Chapter 2

But all of that was ending now.

Picking up the notice and sliding it back to Kevin, I stood up and looked downward at him. "Kevin Zims, was it? You sure are generous, buying a job offer for five hundred grand. Remember to bring this along when you head to Ascendant Tower tomorrow."

Kevin was left stunned for a couple of beats, but he soon slammed his hand on the table and laughed, spilling coffee everywhere.

"Did you get kicked in the head? Why are you pretending to be a big deal? Look in the mirror first!"

He grabbed the offer letter and slapped me across the face with it, its stiff edge scraping painfully against my cheek.

Then he planted his foot on top of my sneaker.

It was the only decent pair of sneakers I owned and I had kept them even after the heels had worn down

Yvie, nestling in his arms, shook with laughter. "Carl, did poverty fry your brain? The way you talked… It's as if you own the place! But you see, you're born to be a dog! Don't even think of getting on our level!"

I hung my head, quietly pressing the record button on my phone and deliberately keeping my tone meek to capture the conversation. "What do you want? I just want a job…"

"I'll tell you the truth. Every interviewer from all three rounds was paid off by my father. Even if you make a scene, no one will believe you."

Pausing, he then kept bragging, "Oh, and by the way, remember that programming competition which you won last year? It's now mine too, thanks to my dad once again. It's now listed on my resume, making it look even prettier."

Yvie giggled as she joined in the gloating.

"Oh, and thank you for your graduate school recommendation. If you hadn't given it to me, then I wouldn't have been able to pay the department head to alter the published result."

Then, she waved her new bracelet at me, gloating as if she had every right. "And thanks to that, I've just withdrawn that money you'd given me for a Birkin bag. You don't have a problem with that, right? Your money is mine anyway."

She was talking about the hundred grand I had worked night and day for, suffering three episodes of stomach bleeding.

Clutching the phone as it grew hot in my pocket, I asked even more softly, "You can have the money and the job offer… Can I go now?"

Kevin chuckled as he took two hundred dollars out of his wallet and flung it at my face. "There. From now on, if you see me with Yvie, turn and leave."

Yvie then patted my cheeks with her cool fingers. "But if you behave, I can let you be my lackey. Kevin could even get you a security guard job—it pays around a grand per month, so you can at least afford canned sardines."

I picked up the two hundred dollars from the floor, folded the notes neatly, and tucked them into my pocket. "Thank you."

Seeing that I was utterly meek and compliant, Kevin left with Yvie in his arms, satisfied.

Passing a waiter, he deliberately knocked over his tray and swore as he strode off.

When I looked up again, my meekness was gone, and I stopped recording.

18 minutes and 27 seconds.

Every word spoken was captured with perfect clarity: stealing my interview project, bribing the interviewers, altering records, misappropriating my startup fund… The confession to every crime, loud and clear.

Just to be extra sure, I made sure I wouldn't lose anything by backing up everything on three different platforms: an encrypted folder, cloud storage, and a backup phone registered under an anonymous number.

Joshua King, the CEO of Ascendant Group, soon texted me.

[Mandy Teller, the HR director, has been detained and questioned. She confessed to receiving a $500,000 bribe and other benefits from Yvie Smith to deduct your interview score.]

[There's also proof of a switch in the recommendation for postgraduate studies. Your name was crossed off with a red ballpoint pen and replaced by Yvie's.]

He also sent photos of the altered records and a document of Mandy's confession.

My eyes were cold as I stared at my name my name crossed out on the paper on the paper and looked up at Ascendant Tower's logo shining in the twilight clouds.

I then replied: [Kevin Zims will be arriving tomorrow. Prepare the evidence. I will be there personally.]

With the recording and two hundred dollars, all debts—new and old—would be settled tomorrow.