Chapter 2

I was so angry I almost laughed.

I had bought this Mercedes AMG for over a hundred thousand dollars, and I barely let a speck of dust touch it. Yet, the intern Chloe Bennett was treating it like her own personal trash can.

Seeing my dark expression, Chloe rolled her eyes impatiently.

"We’re colleagues, Claire. There’s no need to look at me like that. Don’t forget, the General Manager, Justin, is my brother’s best friend from college. He specifically told you to take good care of me.

From now on, you should pick me up and drop me off. That way, you can mentor me on the road and have someone to talk to. It’s a win-win, right?"

Relying on her connection with Justin, Chloe was treating me like her personal chauffeur.

My temper flared. I narrowed my eyes and smiled. "Your place is over thirty miles from mine. The gas money alone is a lot. Even if I am your manager, I have no obligation to drive you for free, right?"

"Oh, come on. How much could gas possibly be? I'll split it with you. Just drive. My game is about to start."

Chloe pushed herself back against the leather seat, her dirty feet still resting on the console. "I gotta admit, your leather seats are way more comfortable than the city bus."

I didn't say another word. I stepped on the gas and drove toward the outer suburbs, stopping at a gas station halfway there.

Chloe had just finished a round of her game. "Why did we stop? Claire, we’re still far from my place."

"Didn't you say we’d split the cost? Transfer me the money first."

Chloe rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Fine, fine. I'll just Venmo you for the whole month, okay? A bus ticket is only two dollars. I'll give you a hundred for the month. Consider the extra as a—"

Before she could finish, I thrust the gas receipt in front of her. "Chloe, can you even do basic math? I just put seventy dollars of gas in the tank.

A round trip to your place eats up a third of it. Twice a day, even with a discount, is at least fifty dollars."

"Plus, you dirtied my brand-new leather seats. A professional detail for this car costs at least a hundred dollars. Carrying someone like you means I'd have to clean it daily. That adds up to over four thousand dollars a month. Venmo me now."

Chloe clutched her phone, her face turning bright red. "Claire, Justin told you to look after me! Why are you being so cheap with me? I'm just an intern. I don't even make four thousand a month. How am I supposed to pay you that?"

"Oh, so you don't have the money!"

I unlocked the doors, reached over, and pushed her out of the car. "Then stop acting like a spoiled brat. Find your own way home."

Feeling a rush of satisfaction, I hummed a tune all the way home.

A hundred dollars to use my brand-new hundred-thousand-dollar Mercedes as her private Uber? In her dreams.

The next day at the office, my colleagues looked at me with strange expressions. Some were whispering behind my back.

I immediately realized what was happening. The intern was mad about being dumped on the highway last night. She was spreading rumors.

Someone tapped my shoulder. "Claire, you need to check the local Reddit thread."

I opened it. A post titled "Intern Brutally Bullied: Dumped on the Highway at Midnight by Her Toxic Manager" was pinned at the very top.

I clicked on it. One photo showed Chloe looking miserable and shivering on the side of the road. Another was a shot of my back as I got into the driver’s seat.

The top comments were vicious:

"Isn't this Claire Miller, the top sales manager from the marketing department? Not only does she exploit her interns, but she also dumps them in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. How can anyone be so heartless?"

"No wonder she’s the top sales agent. She built her career on exploiting her subordinates..."

The people from my department had all seen the post. They were now crowding around Chloe, offering her comfort.

Chloe held her head high, her sharp voice dripping with fake hurt.

"I worked so hard until midnight. Instead of getting a simple thank you, I was abused just because I'm an intern."

"I used to think corporate bullying was just something you read about online. Now I know how real it is..."

I didn't care about a few stupid rumors.

But normally, I only cared about my work and didn't socialize much with my team. Now, their attitude was starting to affect the workplace. To prevent this drama from ruining our productivity, I walked over to the main screen and played my dashcam footage for everyone to see.

The people who had been pitying Chloe a second ago suddenly distanced themselves from her, their eyes wide with shock.

"A hundred bucks for a monthly private Mercedes ride? Is she insane?"

"Leaving bare feet on the console is one thing, but wiping boogers on the seat? She looks so clean, but she’s actually so gross..."

Publicly exposed, Chloe’s face flushed a deep crimson. She clenched her fists and stormed out of the office.

Before she left, she glared at me with pure hatred.

This wasn't over.