The Bonus That Got Me Arrested

"And now, please welcome this year's Employee of the Year: Skye Kiersey!"

Desmond Ackman's voice blasted through the speakers, sharp enough to make my ears ring.

I opened my eyes. On the LED screen ahead, a line of text glowed: Employee of the Year Award Bonus: 10,000,000 dollars.

Ten million dollars. I stared at that string of zeros and felt a shiver run through me.

I had been reborn. I was back at the very beginning of all this.

In my last life, I'd stood on this same stage and lost my mind over that ten million. I took the giant check in front of the entire company, watching Desmond work the computer as he wired the money into my bank account. In that moment, I'd thought I'd won at life.

The next morning, the police kicked down my door. The company had reported me for delusional disorder, claiming I'd exploited a loophole in the finance system to siphon off ten million dollars.

Every video of the award ceremony and every transfer record on my phone had turned into garbled nonsense. Hundreds of my coworkers all told the same story: there had never been any ten million dollars. I'd just gotten drunk and made a scene on stage.

In the end, I died strapped to an electroshock chair in a psychiatric hospital.

But nobody knew that during those endless nights of "treatment," I hadn't actually lost my mind. Over and over in my head, I replayed every ledger entry and every system vulnerability from the company's last five years, along with every piece of Desmond's money-laundering scheme.

"Skye, what are you standing around for? Get up here!"

Desmond waved me over, his warm smile hiding a killer's intent.

I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms. I had to stay calm. If I turned down the award now, it would only push them to move against me sooner and paint me as having snapped right there on the spot.

I walked up onto the stage.

"Mr. Ackman, this bonus is far too generous."

Desmond gripped my hand, his strength surprising.

"Skye, you've earned every cent of it. The company's had beautiful financial reports these past few years, and that's all thanks to you."

He turned to face the crowd.

"Everyone, isn't Skye a model employee for this company?"

"Yes!"

Hundreds of voices roared back at once, the sound shaking the room.

I spotted Vivian Landers, the finance director, in the crowd. She wore a red dress, her eyes fixed on me.

In my last life, I'd thought she was my closest confidante. I hadn't known she was the one actually running the money-laundering operation. She was the one who'd doctored the financial logs and sent me straight to my death.

"Skye, take out your phone. I'll transfer the money right now, in front of everyone."

Desmond held up a tablet, his tone leaving no room for argument.

I pulled out my phone. That tablet could fake a transfer and even spoof a bank text message.

A notification chimed.

[Your account has received: 10,000,000 dollars]

The whole room broke into applause.

"Skye, why are you spacing out? Say a few words!"

Vivian called out from the crowd, her eyes flickering.

I looked at the balance on my screen and smiled coldly to myself. In my last life, I'd taken a photo of that screen and posted it, sent it to my parents. But the message had never actually gone out. It only existed inside a private network Vivian had built.

"Mr. Ackman, this honor is too much."

I took the microphone, my voice steady.

"To thank you and the company for everything you've invested in me, I've decided to take half of this bonus and start a foundation.

"I'd like Ms. Landers to oversee it for me.

"The other half, I want to donate to children in impoverished mountain regions."

The noise below went silent for a beat. I looked at Desmond's face, already going rigid, and smiled.

"This foundation will be supervised by an independent auditing firm. It'll exist specifically to reward employees with the integrity to expose corporate fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering.

"Ms. Landers, as the head of finance, I know I can count on your support, right?"

Vivian's face went white. The champagne glass in her hand nearly slipped from her fingers.

They couldn't afford to donate a cent of it. That ten million was a hole they'd dug through embezzlement. What they'd handed me was dirty money, and they'd been counting on my name to launder it clean. If they actually donated it, they'd have to produce real cash, and the whole scheme would fall apart.

"Skye, had a bit too much to drink, haven't you?"

"Not at all. I'm perfectly clear-headed," I said flatly.

Desmond clapped me on the shoulder, his grip suddenly tightening.

"We'll sort out the foundation and the donation after the new year. For now, let's drink!"

He pushed a glass of champagne into my hand. I knew it had been spiked with something that could overstimulate my nerves, maybe even trigger hallucinations. I drank it in one go.

Desmond pulled my hand up again to show me off to the room. Amid the cheering, I felt the weight pressing down on me. Tomorrow, every one of these few hundred people would become a "witness" against me.

Vivian walked me back to my seat. She rested a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close to my ear.

"Skye, don't go home tonight. Let's head up to the rooftop and really enjoy ourselves. What do you say?"

I turned to look at her face, a cold dread crawling through me.

"Sure."

I let my eyes go hazy and nodded. Under the guise of wiping sweat from my neck, I touched my collar.

There it was: the "Employee of the Year" medal Desmond had hung around my neck.