This coworker joined 3 years ago and she is at her first job. She openly spoke about how she is interested in hanging out with our manager and she texts him after work on his personal number. They are at 20 years of age gap but we usually see them being friendly at work. With recent developments at work, she got promoted, and our boss also praises her almost every other week. The suspicion is in everyone’s eyes at work but everyone is quiet. All new and high visibility impactful projects are given to her and senior coworkers are asked to do her job instead. 

Querent = Venus (ruler of Taurus rising), in Virgo (fall) in 5th house  
Coworker = Mars (ruler of 7th), in Gemini in 2nd house  
Boss/authority = Saturn (ruler of 10th), in Aries (fall) in 12th house  
Venus square Mars (applying)

Turned chart (10th turned to 1st, for the boss):  
Coworker’s Mars falls in the boss’s turned 5th (house of favorites/delight)  
My Venus falls in the boss’s turned 8th (house of what’s withheld, or a source of unease)

My read so far:  
Mars sitting in the boss’s derived 5th feels like a fairly literal significator of favoritism. The coworker occupying the exact “favorite” house from the boss’s perspective. Compare that to my own Venus landing in the boss’s 8th, which reads more like friction, scrutiny, or something that has to be earned rather than freely given.

Saturn (the boss) is in its fall in Aries and tucked in the 12th shows weak dignity, plus a “hidden” placement, which I’m taking as poor judgment happening somewhat behind the scenes.

The Venus-Mars square shows there’s real, ongoing tension between us directly, not just something I’m imagining from a distance. But, the orb is wide, it can be ignored. I don’t have a direct hate towards her, but most of our team is very highly suspicious. 

Would love other eyes on this, particularly on how you’d weigh the 5th vs 8th house contrast in the turned chart, and whether the fall placements here are doing as much work as I think they are. 

Mars in boss’s 5th and boss sitting in my 12th under Mars ruler shows a hidden connection, possible favoritism between them.

Is my coworker genuine, or benefiting from favoritism to rise up?