very specific time. When Sofia presented the script at the Family meeting, it was a massive success. The Don nodded approvingly and called her a rare talent. She beamed, her smile so wide her makeup nearly cracked. After the meeting, she came back with her crew and took the twenty thousand dollars back. She also had my computer smashed, citing “project security.” “Marlena, it’s not that I don’t trust you. Family rules. You can’t be too careful.” She looked down at me like I was a spent piece of trash. “As for the twenty grand, we’ll put it on your tab. We’ll sort it out at year end.” With that, she turned and walked away on her heels, not giving me a second glance. I looked at the shattered screen. Instead of anger, I nearly laughed out loud. She had just destroyed the only evidence that could prove her innocence. Now, not even the Don himself could save her.
The day the million dollar bonus hit her account, Sofia bought herself a red Porsche. She parked it right in front of the Family compound, in the most visible spot, and spent half an hour taking photos. Her social media filled with shots of the steering wheel and her limited edition watch. The cover of the lifetime liability charter was in the background of the shot. Caption: All the hard work is finally being seen. Beneath it, a flood of likes and groveling comments. I saw the post while I was eating pastries in the break room. A woman next to me was touching up her makeup and making snide remarks, loud enough to make sure I heard every word. “Some people are just born to run errands. Look at the Underboss. Now that’s a queen.” “Exactly. No nerve to fight for what’s yours, then crying when someone takes it. What a waste.” When the wall falls, everyone swings. Everyone who used to call me sister was now practically stepping on my face to kiss Sofia’s feet. Then one of the Don’s aides came rushing in with news that stopped the room cold. “Next Monday, the Council is coming for an inspection. They want to see the port project contract signing in person.” The entire Family erupted. The Council. The men who held true power over life and death in the Family. One word from them could decide anyone’s fate. Sofia’s face flushed with excitement at the news. To show off her hands-on leadership, she refused all offers of help on the spot. “No one needs to touch this. This project is like my own child. I know it better than anyone. I’ll handle it myself.” “I will personally present to the Council. Let them see what I can do.” She ran into me in the break room. She stopped and fanned the air in front of her nose like I was carrying something contagious. “God, you reek of desperation. See that, Marlena? The project runs just fine without you. You were always disposable.” I speared the last piece of pastry and ate it clean. Then I looked up with an eager, fawning smile. “You’re absolutely right, Sofia. You’re the queen, I’m just a spare part. Knock them dead next week. Maybe throw a little glory my way while you’re at it.” Sofia snorted and walked away. “At least you know your place.” Late that night, my phone buzzed. A voice message from Sofia, still barking orders. “Write me a speech before morning. Focus on my creative thinking and all those late nights I put into the project. Don’t bore me with technical details. Make it sound powerful.” “Mess this up, and you’re out.” I listened to her voice, a cold smile creeping across my face. I tapped out a reply on the screen. One word: Okay.
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