Chapter 2

The expense report slapped against my face, leaving a stinging red mark.

"Chloe, do you think this company prints money?!"

Marcus’s finger practically poked the tip of my nose. Spittle flew from his mouth.

I didn't flinch. I just looked down at the receipts scattered all over the floor.

Hotel invoice: $299/night, two nights. Total: $598.

Uber receipts: $1,834.50 per single trip, four trips. Total: $7,338.

Plus a few small receipts for meals and local transit.

Every single one was perfectly compliant. The amounts were accurate to the penny.

"I was just following company policy," I replied softly, my voice deadpan.

Marcus’s chest heaved with rage. His custom-tailored shirt, his absolute pride and joy, looked ready to rip at the seams.

"Policy? Did I tell you to sleep in another city?!"

"Did I tell you to spend nearly two grand a day on Uber?!"

"You didn't say I couldn't." I looked up, staring directly into his bloodshot eyes.

"Chapter Three, Section Seven of the Employee Travel Handbook only limits the lodging rate. It does not restrict the city where the hotel must be located."

"Transportation expenses are fully reimbursed as long as there are valid receipts."

I paused, then added, "You revised that handbook yourself, Marcus. You made all of us memorize it."

Marcus’s face turned from red to a deep, bruised purple.

He was probably remembering the last trip.

How he had ripped me a new one in front of the entire department over a measly eighty dollars. How passionately he had preached his management philosophy of "system above all else."

Now, I was serving his own philosophy right back to him.

The office was dead silent. My coworkers all kept their heads down, pretending to work, but their perked-up ears gave them away.

"Fine. Very fine." Marcus hissed through clenched teeth. "Chloe, you're fired."

"On what grounds?" I asked.

"For malicious reimbursement! Intentionally hurting the company’s bottom line!"

"Every single one of my actions fell within the framework of company rules." I bent down, picking up the receipts one by one, carefully smoothing out the creases.

"If you think my expense report is unreasonable, you don't have to approve it."

"But I will go straight to the Department of Labor. I'll let a judge decide if I committed fraud, or if your company policy is just incredibly stupid."

I stacked the neat receipts on his desk, right next to the paperwork of my docked bonus.

"Also, I’ll need a clear explanation regarding the eighty-dollar hotel overage and the two-thousand-dollar bonus you withheld last time."

Marcus stared at me, his eyes dark with malice.

He knew that if this escalated into a legal labor dispute, he would be the only one humiliated.

A boss who constantly preached "rules" getting legally checkmated by his own employee's compliance? He would become the laughingstock of the industry.

"Are you threatening me?"

"I’m just protecting my legal rights."

Just then, his secretary rushed in, her face pale and panicked.

"Mr. Marcus, Mr. Stephen Vance from TEK Group is on the phone."

"He wants to know why the 'Whisper of the Tide' sample we delivered has minor transit scratches."

Marcus’s face went instantly white.

'Whisper of the Tide' was a custom glass sculpture our company had spent six months creating specifically for TEK Group.

It was our foot in the door for an eight-million-dollar contract.

And that very sample was what I had personally transported back from the neighboring city during this trip.

I looked at Marcus and slowly, very slowly, let out a smile.