I happen to come across a popular post regarding a company's finance department on social media.

"Seriously, that person in the sales department is such an idiot! All I wanted was to claim reimbursement under her name for the bag I bought, and yet she still refused!

"Since she doesn't want me to reimburse my bag, then she can forget about reimbursing everything! This time, I'll teach her a lesson about what happens when she offends a member of the finance department!"

There are many bashing comments in the comment section, but the original poster doesn't care at all. She continues adopting a haughty tone.

"What am I scared of? The finance department is extremely vital to the company! I refuse to believe that the boss has the courage to offend me, the most important person alive, just to stand up for a sales employee who's easily replaceable!"

As I stare at the familiar profile picture belonging to the original poster, I can't help but mentally sneer.

She wants to suspend all of my reimbursements, huh? Go ahead, then!

This time, I'd like to see what the consequences are for offending a member of the finance department!

Two weeks had passed, and my reimbursement still hadn't hit my account. Staring at the pitiful balance, I got up and headed to the finance office to ask about it.

"Ms. Lane, why hasn't my reimbursement arrived yet? I've already fronted all the expenses for client meetings. If the money doesn't show up today, I can't even do my job!"

Naomi Lane's face was thunderous. She slammed a stack of expense reports onto the desk with a sharp slap. "If you hadn't come to me, I'd have come looking for you! Just look at these—do you even know how to fill out an expense report? Learn how to fill these out correctly instead of embarrassing yourself!"

I blinked in confusion. "What's wrong? Haven't I always filled them out this way? Everything worked fine before—why is it suddenly wrong now?"

Naomi rolled her eyes, poking at the papers. "I gave you leeway before, but not anymore!"

I forced my frustration down and said, "Please show me exactly how it should be done. I'll fix it according to the rules."

She went over it like a strict inspector. "This pen won't do! The finance department requires a black 0.5 gel pen, neat block letters, and no cursive. Don't let the glue cross the dividing line, or it'll ruin everything else. Mind the folds, and the paper must be flawless!"

I swallowed my irritation and returned to my desk, painstakingly filling out the expense report exactly as Naomi had demanded, then sent it back to the finance office.

Naomi inspected it like a scientist, scrutinizing every detail. Suddenly, she hurled the report at me. "It's not reimbursable!"

It didn't hurt when the paper struck my face, but the sting of humiliation was unbearable.

I glanced at my three-digit account balance and held back a bitter growl. "What's the problem this time?"

She tapped the glue on one of the receipts. "Here. You didn't peel off the glue properly, and now the receipt is ruined. How do you expect me to process this? Here's what you do—go back to the store, get a new receipt, then come back to me."

I stared at the tiny frayed edges on the paper and felt my blood boil. I had spent two full weeks collecting receipts from every mall and restaurant across the city.

Regardless of whether the merchants would have cooperated, I couldn't possibly have visited all those places in one day.

"This is impossible! None of these receipts is damaged! Why can't they be reimbursed? Are you doing this on purpose?"

She looked at me with a teasing half-smile.

Naomi snapped, "On purpose? Don't be ridiculous. I'm following the finance rules to the letter. You can complain all you want, but I'm not wrong. The choice is yours, but get out now!"

My blood boiled, and I could feel my pulse spike. I glared at Naomi, but my manners kept me from swearing at her outright.

After a moment of thought, I grabbed the expense report from my desk and pushed open the finance office door.

"Fine! Stick to your precious rules. I'm going straight to Mr. Gray to see whether this receipt can actually be reimbursed!"

Naomi showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, her expression was pure challenge. "Go ahead! Don't think I'm intimidated just because you involve Mr. Gray. Someone like you should have been kicked off the company roster a long time ago. I'm curious whether Mr. Gray would really choose to offend the company's lifeline for a nobody like you."

Back at my desk, I clutched my pillow, trying to calm the storm of anger and frustration surging inside. But I failed.

I headed straight for David's office, carrying all the reports. Before I could even reach the door, Naomi's whiny voice carried out from inside.

She sounded ridiculously pitiful. "She's here! Perfect timing!"

Before I could speak, David Gray frowned and interrupted, "What's going on? If there's a problem between you, deal with it face-to-face. You're coworkers."

Naomi's eyes were red and swollen as she sniffled. "Mr. Gray, I didn't… The supervisor made it very clear in a recent meeting that we have to review every reimbursement carefully. Finance work demands extreme caution, but I think Madeleine misunderstood me…"

She paused, then dropped her head and sobbed softly, looking utterly forlorn.

My blood boiled. I ignored her theatrics and slammed the expense reports onto David's desk. "Mr. Gray, I understand that financial work requires precision, but please take a look at this report. What exactly is wrong? I've already redone it exactly as Ms. Lane instructed, using the pen, paper, and formatting she demanded. And now she's insisting I replace every single receipt…"

Before I could finish, David slammed his hand on the desk and shot me a sharp look. "Enough! I know the whole story. Madeleine, tell me—what exactly has Ms. Lane done wrong? Any company expects receipts to be complete and neat. Reissuing them is a minor task. Your reluctance makes me wonder—have you been using company money for personal matters?"

The accusation hit me like a bucket of ice water, freezing me to the core. In this line of work, distrust was the gravest sin.

Sales was a job with high freedom and constant gray areas. If David started seeing me through suspicious eyes, what would be the point of continuing?

Before I could even form a response, David's expression softened, and he turned to Naomi with a smile. "Naomi, you did the right thing! This is exactly how a company should operate, by following the rules. Finance is the core of this company, and strict compliance with regulations is mandatory."

David said, "Today, I'm giving you a special privilege. Any reimbursement that isn't properly filled out will be returned for correction until it meets the standards. At the monthly meeting, you'll be this month's employee of the month. Don't forget to go up and give your speech."

Naomi's eyes lit up with delight. "Thank you, Mr. Gray! I'll give it my all, so I won't let you down!"

David looked thoroughly pleased.

Then he fixed me with a hard look. "See that? Salespeople like you are useless and lazy! You don't even bother to learn from others and waste company resources on trivial nonsense every day. Have you no shame? Now, redo your expense report exactly as Ms. Lane instructed!"

My hands trembled as I clutched the reports. The frustration lodged in my chest pressed painfully, and tears threatened to spill over.

As I walked out of David's office, Naomi shot out behind me. Her eyes glinted with contempt as she looked me up and down. "Weren't you going to get Mr. Gray to sort this out? Well, is your grievance resolved now? Let's see if you still have the nerve to defy me!"

My eyes burned as I slumped back at my desk. Work felt impossible, and I could do nothing but stare at the expense reports in a daze.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed from the desk. It was a notification from social media. Just as I was about to dismiss it, a post caught my eye.

"That idiot from the sales department refused to let me list my new designer purchase under her name for reimbursement. Fine. If she won't help me, then she won't get reimbursed anymore. I'll make sure she learns what happens when you cross finance."

I stared at the familiar avatar. It had to be Naomi.

Only now did I finally see why Naomi had been giving me so much trouble with reimbursements. Her so-called dedication to rules and work ethic was a lie. This was pure revenge for the free bag I refused her last month.

The comments section exploded with workers venting, lambasting her for petty office bullying.

The ever-arrogant Naomi struck back relentlessly, reveling in her own cunning.

"What's there to fear? Salespeople are nothing but expendable trash. Finance is the real backbone of the company. I don't believe the boss would risk me for a worthless sales rep. She's already advanced half a month's expenses, and now she shows up crying about money. I stopped her reimbursement. Let's see how long she lasts now."

I laughed out loud. If she was the backbone of the company, then what was I—the sales champion? If she refused to reimburse me, fine. I wanted to see who would crack first.

I set my work aside and spent my days idling at my desk. The end of the month arrived quickly, and a notification from the finance department popped up in the company's internal system.

As the month drew to a close, the finance department began auditing every sales order in the company, all of which originated from the sales department.

Even though I had only been working for just over half a month, I was still the company's undisputed sales champion, with a mountain of orders already piled up on my desk.