Chapter 2

"How dare you hit Yvonne? Get on your knees and beg for Yvonne's forgiveness. You need to give her your year-end bonus of 100,000 and all of your projects' commissions as compensation as well."

I took a deep breath as my head was about to explode from anger. "Are you sure you want me to apologize to her, Mr. Livingston?"

Monty's face fell as he stared at me. One would think I had made an unforgivable mistake.

Leon carefully tugged at my sleeve to say softly, "Just give in, Natalia. She really is Don Caruso's daughter. We can't afford to anger her. The company would've gone bankrupt long ago if it weren't for Don Caruso."

I sneered, "Are we supposed to believe she's Don Caruso's daughter just because she said so? Did the Carusos publicly announce the identity of their heiress?"

Leon showed me his phone, which displayed Yvonne's social media posts. "So grateful that my Dad came to my graduation. He really loves me a lot!"

I was stunned as I carefully scrutinized the photo. The smiling man in the photo was my father. Yvonne was standing next to him, and it did look like they had a close relationship.

My heart sank. I immediately called my father, but no one picked up the call.

Yvonne was enraged that I was ignoring her. "Just you wait, Natalia. I'll make sure you pay for this!"

She took action right away. That night, I received a letter from my company informing me that I was fired. Aside from that, my passport, ID, and every other document I had went missing.

I looked up at the sun in the Huka Islands and found it exceptionally blinding. What a bad time for them to be working overtime just to settle my case. I went directly to Monty's room, only to find the company's higher management there, along with Yvonne.

Yvonne threw me a taunting look and said gleefully, "I knew you'd come, Natalia. I warned you about crossing me. You can't handle the consequences. Your position and your 100,000 bonus now belong to me!"

I ignored her as I tried to suppress my anger. I approached Monty and the other higher management executives. I questioned them, "Why did you fire me? You've all seen how much revenue I've brought to the company since I joined. It took me only one month to complete three projects and bring in five billion worth of investments to the company.

"What right do you have to take away my 100,000 bonus and give my sales wins to Yvonne, even going as far as to fire me?"

Everyone threw me a troubled glance and lowered their heads.

Yvonne gloated as she came up to me. She said arrogantly, "You only have yourself to blame for using despicable methods to win those sales. Who knows if you slept your way through everything, including all those projects and investments? You've given the company a bad name.

"Every sale the company won was because of everybody's hard work. The 100,000 is only for the one with the greatest contribution. You should count yourself lucky that I spared your life by only firing you. I've chosen not to go after you for accountability."

I grabbed my wrist hard to force myself to calm down. "What evidence do you have to prove that the projects and investments I got were through despicable means? Mr. Livingston, you know very well how hard I worked to complete those projects even if others don't." I looked at Monty.

He had come close to bankruptcy when he tried to legitimize the business and there were Soldati out for his life.

I was the one who saved the dying company by bringing in a few projects. Monty had been grateful to me back then. Yet, now, he was siding with Yvonne just to get on her good side, even humiliating me. It was a true testament of who he was.

Monty waved me off impatiently. "That's enough, Natalia. Stop harping on this. The company has its standards when it comes to judging employees. It's normal for employees to come and go, so it's best that we end things on good terms…"

"On good terms?" I burst out laughing. "I worked many late nights over the past years just to rework tenders and project documents. I would meet investors to discuss partnerships and collaborations to help the company stand on its own two feet. That's how the company has managed to expand to such a large scale!

"Now, you're denying all of my hard work because of one word from her. Don't you think this is a huge disrespect to the work I've done and the results I've brought to the company?! Don't you have a conscience, Monty Livingston?"

Monty looked guilty, and he lowered his head to avoid my eyes.

Yvonne burst out with a laugh as she said tauntingly, "What is conscience worth to a man? You're not a child any longer, Natalia. Don't you know this is a dog-eat-dog world? If you want respect in this land, you need the power to demand it. Power is everything!"