Chapter 2

Carter continued, "Honestly, I'm under a lot of pressure too. I just bought an apartment, and my monthly mortgage is nearly 3,000 dollars."

Hearing this, Rupert jabbed a finger at me and started berating me, saying, "Did you hear that, Kate? You've been here long enough. Why be so petty? Besides, why does a woman need that much money anyway? Sooner or later, you'll just return to family life.

"Now, hurry up and review that contract. Don't make me say it twice."

With that, he picked up his thermos and headed back into his office.

Carter shot me a triumphant smirk and pushed the documents toward me again.

"Appreciate it, Kate. Go through them carefully and make sure there aren't any errors. This is a huge contract. My commission alone is going to be in the tens of thousands of dollars."

I stared at the stack of papers and took a deep breath.

I had to endure it. It wasn't time to burn this bridge yet. I hadn't finished exporting all my client information, and I still had to complete the resignation process.

If things got ugly now, Rupert could hold up my employment paperwork or sabotage my background check. And that would just be a huge headache.

I took the paperwork and started going through it. It was an equipment procurement contract worth 1.2 million dollars.

Carter really was incompetent. The contract was riddled with errors. He'd left a zero off the penalty for breach of contract, and he'd even gotten the product model numbers wrong.

If this contract went out as is, the company would stand to lose at least 500,000 dollars.

I picked up my pen, ready to make the corrections. But the moment the tip touched the paper, I stopped.

Why should I fix it?

Since I was just some aging woman with failing eyesight, it was only natural for me to miss a few details, right?

And since Carter was supposedly the future of the company, surely he'd be able to catch these minor mistakes himself?

I capped my pen and put the documents back exactly as they were.

"I'm done."

Carter was busy playing a game on his phone, so he didn't even bother looking up.

"Just leave them there. Thanks. Oh, and Kate, get me a glass of water, would you? I'm thirsty."

I looked at the back of his head as a cold smirk tugged at my lips.

…

The next morning, during the weekly company meeting, Rupert sat at the head of the table, looking smug and self-satisfied.

"I've got some good news to announce. Carter landed a 1.2-million-dollar deal yesterday, and the contract has already been sent out. Let's give him a round of applause!"

A smattering of applause filled the room.

Carter stood up, looking appropriately modest.

"It's all thanks to Mr. Ribeiro's brilliant leadership. I was just doing my job. Of course, I also have to thank Kate for reviewing the contract for me. Even though she only gave it a quick once-over, it still gave me a lot of confidence."

He deliberately emphasized "a quick once-over".

Rupert nodded approvingly.

"See that? That's the kind of killer instinct I'm talking about. He's only been here a month, and he's already closed a 1.2-million-dollar contract.

"Meanwhile, some of our senior employees just occupy a desk without pulling their weight. They only bring in a little over 500,000 dollars a month, and yet they still have the nerve to ask for big bonuses."

He gave me a pointed look as he spoke.

The conference room went completely silent. Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to look at me.

I continued taking notes while keeping my expression blank, acting as if he wasn't talking about me at all.

Once the meeting adjourned, Rupert called me into his office.

"Kate, there's an industry summit next week. Get things ready."

"Sure, Mr. Ribeiro. What materials do you need me to prepare?"

"I'm not asking you to attend," he said, waving his hand dismissively and giving me a look of contempt. "This is a high-profile event, and the attendees will all be top management. You're getting up there in age, and your image isn't exactly ideal. If you go, you'll just reflect poorly on the company."

"Let Carter go instead. He's young, energetic, and can represent our company well. You just need to prepare the PowerPoint presentation and the gift bags for the clients."