Chapter 2

The next morning, at the annual strategy meeting, I was just about to speak when the door slammed open. Maya stood rigidly in the doorway. "Ms. Cooper, you can't issue those benefits!"

Colin tried to relieve the situation, but one look from me shut him down instantly. "Ms. Lawson, this is an executive meeting."

"I know."

She stepped forward briskly and slammed a sheet of paper onto the center of the conference table. "That's exactly why I had to be here. My mom stayed up all night drafting an anti-scam checklist for everyone!"

The handwriting was jagged. The page was full of red circles and exclamation marks.

"An average of a million dollars per staff payout is bait! The Graceland trip is a trap to get you exploited in the trafficking networks! The equity grants are a worthless scam!"

A few of the directors at the table looked gloomy. "Are you finished?"

"No, I'm not!" She lifted her chin high and continued, "I demand that you cancel these fraudulent schemes in front of everyone, or I'll have my mom call the police to arrest you!"

I stood up, walked over to the filing cabinet, and laid out the financial statements, contracts, and flight bookings right in front of her. She didn't even glance at them, though. She just shoved them onto the floor.

"Anyone can fake these! You're not fooling my mom or me!" she screamed.

I called security and had her escorted out. Down the hallway, her shrill yelling echoed. The meeting had been interrupted, and honestly, I was in no mood to continue.

Thus, I decided to step out for some air, only to overhear her quivering voice at the break room doorway. "There's no way a company would hand out money like that. Right, Trina?"

"Exactly. In all my years of cleaning, I've never seen anything like this. Something this unusual always has a catch. Your mom isn't wrong to worry at all."

Trina Smith was our cleaning staff. This year, I had prepared an equal year-end bonus for her as well, though I hadn't had the chance to tell her yet.

"I read online about all those kinds of scams," Trina continued. "Their modus operandi can get really intricate. Yelling like this won't cut it, Maya. You need to get everyone to weigh in on it."

I wanted to stay and listen, but my assistant pinged me to get back and lead the meeting. So, I had no choice but to leave.

That afternoon, a video had gone viral across every platform.

"Six Months In, Trapped in a Scam. The Truth About the Million-Dollar Bonus and Graceland Trip."

In the video, Maya's eyes were red and swollen. She was the perfect picture of a victim. "I had just graduated. I was full of dreams when I joined this startup. I never imagined I'd walk straight into a carefully set-up scam."

She began exposing the company's generous benefits, but never mentioned our record-breaking revenue or the team's overachievement this year.

The whole story made it seem like I was throwing money around recklessly. That wasn't all. The video contained edits of things I had said at the meeting, but they had been taken out of context.

Finally, she stared into the camera with tears in her eyes. "She's forcing us to accept these trap-laced benefits. Say no, and you're labeled unambitious. I'm really scared. I just want to earn a fair salary. Is that so hard?"

The topic became viral. Multiple headlines read similarly, "Startup Gives Million-Dollar Bonus to Each Employee—A New Type of Scam?"

When I clicked in, the comments were a tidal wave of outrage.

"Holy shit. This boss is heartless, scamming fresh grads, too."

"A million dollars and a Graceland trip? Not even my ex gave me such empty promises."

"I fully support bringing this to the authorities. Lock up the boss behind the scam!"

Meanwhile, my phone wouldn't stop buzzing. Unknown numbers kept calling, and my inbox flooded with alerts.

In just half a day, my personal information was exposed. Even a blurry photo I had posted years ago at an industry forum had been dug up and plastered online.

A knock sounded at the office door. The admin peeked in, flustered. "Ms. Cooper, there's a content creator downstairs filming. They're saying they're exposing a shady company…"

I waved them off, speechless.

Hansel slammed his fist on the table. "Maya, that idiot! She doesn't know a damn thing! I'm going down there to set things straight."

"Don't," I blurted out, my voice coming out hoarse. "Doing that just feeds the story."

"Then, what? Allow her to defame us?"

A few of the employees had glassy eyes. "We fought tooth and nail for that revenue, and she's now painting the money we've earned as a scam?"

I knew everyone was waiting for that payout.

Andrew needed it to clear his mortgage. Hansel was counting on the equity to fund his son's overseas education. The tech team had been plotting which gear to bring on the Graceland trip…

Now, it was all ruined because of one person.

My phone buzzed again. A supplier I had worked with for years was calling.

"Ms. Cooper, what's going on with that viral video? Our finance team is concerned, saying that the public backlash is getting more serious. I was wondering if we can hold off on the final payment for now."

I parted my lips, wanting to explain, but the words seemed stuck in my throat.

What could I even say? To whom was my explanation owed? Under that maliciously edited video, who would want to look at my financial reports and flight bookings?

They only wanted the story that they wanted to see—the fight between a heartless boss and an innocent newbie, and a righteous reckoning.

As I hesitated, the internal line rang sharp and insistent. "Ms. Cooper, the FTC and IRS are here."