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One Joke Too Many
One Joke Too Many
作者: Every Year

Chapter 1

作者: Every Year
The room went dead quiet when I said I would take the prize, but that quiet did not last.

A second later, laughter thundered through the air. Lily Smith was the loudest, doubling over with tears streaming from her eyes.

"How else could she be the top seller?" she cackled. "A woman like her has to have skin as thick as a rhino."

I ignored her snide comments and kept my cool.

"Just to be clear," I said, "since the company so generously 'rewarded' me with bathroom duty, that's all I'll be doing for the next three days. Everything else is off my plate."

Lily paused, her smile faltering. She had not seen that coming.

Well, it was year-end, and I had already smashed our sales goals. The only thing left was for our clients to finish up their payments, and we would be golden.

By stepping back from sales, I was practically gifting Lily millions in deals!

She must have thought I had gone bonkers with rage because she agreed without a second thought.

"Alright, you're off the hook," she said. "The sales team isn't a one-person show. You think we can't spin without you?

"Just stick to scrubbing toilets for the next few days. Spot a single hair, and you're out!"

I did not bother with a comeback. I just walked away, pulled out my phone, and shot a message to my client list.

[Big news, I'm being shuffled around. Hold off on those bank payments and stay tuned for my next move.]

Before I could pocket my phone, Seth Hoffman's text popped up.

[Drop by my office. We need to talk.]

I tossed my phone aside like it was nothing. I had bigger fish to fry.

We fell for each other back in our college days, and after we tossed our caps, Seth convinced me to ditch a job that would have made me a millionaire, so we could build something from the ground up together.

He promised me that once our little startup hit the jackpot of 150 million, we would tie the knot for real.

I bought into his tall tales, pouring my heart and soul into the company, only to be sidelined and squashed down time and time again.

Lily was a newbie, barely three months in, and her numbers were peanuts compared to mine.

However, Seth was all starry-eyed over her fancy international background and her time abroad, so he skipped right over me and handed her the sales director crown.

Me? I was the sales champ three years running, and what did I get? The 'glorious' job of scrubbing toilets for three days.
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  • One Joke Too Many   Chapter 10

    When the heat was on, Lily tried to weasel her way out, saying the company made her do it, trying to pin it all on the now-defunct Hoffman Real Estate and Seth. However, the evidence was clear: it was all her doing, with a side of spite.In the end, she got slapped with a sentence and had to pay back every penny she swiped.With that, her name was mud in the industry. She got blacklisted, and it was clear as day, no real estate biz would touch her with a ten-foot pole.As for me, I was already turning the page to a new chapter in my life.…Three days after I said goodbye to Hoffman Real Estate, I kept my appointment and walked into the Cosmos Property Group building for an interview.The deal with Cosmos Property was a slam dunk. The bigwigs there were super impressed with what I could do, and we shook hands on a partnership right then and there.Day one on the job, they hooked me up with my own crew and a swanky office.The team was all smiles and high-fives, treating me like

  • One Joke Too Many   Chapter 9

    "The clients didn't back out because of me stirring things up–they left because they trust me. It was bound to happen. Without me, Hoffman Real Estate was going to lose them. That's not on me. Seth's the one who doesn't know how to value people, who ran his own company into the ground!"I've poured so much into the company, sacrificed so much for Seth, and you never bothered to ask. Seth throws a few crumbs your way, and you treat his word like it's law, then turn on me! Did it ever cross your mind that I'm your daughter?"I let it all out in one go, my voice growing raw until I was sobbing too hard to speak.The line went dead silent.It felt like forever before she finally whispered, "Is all that...true? Did Seth really do that to you?""Every single word." I said firmly, "I don't need to make up lies about him."Mom, I get it. You think it's super important for a girl to snag a great guy. But what I really want you to understand is that a girl can rock it solo, too. A guy like

  • One Joke Too Many   Chapter 8

    [Janice, we've been together for twelve years. You can't just stand by and watch me crash and burn. If you'll help out, we can tie the knot right away.][I know you're still mad. Whatever you want to make it right, it's yours, just as long as you come back and help me out of this jam!]I looked at those hollow apologies and empty promises and felt nothing but annoyance.Seth must have been dreaming if he thought a couple of flimsy apologies were going to make me come back and clean up his mess.I blocked his number without a second thought, and peace reigned once more.Alas, I never imagined Seth would show up at my front door."Janice, I know you're in there. Can you open the door, please?""I just need to talk to you, just a few words! Janice, please!"I stood behind the door, completely unfazed."Seth, just go. We're done, and there's nothing left for us to talk about."Hearing my voice, Seth pounded on the door even harder."Janice, I messed up, I really did! I shouldn't

  • One Joke Too Many   Chapter 7

    "I spent three years dragging Hoffman out of the mud. There's no way Janice can tank it in one day!"Janice can reel in clients, and so can everyone else! Here's the game plan: every single employee drops what they're doing and hits the sales floor. We're selling houses, people! I can't believe we can't outdo one Janice with the whole team on it!"However, things were spiraling even faster than Seth feared.The very next morning, as the sales office opened up, a bunch of suppliers showed up, contracts in hand, crowding the front desk and demanding that Seth sort out the late payments.They were playing hardball, threatening to sue Hoffman and cut off all future supplies if they did not cough up the cash for the building materials in three days.As if that was not enough, the bank folks came knocking, too.Hoffman was behind on a whopper of a loan, and the bank was giving us one week to settle up, or they would start seizing assets.With all that drama, the few folks who were act

  • One Joke Too Many   Chapter 6

    Back at Hoffman Real Estate, I was just another sales rep, pulling in a basic paycheck while busting my hump to keep the company's numbers up. What did I get for it? The 'honor' of scrubbing toilets. Talk about a slap in the face.However, with Cosmos Property, it was as though someone turned on the spotlight–my worth was crystal clear. My hard work? It was getting the fair shake it deserved."Cosmos Property's offer? I'm feeling it. The gig and the perks are top-notch. Count me in for digging into the nitty-gritty."Maverick perked up even more at my words."Fantastic, Ms. Stewart! How about we pencil in a tour of the Cosmos Property HQ? You can meet the bigwigs, and we'll hash things out in person."And don't sweat the contract details. We'll tailor everything to fit you like a glove–satisfaction guaranteed."We chatted for a solid 20 minutes, setting up a face-to-face at Cosmos Property's main office in three days.Once I hung up, all the pent-up feelings I had been lugging a

  • One Joke Too Many   Chapter 5

    The employee was on edge, but Seth cut him off with a sharp tone before he could finish."What are you talking about? Over a hundred cancellations?"He stepped forward and grabbed the employee by the collar. "Is there some mistake? These customers paid deposits. Why would they all cancel at once?"Lily pushed her way in, fixing a hard gaze on the employee. "There's got to be a mistake. Check it again!"Is this some kind of sick joke? Someone pretending to be a customer just to mess with us?"The employee, scared stiff by their reaction, shook his head desperately. "I've triple-checked. The calls are from the customers' official numbers, and lots of them have sent emails to cancel. It's no joke!"Seth's face turned a shade of stormy gray, and he spun to face me, standing by the elevator."Janice! You're behind this, aren't you?"You can't stand the thought of resigning, so you're stirring up customers to cancel, trying to bring down the company!"Lily caught on, and her voice r

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