Chapter 1

To lock in a fifty-million-dollar deal, my boss forced me to work through the entire Christmas holiday.

He promised me that if the contract was signed, he would pay me ten times my usual overtime rate, plus a two percent bonus on the total deal.

I worked non-stop for eight days. I revised the pitch deck dozens of times and practically chased the client down to get his signature. Finally, I closed the deal.

My boss was thrilled. But during our Monday morning meeting, he sent me a $10 transfer on Venmo with the note: "10x Holiday Overtime Pay."

He actually had the nerve to say, "Signing a contract only takes one minute. At your rate, ten times that is ten bucks. I'm being extremely generous here."

To top it off, he announced that his sister would be taking over the project.

I didn't argue. I didn't make a scene. I just packed my bags and walked out.

When we met again, he was drowning in debt, begging me to come back.

On the first day back from the holiday, my boss, Carter, announced to the entire office that I had secured a $50 million deal. He called it a "magnificent start to the year."

My team cheered. Before they could even congratulate me, Carter pulled out his phone. "To reward our biggest hero, I am going to transfer her ten times her holiday overtime pay right here, right now!"

The cheers grew louder. My team members looked at me with sparkling, expectant eyes.

I was a bit confused. The holiday had just ended. I hadn't even submitted my hours or travel expenses on the HR portal yet. Was he just reimbursing me directly?

Still, I didn't think too much of it. I was thrilled. I thanked Carter sincerely and promised my team that once the transfer cleared, I’d take them all out for an expensive dinner to celebrate.

Carter smiled warmly, tapping on his phone. "Alright, sent."

Ten times overtime plus travel expenses should have been at least a few thousand dollars.

I opened my banking app, waiting for the deposit notification. But after a few minutes, nothing showed up.

Confused, I looked up. Carter pointed at his phone.

Did he send it personally to save time?

I opened Snapchat and saw a Venmo notification. The amount: $10.

The memo read, loud and clear: "10x Overtime Pay."

I froze. To secure this contract, I hadn't slept a wink over the holiday. I had revised the strategy over and over again. The client had taken his family on a trip, and I had practically chased him across the state to get his signature, buying expensive gifts out of my own pocket.

And now, Carter was giving me ten dollars?

I couldn't help but snap, "Is this a typo?"

Hearing this, a colleague sitting next to me leaned over to look at my screen. She gasped, "Ten dollars?!"

Carter cleared his throat, putting on his usual lecturing posture. "Ten times overtime is still too little for you? Go ask around. Which company pays ten times overtime during holidays?"

My face turned pale. "I put my own time and money into this project. Even my regular hourly wage is worth more than ten dollars!"

Carter sighed, looking disappointed.

"Chloe, that's not how it works. The client already had every intention of renewing the contract with us. All you did was get a signature.

Besides, I didn't ask you to fly out and meet him in person. You insisted on doing that yourself.

You could have just emailed him the PDF and had him sign it digitally."

He paused, offering a patronizing smile. "But since you did work hard, I won’t let you leave empty-handed.

Let’s say signing a document takes one minute. I value your time at one dollar per minute. Ten times that is ten dollars.

I’ve already transferred it. Just accept it."