Chapter 4

I glanced at her coldly. "What kind of drama are you trying to stir up now?"

Chloe slapped my payroll sheet onto my desk.

"Claire, let’s not even talk about the past. Just look at the last major project. Everyone worked their asses off and stayed up late with you, yet you took fifty percent of the bonus pool for yourself. Doesn't that money feel dirty?"

"Using your seniority to bully interns and steal your subordinates' hard work—others might tolerate it, but I won't!"

I let out a cold laugh and glanced toward the GM's office.

"Chloe, who gave you my payroll sheet?"

Chloe tapped the paper against my cheek mockingly. "That’s none of your business. Claire, you’d better figure out how to explain this to the team."

"I am here to clean up this toxic workplace. Your good days are over!"

I didn't need to explain anything.

I used my own network and clients to secure one multi-million-dollar contract after another. My contribution went far beyond what was visible on paper.

According to the Chairman's agreement, I was actually entitled to eighty percent of the bonus pool. The other thirty percent I distributed to my team was money I voluntarily gave out of my own pocket to reward them.

But when it came to money, the team immediately sided with Chloe.

Everyone united to isolate me. They dragged their feet on my assignments and even posted anonymously under Chloe's thread:

"Turns out Claire didn't just bully the intern. She’s been screwing over her senior staff for years!"

"I can confirm. She’s my manager. We do all the grunt work, and she pockets all the cash!"

"Gross. She looks like a total fraud..."

Meanwhile, Chloe became their savior.

She walked around the office with her head held high, looking incredibly smug.

"Don't worry, guys. I won't let her rip you off anymore."

"As a Gen Z, I'm here to fix this place. Some corporate parasites won't be around much longer."

With Chloe egging them on, my team's behavior grew worse.

They didn't just slow down their work; if I gave them a stern order, they simply went on strike.

All my personal history was dug up and posted in the comment section. Overnight, I became public enemy number one.

In my ten years of working, I had never felt this disappointed.

When the Chairman returned to the country, I visited his house to discuss the upcoming restructuring. If the current team was uncontrollable, I would simply replace them.

After wrapping up our meeting, I walked out of the Chairman’s villa and bumped into Chloe, who was out shopping nearby.

She waved her phone at me with a smirk. "Claire, do you still have the energy to visit clients at their houses?"

Her young face was filled with mockery.

It was as if she had already crushed me under her heel and couldn't wait to gloat.

I smiled back. "You should worry about yourself first."

The next day, the staff didn't even bother whispering. They pointed and sneered at me openly.

I could hear words like "climbing the casting couch" and "corporate escort" being thrown around.

Before I could figure out what new lie they had cooked up, Justin called me back into his office.

"Claire, your disgraceful behavior has caused our stock price to plummet. A simple fine won’t cut it anymore."

"Pack your bags. You’re fired!"