Chapter 5

"Fired?"

I looked up, meeting Sebastian's eyes directly.

"Mr. Sterling, I'm afraid you can't unilaterally terminate my employment."

I pulled the neatly folded contract from my pocket and spread it open.

"Firstly, my employer is Ms. Sterling."

"Secondly, according to Article 4, Section 3 of the contract, if the employer wishes to terminate the contract early, written notice must be given thirty days in advance, and Party B, which is me, must be paid twelve months' salary as economic compensation."

I paused, then added:

"Additionally, since the contract's service term is 'for life,' it falls under special clauses."

"According to relevant judicial interpretations, early termination in such a case should be regarded as compensation for the loss of my entire professional career."

"Twelve months might not be enough."

Sebastian's face visibly darkened.

Tiffany, even more eager, interjected:

"What? Seb! Listen to her! She's trying to extort us!"

"Extortion?"

I waved the contract in my hand.

"Ms. Sterling, it's all in black and white. You signed it yourself."

"How can that be extortion? That's called 'contractual integrity'."

Sebastian glared at me furiously.

He probably hadn't been defied like this in his entire life, especially not by someone he considered a "maid."

"Fine. You don't want to leave, do you?"

He walked to the sofa, sat down, crossing his legs, his posture casual yet radiating an intimidating presence.

"Then stay."

"Tiffany,"

He looked at his sister,

"Since Ms. Collins is so professional and so eager to keep her job, why don't you give her more 'professional' tasks?"

He deliberately emphasized "professional."

"Let her really experience whether working for the Sterling family is worth that $1800 monthly salary."

Tiffany caught on immediately, a malicious grin spreading across her face.

"Understood, Seb! I'll make sure Ms. Collins gets 'more than her money's worth'!"

The real game, now began.

Tiffany's first move was to make me clean the entire outdoor swimming pool by hand.

It was early winter, and the pool water was bone-chilling.

"Avery Collins, I want to see your reflection at the bottom of the pool before dark."

"No tools allowed, no draining the water. Just use your hands, scrub it clean, little by little!"

Maria, the housekeeper, couldn't bear to watch and secretly tried to hand me some tools.

I shook my head, refusing.

Without another word, I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pant legs, and stepped directly into the water.

The icy pool water enveloped my body, the cold searing from my feet all the way to the crown of my head.

I gritted my teeth, using my hands and a single rag to scrub the tiles on the pool walls.

Tiffany sat on the second-floor balcony, sipping hot coffee and watching me.

I could feel Sebastian's gaze, too, projected from his study window.

All afternoon, I stayed in the water, not saying a single "no."

By the time the sun set, I had finally completed the task.

When I climbed out of the pool, I was drenched.

My lips were blue with cold, and my entire body was trembling uncontrollably.

I walked under the balcony, looking up at Tiffany.

"Ms. Sterling, the pool is clean. Please inspect it."

Tiffany, probably not expecting me to actually endure it, paused before curling her lip in disdain.

"Fine. You know what's good for you."

I turned, dragging my stiff body towards the staff quarters.

Passing the living room, Sebastian called out to me.

"Stop."

I halted.

He walked down from upstairs, a clean towel in his hand, and tossed it onto the floor in front of me.

"Clean yourself up. Don't drip water everywhere."

I looked at the towel on the ground, not moving.

"Mr. Sterling, I am your sister's 'private assistant.' I am not required to follow your instructions."

"If you insist, then cleaning the floor now would be considered overtime, and overtime pay would be required."

6.

"Overtime pay?"

"Avery Collins, do you think I can't do anything to you?"

"I'm merely stating the terms of the contract."

He advanced towards me, step by step.

"Do you really believe I don't have a hundred ways to make you unable to stay in this house, and without a single penny?"

"I believe you."

I nodded,

"But those methods probably aren't entirely legal."

"And I, for one, have few virtues, but I do enjoy being precise, especially when it comes to legal matters."

We faced each other, neither willing to back down.

Finally, he conceded, pulling a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and tossing it onto the floor.

"Is that enough?"

I bent down, picked up the money, and then, right in front of him, carefully wiped the water from my hands with it.

After wiping, I handed the damp, crumpled bill back to him.

"Mr. Sterling, please process overtime pay through the company's finance department. I do not accept cash."

"Additionally, according to labor law, overtime outside of statutory holidays should be paid at no less than one hundred and fifty percent of the normal wage."

"My hourly rate is $1800 divided by 21.75 working days, then divided by 8 hours, which is approximately $10.34 per hour."

"Based on the duration of the floor cleaning, you should pay me..."

I pulled out my phone, opening the calculator.

"...approximately $4.00. Thank you."

Sebastian stared at me as if I were a monster, then, after a long moment, squeezed two words through gritted teeth.

"Get out."

"Certainly, Mr. Sterling."

I turned to leave, naturally not taking the towel from the floor.

That night, I inevitably spiked a high fever.

I lay in the staff quarters, burning up, every bone aching deep in my bones.

Sebastian and Tiffany wanted this exact outcome: for me to give up and leave on my own.

But I wouldn't.

I forced myself up, chugging several large cups of hot water.

Then, I swallowed two fever reducers and wrapped myself tightly in blankets.

The next morning, at six o'clock, I appeared at Tiffany's bedroom door again, on the dot.

My face was pale, my voice hoarse, but my back was ramrod straight.

"Good morning, Ms. Sterling. It is precisely six o'clock."

Tiffany looked at me as if she'd seen a ghost.

"You... you can still get up?"

"Thanks to you, I'm not dead yet."

I managed a weak but standard smile.

Over the next few days, Tiffany tortured me even more relentlessly.

She made me hand-wash mountains of designer clothes;

Scrub the soles of dozens of her shoes with a toothbrush;

She even made me get up at three in the morning to buy late-night snacks from that place across town.

I did everything, without a single complaint.

But I recorded all her instructions on my phone and meticulously logged my working hours.

On payday at the end of the month, I sent a detailed overtime summary, along with the audio evidence, to the Sterling Group's finance and legal departments.

The CFO's face went green when he saw the overtime request totaling a five-figure sum and immediately reported it to Sebastian.

That afternoon, Sebastian called me to his study.

It was my first time in his study; the walls were lined with books, and a faint, cool cedarwood scent permeated the air.

He slammed the overtime application onto his desk in front of me.

"Avery Collins, have you had enough fun?"

"Mr. Sterling, I'm merely claiming the compensation I'm owed, according to the contract and the law."

"Aren't you afraid I'll actually..."

"No."

I interrupted him,

"Because I know Mr. Sterling is a man of integrity."

"It's not worth it to cause a labor dispute over such a small amount of money, thereby damaging the Sterling Group's reputation."

He stared at me with a complex expression for at least three minutes.

There was anger, confusion, and something else... something I couldn't quite read.

He still picked up the phone on his desk and dialed an internal extension.

"Finance department? Process Avery Collins's overtime pay, every single cent."

He hung up and leaned back in his chair.

"What exactly do you want?"

"Mr. Sterling, you're overthinking it. This corporate drone is just sticking to the contract."

I replied.

7.

My refusal to compromise completely wore down Tiffany's patience.

She realized that these petty tricks couldn't faze me at all.

Instead, they only gave me leverage, allowed me to rake in a substantial amount of overtime pay, and seemed to pique Sebastian's interest in me.

She decided to play a more vicious hand, to destroy me.

One day, she called me to her room, smiling sweetly.

"Avery, you've worked so hard these past few weeks."

"I was out of line before, please don't take it to heart."

She personally poured me a glass of water.

I didn't drink it.

"Ms. Sterling, please get to the point."

Her smile froze for a moment, then she continued:

"It's like this, my brother has a very important project he's working on lately."

"But it seems a rival company has bribed someone inside our organization and has been stealing our confidential business information."

She lowered her voice, speaking conspiratorially:

"My brother suspects the mole is someone close to him."

I listened quietly, waiting for her to continue.

"Avery, you're so smart. I was hoping you could help me with something."

She pulled a small USB drive from her drawer.

"This is a spare key to my brother's study."

"I want to ask you to go to his computer tonight, after he falls asleep, and install a program from this USB drive."

"It's a monitoring program that can help us catch the mole."

She clasped my hand, her eyes "pleading."

"I know this is dangerous, but I really can't find anyone else I can trust."

"Ryan... you know, he's too honest, he can't handle this kind of thing."

"It's only you, Avery!"

"If you succeed, I'll definitely put in a good word for you with my brother, and he'll give you a raise and a promotion!"

Was my "clueless assistant" act really that convincing?

Ms. Sterling was setting such an obvious trap for me.

Even with my toes, I could figure out that the moment I plugged that USB drive into Sebastian's computer, the little program or virus inside would instantly steal core data from the computer and automatically send it to a designated email address.

And that email address, nine times out of ten, would belong to the Sterling Group's competitor.

By then, Sebastian would lose the project, and the charge of corporate espionage would fall squarely on me.

Stealing trade secrets was enough to make me rot in jail.

Tiffany's move was undeniably vicious.

I looked at her, deciding to play along. I just couldn't guarantee the final outcome.

I put on a flustered, overwhelmed expression.

"Ms. Sterling, do you really... trust me that much?"

"Of course!"

She nodded vigorously,

"We're going to be family, after all!"

"Alright."

I took the USB drive, clutching it tightly in my hand,

"I agree. For you and Ryan, I'm willing to take the risk."

That night, deep in the quiet hours.

Following the plan, I took the key and softly opened the door to Sebastian's study.

The study lights were off, only moonlight streamed in through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting dappled shadows on the floor.

I walked to the desk and opened Sebastian's laptop.

Then, I pulled out the USB drive.

I deliberately acted nervous, my hand trembling slightly, missing the USB port a few times.

Just as I was about to insert the USB drive.

The study lights suddenly flickered on.

Sebastian stood in the doorway, his face grim, watching me.

Behind him, stood a smug Tiffany Sterling.

"Avery Collins, what are you doing?"