Chapter 3

My entire body tensed up on the spot, but Grant acted as if he hadn't noticed my stiffness and solemnly pressed the certificate into my hands.

"Here, take it! It's too tacky to offer you money. This honor is truly priceless. It's the highest recognition the company can give you!"

The applause from the audience sounded again, now even louder than before.

Grant told me not to go back to my seat, but to stay on stage as a "role model" for the other colleagues receiving awards.

I stood under the spotlight like a fool, holding that worthless certificate in my hand.

I watched as one colleague after another happily walked up to the stage. Jared Burch took home ten thousand dollars. Maya Porter took five thousand dollars…

Even Clare, who had only been here a month, got a two-thousand-dollar bonus for the "Best Newcomer" award.

Somehow, I made it off the stage and went home in a daze after the event ended.

…

The next day was the weekend, so I turned off my alarm, wanting to sleep in until I could wash away all my exhaustion and humiliation.

However, my phone kept buzzing.

Half-asleep, I reached for my phone and opened Slack.

It was a message from my department's manager, Howard Vance, along with a picture of an Excel spreadsheet.

"@Everyone: The schedule for the holiday shift is out. Please confirm your dates and message me privately if there are any issues."

I clicked on the image and skimmed through it.

With just one glance, I snapped wide awake, and anger surged through me like an electric shock.

On the schedule, for the entire one-week holiday, starting from Christmas, I was the only person listed on duty.

I was even scheduled to work on New Year's Eve!

I thought I had misread it, so I zoomed in and looked again.

I wasn't mistaken—it was just my name.

Immediately after, Howard specifically mentioned me in the group chat.

"@Shania: Most of our team are from out of state. They've been looking forward to going home and celebrating with their families all year. They already bought their tickets, so it's not easy to schedule them."

"You're a local and a longtime employee of the company. You've got a better head on your shoulders, and you don't have much going on at home."

"So, just do us a favor and cover everyone for this holiday season. Thanks a million!"

My hands shook with anger as I read his messages.

This was how it had been in previous years. Every time a holiday came around, Howard would use this same speech to guilt-trip me.

In the past, I would soften up because I felt bad for the new hires. Tickets were hard to get too. Since I was a local, what was a few days of covering shifts?

But now, I knew they were going home happily with year-end bonuses of tens of thousands.

Why should I have to sacrifice my entire holiday so they could spend time with their family?

"@Howard: I'm not doing it. Whoever wants to work can do it."

The moment the message was sent, the once-lively group chat fell into a dead silence.

No one spoke for several minutes. They probably hadn't expected me to publicly snap like that.

Soon, a private chat from Howard appeared.

"Shania, what's with that attitude? There were so many others in the group! Mr. Conner thinks highly of you and specifically told me to entrust you with this heavy responsibility. Don't ruin your own future over something so trivial!"

I was so angry that I laughed out loud. Why should I do all this for three thousand dollars?

I didn't reply to Howard. I simply closed the chat and logged out of Slack.

Then, I got out of bed and sent an email. The content was just one sentence.

"I accept your previous job offer."

The boss of the competing company had tried to poach me multiple times before, but I had always refused. Still, he told me that the offer would always be available for me.

Since these people wanted to play dirty, they couldn't blame me for being disloyal.