Chapter 2

I was so mad that I nearly laughed.

Staring straight into Warner's eyes, I asked, "Mr. Maxwell, are you sure you want me to apologize and compensate?"

Warner's expression remained dark and unreadable, while Isabel quickly tugged at the hem of my shirt.

"Don't push it, Flynn," she whispered to calm me down. "Hayden is Natasha's son, so you can't afford to mess with him. Mr. Maxwell is counting on him to secure the partnership with Avenel Group."

I couldn't help but scoff. "He tells you his mom is Natasha Belmont, and you guys just blindly believe him. Did he bring his birth certificate to his onboarding interview?"

She took out her phone and tapped on Hayden's social media account. "It's true. Ms. Belmont personally sent him to the office on his onboarding day."

I looked at the figures in the photo and nearly dropped my jaw in shock.

My stunningly beautiful aunt, Natasha Belmont, stood in front of a luxury car looking sharp and confident, and Hayden indeed stood right beside her.

He had even captioned the post. "Deeply grateful to Mom for taking time out of her busy schedule to drop me off for my internship. I promise I'll never let you down."

I immediately dialed Aunt Natasha's number, but all I heard was a mechanical voice telling me that her phone was powered off.

When Hayden saw that I stubbornly refused to apologize, he stared at me viciously. "Don't regret this, Flynn. I'll make you pay for it."

…

The next day, I learned what Hayden meant by that threat.

At the recognition gala, the Top Sales Performer award and an 800-thousand-dollar bonus payout, which should have belonged to me, were awarded to him instead.

On the presentation slides, they hadn't even had the chance to swap my name with his for the acceptance speech.

This was blatant daylight robbery. Raging fury erupted in my chest.

I immediately demanded an explanation. "On what metric was the Top Sales Performer decided?

"My total project sales this month exceeded one billion dollars and generated millions of dollars in net profit for the company, outperforming the runner-up by a staggering five-million-dollar profit margin.

"Hayden, on the other hand, hasn't closed a single deal. So, my question for the executive board is—on what grounds are you handing my award to him?"

A dead silence fell over the room, while the finance director and sales director exchanged looks, but neither dared say a single word.

Hayden shot me an arrogant look. "Obviously, your projects were secured through shady means. The company can't tolerate such disgraceful, despicable behavior.

"As of right now, we're just revoking your Top Sales Performer eligibility. But if you continue damaging our corporate reputation with your filthy, underhanded methods, termination is what awaits you next."

Shaking with pure rage, I swept my eyes across the executives sitting on the main stage.

They were the same leaders who used to praise my performance and call me a rising star with endless potential. Now, all of them avoided my gaze and lowered their heads like spineless cowards.

I looked at the highest-ranking executive in the room, Warner.

"Mr. Maxwell, is that what you think, too?"

Warner was clearly displeased with being publicly called out. He impatiently frowned and replied, "The company has its variables to consider, Flynn. Do not disrupt a formal recognition gala over such a trivial matter. You need to look at the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?"

My eyes turned red-rimmed, and my voice started trembling.

"Is your 'bigger picture' about me working all year, grinding past 12:00 am every single night to secure projects I work myself to the bone for, only for them to be handed over to someone else as his own achievement?

"You're completely erasing my hard work based on a baseless rumor he made up and sitting there, doing nothing.

"Let me ask you—where's the fairness in this? Where's justice? Don't you feel even a shred of guilt treating an employee who's contributed so much to the company like this?"

Warner had no response to my questions, while Hayden showed zero shame. He looked at me, raised his chin, and scoffed in disdain.

"Justice? Don't be so naive, Flynn. In the real world, justice belongs to whoever holds the power.

"If you want justice, find yourself a wealthy mom to stand up for you. But it's a pity you don't have one."