Chapter 2

To cut costs, AromaLux decided to launch a ruthless stack ranking assessment.

Every perfumer was evaluated on a comprehensive scorecard: production cost, client retention, and total revenue generated.

Anyone who ranked at the bottom of the scoreboard for three consecutive months would be fired immediately.

Amber, the apprentice I had personally trained and mentored, walked up to my desk with a miserable face. "Chloe, I’ve been at the bottom for the past two months. What am I going to do this month?"

Looking at her anxious face, I silently reached into my drawer and handed her a thick, leather-bound notebook.

Amber flipped it open, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears. Inside were the contact details and scent profiles of the premium clients I had cultivated over the past ten years.

"Chloe... thank you! I promise I will work my ass off to stay in this company."

I nodded, my fingers pausing over the preliminary assessment data on my screen.

Since the stack ranking system was implemented, all perfuming costs had to be strictly kept under $10,000 per batch.

My custom formula had gone over budget by exactly three cents.

At that moment, Amber leaned in, saying cheerfully, "It’s only three cents over, Chloe! That shouldn’t be an issue at all. Your sales performance is still number one in the entire company anyway!"

Believing in transparency, I submitted the exact, unaltered data to the system.

That afternoon, a company-wide notification popped up on WhatsApp:

"Announcing this month's terminated employee: Chloe. Let us reiterate: the formulation cost for anyone must be strictly under $10,000. Anyone who exceeds this limit—regardless of their revenue or seniority—will be fired immediately. Consider this a warning to all."

Immediately after, a private message from my supervisor, Marcus, lit up my screen:

"What this company needs is not a self-centered artist, but a reliable cog that fits the machine. A person who refuses to blend into the team is far more dangerous than a lost $500 million."

Though he didn’t name me publicly, everyone in the office instantly turned their heads to look at me.

I had always been the "weird one" in the office.

I didn't do corporate happy hours, I didn't go to company dinners, I skipped the team-building trips, and the second the clock hit five, I vanished. I didn't even reply to clients' messages outside of work hours.

The only things I brought to the table were my top-tier perfuming skills and flawless client relationships.

But my refusal to flatter him or play corporate politics had made Marcus despise me more and more.

As it turned out, this so-called "stack ranking" was just a targeted campaign to push me out.

I calmly typed a reply in the chat: "Understood. I will report this situation to headquarters."

After a long silence, Marcus tagged me in the main WhatsApp group, clearly losing his temper:

"Chloe, out of respect for your years of service, the management has reconsidered. You can start over as a junior perfumer. Your base salary will be $500 a month. This is the company giving you one last chance. Make it count!"

Instantly, the corporate kiss-asses in the group started brown-nosed Marcus.

"Marcus is absolutely right. No matter how much money someone makes, they're useless if they don't fit into the company culture."

I ignored them entirely. Instead, I gathered all my major clients into a single Snapchat group.

"Due to internal changes, I will no longer be able to collaborate with you all."

Mr. Pendelton and Mr. Carter, two of my closest clients, immediately shot me private messages.

"Chloe, what's going on? Is there trouble at work?"

"Do you need me to have my assistant talk to Marcus?"

My heart warmed. I politely replied, "No, thank you. I can handle it."

After a brief pause, they replied with the same sentiment: "We only buy scents blended by you."

The moment I locked my phone, Marcus burst out of his office, his face red with rage.

"Chloe! What the hell did you do? Why did half of our VIP clients just cancel their contracts?!"