Chapter 2

Every year, I brought in millions in contracts for the company.

And every month, I chose to take the lowest base salary.

Because I believed what belonged to Adrian belonged to me too.

As long as the company was doing well, that was enough.

I never expected that decision to be used against me.

Fine.

If they wanted numbers, I’d give them numbers.

The audit would take two days.

During those two days, I stopped working completely.

Every order I was handling stayed on hold. When I got bored, I played games. When I was tired, I just leaned back and rested.

Rebecca couldn’t stand it.

She slammed her hand on my desk.

“Claire Bennett, do you have zero work ethic? This is an office, not your living room.”

I looked up at her, annoyed.

“You’re in finance. Why are you acting like you run the company? Anyone watching would think you’re the CEO.”

Someone nearby laughed.

Rebecca’s face turned dark.

“You still haven’t paid the penalty from earlier. Pay it now.”

When I didn’t respond, her tone got sharper.

“What, you can’t afford it?

“With your salary, even if you saved for two years without spending a cent, you still wouldn’t have enough.”

She tilted her head.

“That’s fine. We’ll just deduct it from your future pay.”

I looked at her, then picked up my phone.

“Fine.”

I transferred ten thousand dollars into the team penalty pool.

For a moment, no one touched it.

Then I sent another message.

“Go ahead.”

Only then did people start claiming it.

The chat immediately filled up.

“Thanks, Claire!”

“You’re amazing!”

“Appreciate it!”

Rebecca walked off, clearly furious.

A few minutes later, she came back and threw a T-shirt onto my desk.

“Put this on. You’ll wear it for the rest of the month.”

I looked down.

Printed across it in bold letters were the words:

COMPANY LIABILITY

Rebecca raised her voice deliberately.

“From now on, whoever ranks last in monthly performance wears this shirt. Some people stay at the bottom every month and still feel no shame. If you’re dead weight, you should be treated like it.”

No one spoke.

Rebecca clearly took that as approval.

“Claire. Put it on.”

Everyone in the office knew most of the company’s deals came from me.

No one had ever dared treat me like this before.

She really didn’t know what she was doing.

I picked up the shirt.

For a second, she thought I was going to comply.

Then I threw it straight at her face.

“Rebecca Shaw, are you trying to harass me at work? Because I can report that.”

She panicked slightly and pulled the shirt off.

“Don’t twist things. This is a performance policy. What does that have to do with harassment?”

She straightened up again.

“You’d better put it on. When Mr. Cole gets here, you’ll regret it.”

Right on cue, Adrian walked over.

To my surprise, he nodded approvingly.

“This kind of system motivates people. It’s good for the company.”

Then he looked at me.

“Claire, you’ll wear it. Starting today.”

I almost laughed.

These two really deserved each other.

I met his eyes.

“And if I don’t?”

Adrian frowned.

“I’m your boss. You follow my orders. Otherwise, I can fire you at any time.”

Just then, my phone buzzed.

The audit results were in.

I picked it up, a faint smile forming.

“No need for you to fire me. Once the audit result comes out...”

I froze.

Something was wrong.

Rebecca leaned over, saw the result, and burst out laughing.

Then she read it out loud.

“Claire Bennett owes the company one million dollars in performance value. At this rate, she’ll need to work for free for twenty-seven years to pay it off.”

She laughed harder.

“Claire, I’ve never seen anyone humiliate themselves this badly.”

Then her expression turned cold.

“From now on, you’re also in charge of cleaning. Come in two hours early every day. I want everything spotless, especially the bathrooms.

“And all errands, printing, and office chores are yours too. At least you’ll finally be useful.”

She looked at me with open contempt.

“This is exactly what you’re worth, Claire.”