Chapter 1 The Dog Bowl

The stainless-steel bowl sat beneath the banquet lights, the metallic finish nearly blinded me.

It was no longer simply a dog bowl; it now contained half-eaten food, scraps, and greasy leftovers.

Grant stood on the stage, dangling my year-end bonus check between two fingers. His beady eyes glinted with amusement, like he was a circus master waiting for his cheap little circus act to perform.

I inhaled deeply.

This time, I didn't lower my head.

I didn't bend my back like I always had just to pick up their so-called "reward."

Instead, I reached up and removed the employee badge I had worn around my neck for the past five years.

Then, I flicked my wrist.

'Clang.'

The badge sliced through the air in a clean arc and landed straight inside the greasy dog bowl.

Soup splashed up from the bottom of the bowl, and a few drops hit the polished leather shoes of the company's top sales rep.

The laughter in the room died instantly.

"Caleb, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Vivienne Cross, the administrative director, shoved her way out of the crowd in a pair of red-bottom stilettos.

The evening gown she had custom-ordered for the holiday party looked tight across her chest and waist now, pulled stiff by her anger.

"Have you lost your mind?" she snapped. "Mr. Whitlock was just joking. He was keeping the party alive. What the hell are you doing?"

She jabbed a finger toward my face, so close she almost touched my nose.

"Stop throwing a tantrum like a child. In this economy, you'll be nothing without us. And don't you even think about saying that we need you for facilities? Please. We could chain a dog to a desk, and it could do your job better than you. Don't act like you're some big deal."

I looked at this woman who had only been brought in six months ago.

She had screamed in the office because the printer jammed just yesterday. She had yowled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, demanding that I drop everything just to fix her problem.

I slowly removed the black trash bag from my shoulders, crumpled it, and dropped it at my feet.

I said calmly, "Well, Ms. Cross, I feel so much better knowing that you think a dog can do the job."

I straightened my collar, my flat. "In that case, I guess there's no need for a handover. I'll give you the keys now. I quit."

Vivienne clearly had not expected me to say those words.

She hesitated for half a second before turning back to Grant, who remained on stage. We saw him make a sweeping motion with his hand, as if dismissing a fly.

Vivienne immediately lifted her chin and replied snootily, "Fine. I'll watch you pack. I want to make sure you won't be able to walk out of here with so much as a paper clip."

Vivienne sat in my passenger seat on the drive back to the office. My patience frayed as she just wouldn't stop talking.

She complained that she had spent weeks planning the company's upscale holiday gala, and that she was now missing the final raffle because of me.

She was still seething by the time we got to the 15th floor, which was devoid of anyone.

I walked to my desk and picked up the heavy ring of keys sitting beside my keyboard.

"These are for the electrical rooms on the 15th and 16th floors," I explained, showing them to her one at a time. "These keys are for the server and network rooms. These are for Storage A and Storage B. This is the spare key to Mr. Whitlock's office..."

That key ring had taken me years to build, one key at a time.

Vivienne stood beside me like a prison guard, scowling in disgust.

"Just leave them there," she urged. "Hurry up and get lost. We'll just hire a contractor for manual labor like this. I never understood why we even had a dead weight like you on payroll."

I opened my drawer and began packing my personal belongings. There wasn't much—just a coffee mug and a small cactus.

When I put my lighter and a packet of instant coffee into my bag, Vivienne suddenly stepped forward and snatched the backpack from my hand.

"I need to check it."

She dumped everything onto the desk.

She only tossed my bag back at me after confirming there were no company hard drives, files, or documents inside.