Chapter 2

At Harris Advertising's annual holiday gala, my boss, Richard Harris, stood on the stage, his voice booming through the microphone.

"Team! This year, Harris Advertising hit a milestone of one hundred million dollars in revenue!"

"This couldn't have happened without every single one of you!"

Out of that hundred million, eighty million was brought in by me alone.

"This year, we’re doing bonuses the old-fashioned way! Cold, hard cash!"

Richard yelled, and security guards marched onto the stage carrying briefcases.

"First, let’s recognize our Head of Marketing, Chase Harris!"

"A bonus of $880,000 for Chase!"

"Thanks, Uncle! I’ll work even harder next year!" Chase clutched the cash, grinning from ear to ear.

Then, Richard’s eyes landed on me.

"Next up, our top sales champion, Sophia Miller!"

Everyone in the room knew I was the one keeping this company afloat.

I walked up to the stage calmly.

Richard picked up a pathetic, paper-thin envelope and handed it to me.

His voice echoed through the banquet hall.

"Sophia has told me many times that she doesn't work for money. She works to realize her self-worth!"

"This noble attitude is something we should all learn from!"

"So, the company has decided to give Sophia a very special reward!"

He paused, raising his voice.

"An $888 bonus! It's a lucky number! Let's wish our champion sales star a prosperous new year! What do you all say?"

The entire room fell into dead silence.

Everyone stared at the light envelope in my hand, then at the mountain of cash next to Chase.

A few seconds later, giggles started to spread.

Chase laughed the loudest. He made sure to raise his voice.

"Wow! $888! Triple eight!"

"That’s way luckier than my $880,000! Uncle really loves you, Sophia!"

"Haha, mental rewards are the most important, right?"

"Sophia is just on another level. She doesn't care about money, only luck!"

The coworkers looked at me with mockery and schadenfreude.

This was exactly the reaction Richard wanted.

He wanted to make an example out of me.

He wanted to show everyone that no matter how capable you are, you are still under his thumb. If he didn't want to pay me, I wouldn't get a single dime.

He wanted to crush my influence and remind me who the real master of the company was.

I didn't look at anyone. I just held the envelope.

Then, I leaned in toward the microphone. My voice easily drowned out the snickers.

"Thank you, Richard."

I paused, letting a faint smile slip onto my face.

"I actually love this number."

With that, I turned around and walked back to my seat under everyone’s watchful eyes.

I wasn’t angry. I didn’t even show any emotion.

My absolute calmness made the atmosphere in the hall incredibly bizarre.

The smile on Richard's face froze. He hadn't expected this reaction.

The tears, the questioning, the breakdown he had anticipated—none of it happened.

As soon as the party ended, I was the first to leave.

Stepping out of the hotel, I took a deep breath of the cold night air.

Was I angry? Did I feel humiliated?

No. Not at all.

I felt relieved.

I had given my youth and blood to this company.

In return, I got a public humiliation worth $888.

Perfect.

With that $888, you just bought out the last bit of loyalty I had for you.

### 第二章