Power, Lies & Maternity
Yu Man, a Chen Group executive, was supposed to be promoted to Marketing Director. However, the company's chairman, Henry Chen, had to travel abroad for urgent business negotiations, delaying her promotion. Before leaving, Henry entrusted Yu Man with full authority over company operations and assigned his recently returned son, Kevin Chen, to work under her for training. Kevin pretended to comply but, behind the scenes, exploited his status as the chairman's son. Along with his overseas-educated girlfriend, Debbie, he arrogantly bossed around key employees and openly defied authority. As Yu Man approached her due date for maternity leave, she tried to reason with Kevin out of respect for his father. Instead, Kevin abused his power, declaring that all pregnant employees—and even women planning to have children—should be fired. This reckless statement devastated the company's loyal staff. Zhou Ying, the co-owner of a partner company and Yu Man's close friend, was furious upon hearing the news. She urged her husband, Zhang Yang, to terminate their collaboration with Chen Group. However, since the contract was already in effect, backing out would result in massive penalties. Yu Man advised Zhou Ying not to escalate the conflict for her sake. Meanwhile, Yu Man's intern, Zhu Xiaoxiao, saw an opportunity and secretly suggested a scheme to Kevin: instead of outright firing pregnant employees, the company could impose demeaning policies to force them to quit. This would avoid illegal termination lawsuits and costly compensation. Under these oppressive rules, Yu Man was pushed out. Impressed by Zhu Xiaoxiao's cunning, Kevin promoted her to Marketing Director—the position originally meant for Yu Man. Seizing the moment, Zhou Yu, who had long wanted to recruit Yu Man for his own company, publicly announced her as the new CEO at a high-profile dinner. Even then, Kevin and his so-called "brilliant" team failed to recognize the crisis. Only after repeated business failures did he realize that Zhu Xiaoxiao was utterly incompetent and that Debbie had only been using him to gain access to Chen Group's embroidery resources. By the time Kevin regretted his actions, it was too late. Chen Group collapsed under his arrogance. Meanwhile, Yu Man, determined to create a fair workplace for women, joined forces with her former colleagues to start her own business.
![[Dubbed]The Hidden Heiress: Straight-A Life cover](/covers/213990.webp)
