Chapter 2

Walter's face turned an ugly shade of crimson.

He pointed his trembling finger at my face, the coffee in his tumbler sloshing around.

"Ethan, are you staging a mutiny? Do you even remember who signs your paychecks?"

I looked at him calmly.

"Mr. Vance, I am trying to save your life."

I wasn't kidding.

In my previous life, his brains were splattered all over the concrete right outside this window because of this exact deal.

Walter didn't buy a single word.

He slammed his tumbler onto the desk.

"Save my life?! The company's operating account has less than thirty grand left!"

"If we don't close this today, none of you will even get paid next month!"

Hearing this, Chloe wept even louder.

She dabbed her eyes, her shoulders shaking in textbook damsel-in-distress fashion.

"Mr. Vance, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have worked so hard for the company's quarterly numbers."

"Ethan has always disliked me. I know I'm just an intern and don't deserve that eight-thousand-dollar commission."

"I'll resign right now! I won't hold the company back!"

She talked a big game about quitting, yet her feet stayed glued to the floor.

Marcus rushed in immediately to stop her.

"Chloe, are you insane? Everyone saw how many all-nighters you pulled for this!"

Brenda screamed in my face, spitting everywhere.

"Ethan, how can you be so vicious? Do you really have to drive this poor girl into a corner to be satisfied?"

"This is workplace harassment! I'm reporting you to the Labor Board!"

I burst out laughing.

"I'm harassing her? Fine."

I reached out and spun Chloe's computer monitor around, showing it to the entire floor.

"You all have working eyes, right? Read it!"

"Clause 14, Subsection 5!"

"'In the event of any product return or rejection, all cross-border shipping, customs clearance, and foreign exchange discrepancies shall be borne entirely by the seller!'"

"That's a classic predatory trap!"

"If the foreign buyer claims non-compliance on quality and rejects the shipment, the penalty combined with logistics fees will easily exceed thirty million dollars!"

"Which of you is going to pay for her? You, Marcus? Or you, Brenda?"

Marcus and Brenda choked on their words instantly.

Both of them instinctively took a step back.

Chloe's expression froze for a fraction of a second.

Then, she threw on her wide-eyed, innocent mask again.

"Ethan, are you paranoid?"

"This client is a European Fortune 500 company! They have top-tier credit! That clause is just their standard legal boiler-plate!"

"I literally had a FaceTime call with their procurement VP yesterday. He personally guaranteed they would never return the goods!"

"He even complimented me on my work ethic!"

I stared at her icily.

"A FaceTime call? Did you record it? Was it notarized? Can you submit it as evidence in an international arbitration court?"

"When that thirty-million-dollar bill arrives, are you going to pay it with your tears, or with your body?"

Chloe turned ghostly white.

Realizing she couldn't out-argue me, she lunged at Walter, grabbing his sleeve.

She subtly loosened her collar, showing off a sliver of pale skin.

"Mr. Vance, the client is waiting in the chat! If we don't stamp the digital seal, the deal is gone!"

"That's three hundred thousand dollars in pure profit! This could save the company!"

At the mention of "three hundred thousand," Walter's eyes turned bloodshot.

The company's cash flow was already in the red. He had even mortgaged his home.

This deal was his desperate, final lifeline.

Greed devoured his last shreds of common sense.

"Ethan!" Walter's voice dropped into a dark, threatening tone.

"I'm going to say this one last time. Log into your account and push the approval through."

"I'm the CEO. If anything goes south, I take full responsibility. It's not your place to worry!"

I looked at this middle-aged man who had once treated me fairly well.

The last ounce of sympathy in my heart went completely cold.

You cannot save a fool hell-bent on running off a cliff.

I reached down and yanked the power cord straight out of my desktop tower.

"I'm not approving it."

"Mr. Vance, since you're so confident, use your super-admin credentials and override it yourself."

Walter was pushed past his breaking point.

"Fine! Fine! Think your wings are too big now, huh?"

"Ethan Rivers, you are officially fired!"

"Get your crap and get the hell out of my building!"

That was the exact outcome I was waiting for.

"Gladly."

I pulled out my phone, opening the voice recorder.

"Mr. Vance, wrongful termination without just cause entitles me to full severance pay under labor law."

"Three years at this company means four months of severance, totaling ten thousand two hundred dollars."

"Wire it right now, and I'll walk out that door."