Chapter 2

"230,000 dollars? Why would he have to work here if he has that kind of money lying around?" Anna snorted.

Peter didn't speak, but he glanced at me before sipping his water.

I continued to stand in front of Zachary's desk while he sat back down and returned to the expense reports. His back was to me. The crown of his head, with its perfectly centered hair whorl, looked almost unnaturally precise.

The keyboard clattered away at a steady pace, and no one said anything to me.

Just then, another message from Bianca appeared in the company group chat.

"Since no one has any objections, I'll consider tonight's arrangements confirmed. Zachary will be taking attendance. I don't want to see a single person missing."

After that, a stream of people began to acknowledge the message.

My phone buzzed with a private message from Ryan.

"Caleb, it's not too late to withdraw your resignation. Ms. Larson says she's willing to give you special treatment by waiving the 200 dollars. Don't be such an ingrate."

Without bothering to respond, I picked up my bag and headed straight for the main entrance.

In my previous life, the flood had swept my bag away. By the time my parents arrived, my body had already bloated from soaking in the water.

I swiped my access card, and the security panel lit up. The words "ACCESS PRIVILEGES SUSPENDED" appeared in red.

I heard footsteps from behind, and Zachary's indifferent drawl rang out.

"The flood emergency response plan has been activated. All entrances and exits have been locked. Access permissions are now under the administration department's control."

I turned around to look at him. "This counts as unlawful detention."

My eyes remained fixed on the red lock icon glowing on the access panel.

Zachary simply turned and walked away.

When I returned to my desk, my phone lit up. Ryan sent me yet another message.

"You're still registered as an employee at our company. If you insist on leaving today, I'll issue a termination letter stating that you were dismissed for serious disciplinary violations.

"That'll be a permanent stain on your record. If you try to get another job, they'll rule you out the moment they run a reference check on you. A history of misconduct also means you won't qualify for any government jobs.

"Of course, if you agree to just cooperate with the company just for tonight, I'll make sure your separation paperwork states that you resigned voluntarily. It's your choice."

I gripped my phone tightly, its glow from the screen illuminating my face.

At the neighboring workstation, Anna was stuffing potato chips into her mouth, munching away loudly.

At 5:30 pm, a message suddenly appeared in the company group chat.

"I heard there was a problem with the client payments from the accounts Caleb was handling."

The chat stayed quiet for less than three seconds. Then someone else replied, "I was wondering why he was in such a hurry to leave. Turns out he's afraid they'll audit the books."

Zachary sent a message to the group chat. "Please do not spread unverified information. The company will handle the matter according to procedure."

But he attached a meme with the tagline "IYKYK".

The others immediately piled on. Some reposted the meme, while others made a show of distancing themselves from the whole affair. A bunch of them just spammed laughing emojis.

Anna turned to the side to eye me.

My blood turned cold. I sat frozen at my desk, unable to move.