Chapter 1

I was the senior project manager who just secured a fifty-million-dollar deal for our company.

Yet, simply because I spent four minutes in the restroom, our HR manager snapped a photo of me from under the stall door and posted it directly into the company-wide WhatsApp group:

"Avery lingered in the restroom on her phone, setting a terrible example for the office. Her entire quarterly bonus is hereby revoked."

"Everyone, take this as a lesson to fix your work ethic."

Staring at the humiliating photo I hadn’t even known was taken, I laughed out of sheer rage.

That very afternoon, I submitted my resignation.

And suddenly, my boss and his entitled HR manager lost their minds.

My name is Avery, senior project manager.

Three days ago, I brought in the largest contract in our company's history.

A staggering fifty million dollars.

During the morning all-hands, our CEO, Robert, grinned so hard his face looked like a crinkled paper bag. He clapped my shoulder enthusiastically. "Avery, you’re our rock star! Just wait until you see your year-end bonus!"

That afternoon, my stomach flared up with severe cramps, so I rushed to the restroom.

Barely a minute after I sat down, my phone pinged. A SnapChat notification popped up from Mr. Davis’s executive assistant, asking for urgent clarification on an indemnification clause in the contract.

Ignoring the cramps, I furiously typed out my confirmation.

The whole thing took less than four minutes.

When I returned to my desk, the atmosphere in the office was suffocatingly bizarre.

Coworkers who usually greeted me warmly averted their eyes, whispering behind their monitors.

Tara, an operations specialist and my closest friend at work, discreetly sent me a SnapChat: "Avery, open the company WhatsApp right now! Something bad happened!"

Because of my workload, I had long muted the massive company group of hundreds of employees.

Frowning, I tapped the notification badge. The next second, all the blood in my veins turned to ice.

In the group chat, our HR manager, Chloe, had posted a photo.

It was taken from floor level, looking directly under the restroom stall door. Although my face was blurred with a pixel box, anyone could tell it was me from my distinctive white blouse and tailored jeans.

In the photo, I was hunched forward looking at my phone—an utterly undignified, compromising angle.

The caption read: "Avery lingered in the restroom on her phone, setting a terrible example for the office. Her entire quarterly bonus is hereby revoked."

"Everyone, take this as a lesson to fix your work ethic. Reply 'Acknowledged' upon reading."

Below it was a long, neat line of "Acknowledged" replies from colleagues. Each one felt like a stinging slap across my face.

I let out a bitter, furious laugh.

Tara leaned over the divider, her eyes full of worry. "Avery, just let it go. Chloe is Robert’s sister-in-law. Robert always protects his family. You just brought in that massive deal—don't ruin your career over this petty drama. If the bonus is gone, it’s gone."

Petty drama?

I had been in that stall for less than four minutes, replying to an urgent client inquiry regarding a fifty-million-dollar deal.

And she called that slacking off?

Looking at that sickening creep shot in the chat, the rage inside me boiled over.

"No way. This is far from over."

I pushed back my chair, grabbed my phone, and marched straight toward HR.