My last month at this company has turned into an absolute workplace nightmare and I genuinely don’t know what to make of it
I’m 25F and I’m currently in the final few weeks of my first proper corporate job. I’ve been here for around 18 months, and I’m leaving because I’m moving abroad for an MBA.
I genuinely used to like my job. I work in product development for a small luxury company, and I’ve actually learned a ridiculous amount here. But the last few months have become so exhausting that I’m now counting down the days until I leave.
The problem is that I seem to have become some sort of office character.
There are multiple things going on, so buckle up.
First, my relationship with my manager has become increasingly difficult. He can be extremely confrontational with me, publicly undermine me, question my decisions, and sometimes make comments that feel more personal than professional. I used to take all of this very seriously and would spend hours stressing about how he would react to something.
At some point I realized I couldn’t keep living like that, so I learned to detach from it.
Then I resigned.
I originally understood my notice period to be 45 days based on the contract I had when I joined. Later, after I was put on the company’s visa, apparently there was another employment contract with a 90-day notice period. I genuinely didn’t understand that the second contract changed my notice period because nobody properly explained it to me at the time.
I admit I should have read everything more carefully. That’s on me.
Eventually, after discussions, my company verbally agreed that I could work for approximately two months, with the remaining final week potentially being worked remotely because my university classes start immediately afterwards.
So you’d think: great. We’re almost done.
Nope.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve also been accused of being too relaxed at work. Apparently I’ve been taking longer breaks, chatting more, going out of the office more, etc.
And here’s the thing:
They’re not completely wrong.
I’ve been at this company for 18 months. I’ve worked extremely hard for most of that time. I’m leaving. Over the last couple of weeks, I became more relaxed than I probably should have been.
I’m not talking about disappearing for hours. Sometimes I’d take 20–30 minute breaks, chat with colleagues, etc.
I acknowledged it when they confronted me. I didn’t lie about it. I basically said, “Yes, I’ve been more relaxed recently. I’ll be more disciplined for the remainder of my notice period.”
But the way it was handled made me feel like I’d committed some enormous corporate crime. I was told things like I should think about my “legacy” with the company.
Meanwhile, I’m literally leaving in a few weeks.
Then there was the supplier situation.
Now, here is the part that genuinely broke me.
A couple of new employees apparently started telling people around the office that they didn’t trust my department because we supposedly favor certain suppliers and therefore must have some sort of financial arrangement with them.
As in, they were suggesting that my colleague and I were taking money from suppliers.
I have NEVER done this.
One of the suppliers they were talking about was actually already working with the company before I even joined.
I have absolutely no financial relationship with these suppliers.
And apparently this wasn’t said once. I found out that it had been discussed with multiple people over a period of weeks, particularly when I wasn’t around.
That completely destroyed me.
I’ve worked here for 18 months and whatever else anyone thinks about my performance, my integrity is incredibly important to me.
I ended up crying in the bathroom because I genuinely couldn’t understand how someone could casually make an allegation like that about another person’s livelihood and reputation.
I eventually wrote to management and said that if there were genuine concerns about my supplier relationships, they could investigate them. I offered to provide evidence, supplier correspondence, account information, whatever was necessary.
Because if you genuinely suspect me of something that serious, then investigate it properly.
Don’t whisper about it around the office.
And then there is the commercial team.
This is probably where most of my stress has actually come from.
There have been repeated situations where my team and the commercial team verbally discussed something multiple times, only for there to later be a disagreement about what was actually said.
One recent example involved a product that was supposed to be in a specific color. I had repeatedly told the commercial person that the color we had available had a longer production timeline and that they needed to check with the client.
This was discussed multiple times in meetings.
Then, when the client finally paid and the project moved forward, the commercial person apparently hadn’t communicated the color issue to the client.
Suddenly everyone was asking why I hadn’t documented the conversation.
And technically, yes, I understand the argument.
I should document everything.
But we work in a tiny company where people are constantly having meetings, discussing things verbally, changing briefs, and solving problems in real time.
I tried to keep things on email. Sometimes people simply preferred to discuss things in meetings.
So now I’m sitting here wondering whether I should defend myself every single time something goes wrong, or whether I should just let it go because I’m leaving anyway.
And that’s the weirdest part.
I don’t think I’m blameless.
I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been too relaxed recently. There are things I could have handled better. I can admit that.
But I’ve also genuinely worked my ass off here.
And I don’t understand why everything has become so personal.
I’ve had colleagues tell me that people comment on my clothes, my posture, how I speak, how outspoken I am, how I swear, how I respond when I’m busy, etc.
Apparently some people dislike me because I’m outspoken and don’t always quietly accept things when I disagree.
I’ve literally had people who barely interact with me apparently discussing things I do throughout the day.
At this point I’m almost fascinated by it.
And now it’s Monday again.
I know my manager is going to sit me down and question me about various things, and honestly I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
I don’t want to fight anymore.
But I also don’t want to quietly accept things that damage my reputation.
I want to leave peacefully. I want to do my job properly. I want to hand everything over. I want to get on my plane and start the next chapter of my life.
Instead, I’m spending my final weeks wondering what accusation or confrontation is going to appear next.
Has anyone else experienced a workplace where things gradually became this personal and toxic toward the end?
How do you decide what is actually worth defending versus what you just let go because you’re leaving anyway? And if there’s advice on how to manage the current scenario of me “chilling too much” because I wouldnt want it to turn into something even bigger
Thanks!
Posted Aug 31, 2026, 2:33 AM UTC