Chapter 1

On my last business trip, I stayed near the client’s office to rush a project.

The hotel went over the company budget by a measly eighty dollars.

During reimbursement, my boss, Marcus, pointed his finger right at my nose.

He screamed at me for having "no sense of cost awareness."

Not only did he refuse to cover the eighty dollars, but he also docked my two-thousand-dollar quarterly bonus as a penalty.

He lectured me with a heavy, patronizing sigh: "Rules are rules, Chloe. Young people need to learn respect and compliance."

I smiled, nodded, and sincerely apologized for my "mistake."

A few days later, I was sent back to that same city for an emergency follow-up.

This time, I followed company policy to the absolute letter.

When I got back, Marcus looked at my expense report. His face turned completely green.

He demanded to know why my three-day hotel stay cost the company $7,936.

I said, "Company policy states the daily lodging rate cannot exceed $300."

Marcus frowned. "And?"

I answered calmly:

"So, I had to take an Uber to another city to find a hotel for $299. Out of that $7,936, about $7,338 went toward the round-trip Uber rides."