Chapter 2

Holding a funeral was no small expense. Bradley checked every bank account he had, but he could only scrape together 200 dollars, which was pitifully little. Ever since joining Perkins Group, everything he did for the company was treated as his duty and nothing more. Because of that, Sierra had never paid him a salary.

Bradley had been forced to live off his savings, and now, he was completely broke. Still, the funeral had to happen, so he contacted the finance department and asked for a six-month advance on his salary.

To his surprise, the finance manager hesitated and stammered, "M-Ms. Perkins already told me ahead of time not to give you any special favors..."

"How is this a special favor?" Bradley exclaimed in disbelief.

Perkins Group prided itself on taking care of its people. In the past, whenever employees made similar requests, they had always been approved. Bradley couldn't understand why it was suddenly considered special treatment when it came to him.

Furious, Bradley asked the funeral home to keep Kristey's body for a little longer. Then, he rushed over to the Perkins Group building.

Sierra was in a meeting, so Bradley explained that he needed to see her about something important.

However, David refused to let him through. He said firmly, "I'm sorry, but Ms. Perkins doesn't allow anyone to interrupt her during meetings. That applies especially to you, Mr. Jaeger."

But the very next second, Bradley watched Harvey walk up with a laptop in his arms and push open the conference room door.

Sierra's icy gaze softened the moment she saw him. She raised her fair, slender hand to pause the meeting. Then she smiled at Harvey and asked gently, "What's wrong?"

Harvey sat beside her. "Sierra, I forgot how to change the formatting in a document."

And so, in front of everyone, Sierra personally began teaching Harvey.

Outside the conference room, mocking and pitying looks fell on Bradley one after another.

Someone whispered, "Harvey really is the exception to Ms. Perkins' rules. As for Bradley, anyone who didn't know he was her fiancé would think he was just free labor."

Another chimed in, "Last time, while Bradley was busy cleaning up the team's mess, Ms. Perkins took Harvey to a fancy restaurant for a candlelit dinner that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in one night!"

Bradley forced a bitter smile.

Sierra had spent six figures on Harvey in a single night, yet he was so broke that he couldn't even come up with a few hundred dollars. She taught Harvey the most basic things, yet whenever he had encountered a problem and asked her for help, she had merely glanced coldly toward the door.

She would say, "Get out. As my fiancé, you should at least know how to do these things."

Sierra's patience was reserved only for the people she cared about. It was such an obvious truth, yet he hadn't understood it until he was battered and broken.

When the meeting finally ended, Bradley took a deep breath and stood in front of Sierra. "I need an advance on my salary."

He had expected her to refuse. Instead, Sierra just nodded, cool and composed as ever.

She replied, "Fine. But I have a condition. There's a project on a tight deadline, and you'll complete it together with Harvey."

Everything Sierra ever gave him always came with strings attached. Bradley fell silent for a moment before forcing a bitter smile. In a hoarse voice, he agreed. He had already sized it up, and the proposal wasn't difficult. With his skills, it would only take him two days. Meanwhile, the funeral just had to be held within seven days.

However, he never could have imagined how much trouble Harvey would cause him.

First, Harvey "accidentally" spilled coffee all over Bradley's laptop, and every file was lost. Then, he mistakenly sent the draft to a competitor, which meant Bradley had to come up with an even more flawless proposal.

What should have taken two days was dragged out until the seventh.

When Bradley turned in the brand-new proposal after staying up all night, his eyes were completely bloodshot. Finally, he got the notification that his salary had been deposited. But when he took a closer look, he saw that his six-month advance was only 2,000 dollars.

Bradley couldn't believe it, so he went to a coworker in the finance department to demand an explanation.

The coworker insisted that there was no mistake. "Your pay is based on the company's minimum standard. On top of that, Ms. Perkins deducted most of it. The reason was... that you didn't complete the task the way she required."

Just then, Harvey walked over as well. The moment the coworker saw him, he broke into a warm smile and spoke in a fawning voice.

"Harvey, your 500,000-dollar project bonus just came through, and Ms. Perkins personally had it rushed. Congratulations!"

"Sierra is way too generous." Harvey arched an eyebrow, then turned to Bradley with a smile. "I should thank Bradley too, since the project got a great rating and the bonus turned out pretty nice."

He seemed grateful on the surface, but it was really a hidden provocation.

Bradley's heart sank, and his voice turned cold. "I completed that entire project by myself! You didn't contribute anything, so why are you the one getting the bonus?"

Harvey looked as if he had been frightened, and his face went pale. "This was Sierra's decision..."

Bradley couldn't stand another second of Harvey's exaggerated, phony act. He immediately pulled out his phone and called Sierra.