Chapter 2

“Claire, are you okay?”

Ethan Cole, the junior employee who had joined my team two months earlier, stood behind me.

I shook my head.

“I’m fine. Go back to work.”

I stood up to get a glass of water from the break room.

The aisle was narrow. When Jason saw me coming, he deliberately stuck his leg out.

I tripped over it and hit the floor hard.

My knee slammed into the hard flooring, sending a sharp bolt of pain through me.

“Whoa! Director Bennett, you don’t have to bow to us!”

Instead of apologizing, Jason mocked me loudly.

The coworkers around us burst into laughter again.

“Claire, are you blind?”

Fighting the pain in my hand and knee, I dragged myself off the floor.

I stared at Jason.

“Keep your damn legs out of the aisle.”

He slapped his desk and jumped to his feet.

“You can’t watch where you’re going, and somehow that’s my fault?”

“Still think you’re our precious sales queen? You’re a joke now!”

Ethan came over, his eyes red.

“Claire, just ignore them.”

He helped me into my chair, his voice thick with tears.

“Claire, what am I supposed to do?”

I frowned at the paper in his hand.

It was a demotion notice.

According to the notice, Ethan had failed to meet his sales target during probation. He would be reassigned as a reception assistant, with his pay cut in half.

“What happened?” I asked.

Ethan wiped his eyes.

“Richard said I’m too stupid to do anything right.”

“Claire, I really need this job. My grandmother back home is sick. I have to support her.”

Tears streamed down his face. He looked utterly miserable.

The sight cooled my anger a little.

Maybe this fresh graduate was the only person in this cold, heartless office who still had a shred of decency.

I thought of the two months I had spent teaching him everything from scratch.

I patted his shoulder.

“Sales is hard. You’ve only just started. Of course you don’t have a client network yet.”

After a moment, I pulled a client list from my desk.

“Here. A few of my longtime clients have renewals coming up. The margins aren’t huge, but they’ll be enough to get you through probation.”

“Follow up with them. You can take the credit for the sales. That should give you a safety net.”

Ethan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Really? Claire, you’d actually share your clients with me?”

I nodded.

“None of us has it easy. We should help each other.”

He clutched the list, smiling through his tears.

“Thank you, Claire! You’re a lifesaver!”

I watched him hurry away, practically skipping, and let out a weary sigh.

The scrape on the back of my hand was still bleeding.

I went to the restroom to clean it.

I couldn’t show up in front of Mr. Hayes that afternoon looking like this.

I limped toward the restroom.

As long as I had that billion-dollar contract, I believed I still had a chance to turn things around.

What I never imagined was that the kindness I thought I’d seen was just another carefully staged joke.

Pop!

A party popper went off in the office.

Then came a chorus of cheers.

“Come on, everyone! Let’s congratulate Ethan, our new sales director!”