Chapter 2

It was payday the next day.

The notification sounds of salaries being deposited into the employees' bank accounts echoed from their phones throughout the office.

I sat in my office, listening to the commotion outside.

Normally, it would be a huge, joyous thing for anyone to suddenly receive an additional 1100 dollars on top of their usual salary at a company. After all, this was real cash that could be repurposed for something else, like paying off mortgages, buying something nice, or eating a nice meal.

However, there was no cheering or celebration outside as I had imagined. Instead, there was a loud, eerie silence that was later interrupted by hushed whispers.

I got up and grabbed my mug to get some water from the pantry.

I hadn't even walked to the door when I heard Alice's shrill voice coming from inside.

"What the hell? Only 1100 dollars? I thought we were going to get even more than that!"

Lucy's voice was heard. She sounded a little hesitant. "Actually, it's quite a sum of money… That's enough to pay for my kid's piano lessons every month."

"You're too easily satisfied, Lucy!" Alice explained in frustration. "Just think about that afternoon tea we used to have! The boss said it was from a five-star hotel with a budget of 50 dollars per person.

"Sure, there are 22 working days in a month, and that all adds up to 1100 dollars per person per month. But just think about it!"

She deliberately paused for dramatic effect, then raised her voice by several decibels. "I'm sure that the company's purchasing department definitely gets discounts for buying in bulk!

"Also, who's to say that those snacks and cakes were really from a five-star hotel? How would we know they're not just from some no-name bakery? The invoices are definitely fake! I bet the boss has been taking a huge cut out of it on the regular!"

"What? That can't be true," Fiona said in shock. "The packaging looked legit."

"How much could that kind of packaging possibly cost?" Alice shot back with a sneer. "You're all too naive. What kind of boss isn't a capitalist who loves squeezing out every penny they can get from you?

"Sure, Ms. Knox might have given us the money now, and it looks like a thousand dollars, but if you think about it, it's now turned into taxable income for all of us! Also, I bet she's doing this to evade taxes! Maybe even for money laundering!"

"Money laundering?"

This time, Gerard's shocked voice rang out. "Alice, you can't simply make things up like this."

"What do you mean I'm making things up?" Alice retorted confidently. "I have a friend who works in the IRS. He sees common tactics like this all the time.

"Bosses distribute company profits to their employees under the guise of employee benefits just to keep the books balanced, but in reality, they are the ones pocketing the lion's share of the money! In other words, this 1100 dollars is just hush money!"

"Oh my God… That's just outrageous!" Lucy said with a sigh. "And to think that I used to think of Ms. Knox as a nice person in the past."

"A nice person? Could a nice person afford to drive luxury cars or carry around Birkin bags?" Alice scoffed.

"That Porsche 911 was most definitely bought with our hard-earned money! Just think about it! We are the ones working ourselves to death every single day with overtime and such, but all she needs to do is pop by, check in on us, and leave. Who gave her the right to even do so?"

"She's right. 1100 dollars is nothing compared to hiring a personal chef for us," Lucy said, beginning to take Alice's side.

"I once posted a photo of the donut online, but some people said that they'd bought the same type in bulk from Costgo. If Ms. Knox really hired a Kitchelin chef to make our afternoon tea, imagine how proud I'd be to post about it online!"

"Ms. Knox always dresses so elegantly. I never expected her to be so stingy and not even willing to offer any emotional value to us."

I stood outside the door, gripping the mug so tightly in my hands that the knuckles turned white.

This was human nature, after all. They'd appreciate me being nice to them just a little, but not when I was being excessively so. Now, they were resentful toward me instead.

I had personally paid out of pocket to subsidize everyone in the company, asking for nothing in return, as I just wanted to have fun. And yet, I ended up raising a bunch of ungrateful wenches.

I turned and went back into my office, posting a new announcement in the company's Slack channel.

"As a token of appreciation for everyone's hard work, the company has decided to hold a team-building event next month in the Palmives for 7 days and 6 nights.

"There'll be a chartered flight straight to the destination at an all-inclusive 5-star island with a budget of 10,000 dollars per person. It's paid leave, and all expenses will be covered."