Chapter 4

The next morning at work, the boss called me into his office.

He told me to hand over my current project to another colleague - the one who got hired through connections.

"But Mr. Parker, we've already gotten the client's signature. We're just waiting on the final payment," I protested. "How can I possibly hand it over now?"

Ryan slammed his hand on the desk.

"You'll do it because I said so! Who's the boss here, you or me?"

"Are you questioning my orders?"

Ryan was right - he did call the shots at the company.

I left his office in silence. Through the glass, I could see his smug smirk.

I knew this was retaliation for yesterday's incident.

Fine by me. I'd been wanting to quit anyway.

Mia's lies had been steadily increasing my bank balance. Money would never be an issue again in this lifetime.

But it wasn't enough. I wanted them to face the consequences of their actions.

From that day on, I showed up to the office but did absolutely nothing.

I ignored all projects, spending my days sipping tea, feeding the office fish, and watering plants.

After a week, Ryan couldn't take it anymore. But he didn't dare confront me directly.

He had HR negotiate my departure, offering a severance package.

Why didn't he just do this from the start instead of wasting a week?

I had gotten what I wanted - fair compensation. I could leave with no regrets.

As I packed up my desk, I felt a twinge of nostalgia for my relaxing week.

But there was no time for sentimentality. My mother-in-law had called, inviting us over for dinner in a couple days. She wanted to discuss her son Tyler's wedding.

I knew it was a trap. They were waiting for me to walk right into it!