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El Contrato que No Firmé
B2 chat story

El Contrato que No Firmé

Lucía discovers that her colleague Diego has stolen her project proposal and presented it to the boss as his own. As she tries to figure out what happened and what to do, she turns to her only trusted ally at the office — and what she uncovers is worse than she imagined.

66 messages4 min read
Tuesday, 11:03 am — Marketing Office, Madrid
Lucía
Lucía

hey, did you see who presented the expansion project this morning?

Valeria
Valeria

yes... Diego. why? did something happen?

Lucía
Lucía

okay... it's just that project is MINE, Vale

Valeria
Valeria

excuse me... what?

Lucía
Lucía

😶

the market analysis of Southern Europe, the pricing strategy, the graphs... I did all that last month. I sent the draft to Diego so he could give me feedback 😶

Valeria
Valeria

oh my god Lucía

Valeria
Valeria

are you sure? maybe he just used some ideas and...

Lucía
Lucía

the report title is EXACTLY the same. even the subtitle. "Growth opportunities in Mediterranean markets: Q3 proposal" — I wrote that, word for word

Valeria
Valeria

😤

that guy... 😤

Valeria
Valeria

do you have the email where you sent him the draft? that's proof

Lucía
Lucía

looking for it right now... wait

Lucía
LucíaCharming ink and watercolor painting, clean lines, vibrant but soft color palette, storybook style. A close-up photo of a laptop screen showing an email thread. The email is addressed to 'Diego Soria', the subject line reads 'Borrador - Propuesta Q3 Mercados Mediterráneos', with an attachment icon visible and a date stamp showing three weeks prior. The screen glows in a dimly lit office environment.
Lucía
Lucía

there it is. June 17th. with the attachment and everything.

Valeria
Valeria

that's gold, Lucía. save everything, don't delete anything

Valeria
Valeria

are you going to talk to Ramírez directly?

Lucía
Lucía

first I want to talk to Diego. let's see what he tells me

Valeria
Valeria

be careful. that guy is very clever at slipping away

Lucía opened the chat with Diego. She had been staring at the blank screen for three minutes before writing.

Chat: Lucía → Diego
Lucía
Lucía

Diego, I just got out of the meeting. I'd like to talk to you about this morning's presentation

Diego
Diego

😊

sure, what's up? it went well, didn't it? Ramírez seemed very happy 😊

Lucía
Lucía

yes, I imagine so. can I ask you something? where did you get the Mediterranean market analysis?

Diego
Diego

I worked on it over the last few weeks, my own research. why do you ask?

Lucía
Lucía

🙂

"own research" 🙂

Lucía
Lucía

Diego, I sent you that draft on June 17th. same title, same structure, same data. I have the email

Diego
Diego

look, Lucía, you sent me some very basic ideas. I developed everything, added the strategic part, the costs, the action plan... your draft was just a foundation

Lucía
Lucía

🙃

"a foundation" of 34 pages 🙃

Diego
Diego

don't be like that. in teams, work is collective, right? besides, Ramírez already approved the project. there's no point in stirring this up now

Lucía
Lucía

collective work works when both names appear on the report. yours was there. mine wasn't.

Diego
Diego

it was a mistake, I admit it. I should have mentioned you. but it's not like you should go to HR over this

Lucía
Lucía

who said anything about human resources... yet

Diego stopped responding. Lucía went back to the chat with Valeria.

Chat: Lucía → Valeria
Lucía
Lucía

😐

he says I only gave him "a foundation" and that he developed it all. that it was a mistake not to mention me 😐

Valeria
Valeria

sure, "a mistake". how convenient, that mistake right before the quarterly review

Lucía
Lucía

exactly what I thought. the salary review is next month

Valeria
Valeria
Voice message

Lucía
Lucía

😮‍💨

I know you're right... 😮‍💨 I hate that you're right

Valeria
Valeria

search the email thread. Diego replied to you regarding the draft at some point, didn't he? those replies count too

Lucía
Lucía

wait, let me look...

Lucía
Lucía

💀

okay, yes. on June 18th he replied: "good job, the analysis of Italy and Greece is very solid. I would add something about Portugal" 💀

Valeria
Valeria

THERE IT IS. that's exactly what you need. he says "good job" himself, recognizing the analysis was yours

Valeria
Valeria

save that screenshot too. and keep a copy of the file with the document metadata — that shows who created it and when

Lucía
Lucía

the metadata... of course. I created the document on my computer, my name will show up as the author

Lucía
Lucía

okay. I'm going to ask for a meeting with Ramírez for this afternoon. I have enough now

Valeria
Valeria

do you want me to go with you?

Lucía
Lucía

❤️

no, thanks. I have to do this alone. but thanks really, Vale ❤️

3 hours later

Lucía spent her lunch hour organizing all the evidence: dated emails, screenshots, the original file with metadata. At 3:00 PM, Ramírez confirmed the meeting for 4:30 PM. An hour before, Diego wrote to her again.

Chat: Diego → Lucía
Diego
Diego

Lucía, word got to me that you have a meeting with Ramírez this afternoon

Diego
Diego

look, we can solve this between ourselves. there's no need to make it complicated

Lucía
Lucía

you already made it complicated, Diego

Diego
Diego

I can pay you. I know it sounds weird but... we can reach an agreement. let it be known that you participated in the project, I'll give you 30% of the bonus if it goes through

Lucía
Lucía

30%... of MY own work. incredible.

Lucía
Lucía

🙂

hey, thanks for the offer. now I have one more screenshot for the meeting 🙂

Diego
Diego

lucía please

Lucía
Lucía

don't write to me anymore today

4:30 pm — Ramírez's Office

At 4:30 PM, Lucía entered Ramírez's office with all the documentation. The meeting lasted forty minutes. When she came out, she called Valeria.

Lucía
Lucía
Voice message

Lucía: Vale? It's me. Valeria: Yes, tell me, how did it go? tell me everything. Lucía: Well... Ramírez stayed silent when I showed him the emails. a long, very awkward silence. Valeria: Oh my god, and what did he say? Lucía: That he was going to investigate it, that this was "very serious." And then he asked me why I hadn't presented the project directly myself. Valeria: What a question... and what did you tell him? Lucía: The truth. That Diego asked me to send him the draft to review it together, that I trusted him because we've been working on the same team for two years. Valeria: Of course... what a huge betrayal. And Diego? Does he know anything about how the meeting went? Lucía: I haven't told him anything. But Ramírez has summoned him first thing tomorrow morning, so he'll find out then. Valeria: How are you feeling right now? Lucía: Honestly... I don't know. Relieved to have said it, but also very tired. And a bit sad, you know? I thought Diego was someone I could trust. Valeria: I understand. Hey, do you want to meet up later? We'll have a drink. Lucía: Yes. Yes, that sounds good. I need to get out of here.

Valeria
Valeria

I'll wait for you downstairs in 10 minutes. and hey — you did very well today ⭐

Wednesday, 9:47 am

The next morning, Lucía arrived at the office and saw that Ramírez's office door was closed. Diego was already inside. The meeting lasted twenty minutes. When Diego came out, he didn't look at anyone. He picked up his jacket and left.

Valeria
Valeria

I just saw him leave. Have you spoken with Ramírez?

Lucía
Lucía

he just sent me an email. the project is now listed under my name. and Diego is "in the process of a contract review"

Valeria
Valeria

meaning... they're going to fire him

Lucía
Lucía

it seems so. I don't know how I feel about it, honestly

Valeria
Valeria

the consequences are his, not yours. you only told the truth

Lucía
Lucía
Voice message

Valeria
Valeria

💪

well said 💪

Lucía
Lucía

😌

hey, I'm going to get to work. I have a project to present 😌

Alex
Alex

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