Chapter 1

The young cashier behind the counter paused, but the professional smile remained plastered on her face. "Sir, may I ask if you're a member of Harvest Grain & Oil? If you're a premium member, we can offer you a points redemption service."

She was considerate and professional, but unfortunately, she was new and unfamiliar to me. I usually handled things behind the scenes and reviewed reports, so I rarely visited this branch.

It was perfectly understandable that she didn't recognize me.

To Ryan Cooper, however, her words were a slap in my face. As if he had finally found something to use against me, he burst into exaggerated laughter.

"Did you hear that, Will? She's asking if you're a member! And you have the nerve to say you're taking something from your own store. Look at yourself!

"Been playing the big shot for too long, huh? How does it feel to get humiliated in front of everyone?"

The store was spacious and nearly empty, so his shrill voice echoed into every corner. The volunteers standing behind Ryan joined in, laughing and looking at me with contempt.

Even the other customers turned to stare at me with amused, mocking expressions.

Their collective reactions made Ryan even more smug. He made a show of approaching Lynette Watson, adopting an exaggeratedly humble attitude.

"Ms. Watson, I'm terribly sorry you had to witness this embarrassing scene. As the team leader, I take full responsibility for failing to manage my volunteer, who apparently can't keep his hands to himself.

"Please rest assured that most of our volunteers are genuinely committed to charity work, just like me. He's the exception, not the rule. I promise I won't let him handle the supply distribution again.

"We can't have one person tarnishing the reputation of our neighborhood office."

Playing favorites and putting others down to make himself look good was one of Ryan's favorite tricks.

In the beginning, I was the one who proposed setting up this volunteer team to care for senior citizens living alone in the neighborhood.

But since Ryan had a background in social work, he used that to snatch the team leader position right out from under me. He never did any real work himself.

Instead, he always ordered me around, sending me on errands and leaving me with all the dirty, exhausting jobs—from cleaning the residents' homes to helping them with their most basic needs.

On the brighter side, as I genuinely devoted myself to caring for the elderly, the residents grew fonder of me. Eventually, they even nominated me as the Volunteer of the Month.

That was when Ryan started targeting me at every turn. He took credit for my work, made my life difficult, and ostracized me.

Even now, he still wouldn't leave me alone. A few careless words from him were all it took to brand me a thief.

I turned to look at Lynette.

Her face had darkened with fury. She strode toward me, her voice trembling with rage.

"Will Irving, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough, pulling sneaky tricks like this in front of so many neighbors? You've disgraced our entire neighborhood office!

"You can forget about being named Outstanding Volunteer this year! Consider this a lesson!"

That title was an important honor awarded at year-end. Sure, it wasn't some national-level award, but it was still recognition for all the effort I had put into charity work.

Besides, I hadn't done anything wrong. How could all my hard work be thrown away just because Ryan decided to toss out a few careless accusations?

I couldn't let this go. Anger surged through me instantly.

"I refuse to accept this, Ms. Watson. I've done good deeds out of genuine concern for others. What gives you the right to disqualify me from the award?"