The stock remained in the warehouse for two months. The final payment due date arrived, but the company’s finance department was still unwilling to make the payment.

I followed up numerous times, and the finance director finally got sick of me.

“Our capital is all currently invested in wealth management products. If we liquidate it all, we’d lose four hundred dollars a day! Who then would bear the loss of the company?

“Tell them to put it on our tab. We’ll immediately pay it once the investments mature!”

I patiently explained that the supplier was not willing to accept any delayed payments. They would only hand us the stock once they received the money.

She sized me up for a moment. “Women in sales are basically escorts! Just play coy with the supplier, and they would give you the stock! Why are you pretending to be better than that?”

I was stunned. Left without a choice, I mortgaged my new house.

The stock was worth four million dollars. I would be able to double the profit once I sold that off.

Before my annual leave was up, I received a phone call from my supplier, Mr. Taylor.

“Mindy, I’ve been backed against the wall here!

“The stock has been stuck in the warehouse for two months. Your company still hasn’t paid me. If this continues, I’ll run into cash flow issues!”

I immediately denied it. “That’s impossible. Before I went on leave, I already informed the finance department to pay you after the holidays. Can you get your finance personnel to check again?”

Mr. Taylor sighed over the phone. “You know that many other people would love to take the stock from our hands. I’ve only worked with your company for this long because of you!

“I’ll give you three more days. That’s the final bit of leniency I can afford. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to go elsewhere.”

I wanted to say something else, but Mr. Taylor hung up on me.

I immediately called Sally Anderson. She was from the procurement department.

It took her a long time to answer, only to irritably question me.

“What? Don’t you know I’m busy?!”

“Look, it’s about Glory Corporation…”

I only managed to get a few words out before she hung up on me.

I had no choice but to look for the intern, Dave Swift.

He sounded hesitant over the phone. “Mindy, I’ve tried following up many times. If I question them again, Lily from finance is going to murder me!”

I called the finance director, Lily Daniels. However, she did not answer my call.

My instincts told me that the situation was rather complicated.

I cut my vacation short and flew back to the country.

I had just reached the company when the salesperson, Finneas Holmes, came up to me.

“The buyer has already submitted the 10% deposit. However, the stock hasn’t reached the factory yet, so we won’t be able to deliver the goods when they’re due. We would need to pay for the late penalty.”

I frowned and quickly walked to the finance department.

Lily was slightly stunned to see me. “Why are you here?”

I put on a big smile. “Ms. Daniels, Glory Corporation said that they have yet to receive the payment. I called you a few times, but you didn’t answer. Can you provide me with the payment proof so I can get them to cross-check?”

Lily grimaced impatiently. “We haven’t paid them. How would I have any payment receipts?”

I was stunned. “We didn’t? I thought we agreed before the holiday that the finance department would make the payment by the next working day. Why has it been left unpaid?” She did not answer but called over the new accountant.

“I asked you to give me a list of our payments yesterday! Where is it? Are you planning to fail your internship?”

Just like that, a convenient scapegoat was created.

I placed the airport’s souvenir on her desk. Lily finally looked up.

“Please help to keep an eye out for this payment. Today is the final payment due date. We must pay them before the work day ends.”

I remained absent-mindedly at my desk the whole afternoon.

I waited for a long time, but I still did not receive any payment receipts.

I spotted Lily preparing to leave and quickly rushed toward her.

“Haven’t we agreed to pay Glory Corporation today? Why isn’t it done?”

“I didn’t agree to pay!”

I laughed in disbelief at her attitude. I did not want to waste my time on social etiquette. I immediately laid out the consequences.

“A delayed payment would be devastating. It will cost the company millions of dollars. When the guys upstairs come knocking, would you be able to answer them?”

Lily immediately got anxious. “Don’t you put the blame on me! It’s none of my business.

“We’ve invested the money into wealth management products. If we make any premature withdrawals, we’d lose 400 dollars per day! If we stretch ourselves to make your payment, who would take the fall?

“Tell them to put it on our tab. Once the investment is matured, we will immediately pay them!”

Sally held a stack of reimbursement forms and leaned against the door frame. “Mindy, Ms. Daniels just got you up to speed. Just play along. Besides, you have such a good relationship with Mr. Taylor. If you begged him, he would definitely agree to this request!”

I ignored her and turned my gaze to Lily. “Glory Corporation will never accept such an arrangement. If we don’t pay them, I won’t be able to receive the stocks!

“I’ve followed the SOPs for the payment, and all leaders have already signed the form. If you don’t want to carry out the payment, you must give me a justification in black and white!”

I thought she would work on it, but she instead exchanged a glance with Sally and sized me up.

“Saleswomen are basically escorts! Just play coy, and they’ll give you the stocks! Why are you acting like you’re better than that?”

I was stunned.

Suddenly, everyone was looking at me oddly.

Our company was in the precision instrument manufacturing line.

Six months ago, Jude Frances, the general manager of the procurement department, resigned.

Procurement was a lucrative department. Many individuals wanted to take that role. However, it was different in our industry.

Upon manufacturing the products, the profit margin would increase. The pricing of the raw material had gone up exponentially.

There was only a small pool of suppliers, so it was really hard to get any stock without connections.

In the past, Jude managed to get Mr. Taylor to agree to sell us the stock at a price below market value because they were relatives.

After Jude left the company, the headquarters took the matter seriously and sent someone to look into the situation.

They knew that I was Jude’s mentee, so they transferred me to the procurement department.

They hoped that my connection to Jude would grant me special treatment.

If I managed to support the procurement department through this transition, I would be promoted to deputy director by the following year.

When I thought about the final payment deadline, I immediately rushed into the director, Harry Manson’s office.

He was talking on the phone, but he quickly ended the call when he saw me rushing in.

“Have a seat, Mindy!”

I updated Harry about Lily withholding the payment on purpose and my frustrations about it.

“Lily has informed me about the payment.

“She’s right, and her concerns are valid. You have to understand her!”

I was stunned and perplexed.

Harry took a sip of his tea. “Mindy, I’m not trying to say anything.

“But let’s use Glory Corporation as an example! Once we’ve manufactured the item, we will pay Glory Corporation only when we have gained the returns from it. Won’t that work?

“It’s better to put our existing capital on investments for better returns. We’ll be able to increase our revenue in the coming months. Why would we need to follow what the others say?”

I was a little confused. I said subconsciously, “But… Glory Corporation wouldn’t accept this! It’s common practice in the industry to pay first before receiving the stock. You know this!”

When Harry heard what I said, he slammed his teacup against the table. The tea spilt and scalded the back of my hand.

“Since you’ve taken over the procurement department, you should show us some results! Why are you going along with whatever Glory Corporation wants? Don’t forget, you work for Ocean Corporation! You’re the procurement manager of Ocean Corporation!”

Harry had been a general manager for five years. He had a very good understanding of the industry.

He only behaved like that because the headquarters did not promote the one he chose. Instead, they chose Jude’s mentee, me.

I knew that he was playing dumb with me to make things difficult, so I laid out the facts.

“Mr. Manson, we will lose this batch of stock if we fail to make payment. The company will suffer massive losses. Someone will have to take responsibility.”

Harry’s face fell. “Are you threatening me?”

I immediately explained myself, “Mr. Manson, I’m not threatening you. I’m just saying it as it is.”

He dropped his act and sneered. “You’re the procurement manager. If you fail to get the stock, it’s on you.

“Mindy, it’s your promotion on the line. Don’t let the company down!”

Feeling lost, I went back to my seat. I bitterly stared at the agreement with Glory Corporation.

Mr. Taylor would not wait for the payment, and the company was unwilling to make the payment. I had been caught in the middle.

Harry and Lily were trying to set me up!

I would not let them win and be their scapegoat!

The next day, I wrote a summary of the incident and prepared to report it to the headquarters.

When I went to the receptionist to retrieve a parcel, I passed by Harry’s office. I heard Lily’s obnoxious laugh from his office.

“That witch must have stolen money from the company! She’s always dressed expensively. If I don’t teach her a lesson, she wouldn’t even respect me as a finance director!”

Harry laughed sinisterly. “After she leaves the company, you can get your nephew to join us and be the procurement director!”

“Deal! Don’t give in if she sweet-talks you!”

My fingernails dug into my palms.

Merely reporting them to the headquarters was too light a punishment!

I was not going to let them carry out such blatant sabotage!

After I got home, I took out my title deed.

In order to buy this house, I had used up all my savings. I had even used my parents’ retirement funds.

It was a testimony of my ten years of hard work. So what if I took a chance on it?

Harry and Lily did not know that from the moment I set my mind, I would be the one dictating the game rules.

In a shop near the financial district, a man languished at the entrance, scrolling through his phone out of boredom.

“Are you here to mortgage your house?”

I took out my title deed. “It’s 1,500 square feet. It’s fully furnished and new. There are no ongoing housing loans either. I won’t mortgage it for less than 4 million dollars.”

He took the deed and looked up the information on his computer. Then, he agreed immediately.

“It’ll be at a monthly interest of 1%. If that works for you, you may sign the contract.”

“You can raise the interest. I need the money now!”

He made a few calls. When he returned, he immediately drafted the agreement.

Two hours later, I had 4 million dollars in my bank account.

I gave Mr. Taylor a call. Before I could say anything, he started ranting.

“Mindy, stop making things hard for me. Out of goodwill, I didn’t even charge you for the late fees incurred by the warehouse! The payment has to be made today, or never!”

I immediately explained myself, “Mr. Taylor, this isn’t why I’m calling you now.

“Ocean Corporation has deliberately withheld the payment, so it’s our fault. It has been very kind of you to wait for us for two months and follow through with the contract.

“I was simply wondering if you could sell it to me instead?”

Mr. Taylor was quiet for a while. I could hear the flicking sound of a lighter in the background.

“Are you offering to take it personally?

“This batch of stock is worth more than two million dollars. Are you sure you have that much money?”

I smiled. “As long as you agree, I will sign the agreement now. The money will be transferred to you within ten minutes.”

When he hesitated, I immediately said, “In return, I’ll give you an additional 5% rebate!”

Compared to the market rate, 5% was high. Instead of looking for other reliable buyers, it would be best for them to sell the stock to me.

As I expected, Mr. Taylor laughed. “Sure, I trust you!”

After I signed the agreement with Mr. Taylor, I went back to the company in a carefree manner.

Lily was talking to Sally and the others. When she saw that I was not as nervous as she thought I would be, she could not help but ask, “Mindy, have you talked to Glory Corporation? Have they agreed to send us the stock first?”

“Send us the stock? No!”

“Today is the final payment deadline for us. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you thinking of a solution?”

Lily extended her hand and admired her fresh manicure. “You could also come begging to me. If I’m in a good mood, maybe I could allocate some funds for this.”

Sally agreed. “Lily is such a kind and beautiful woman. Mindy, just talk to her nicely about it!”

Sally had been desperate to get married. Dave had said that Lily was going to introduce her nephew to Sally, so Sally had been fawning over Lily.

I ignored them and logged into my company email account. I only looked up when I read Mr. Taylor’s email regarding the termination of the contract.

“Well, there’s no need for that. I have settled it!”

“What do you mean? How did you settle that?”

Lily had just finished speaking when Harry suddenly rushed out of the office.

“Mindy, what did you do? Why did Glory Corporation send me a termination contract?”

I shrugged innocently. “I didn’t do anything!

“Isn’t it clearly stated in Glory Corporation’s email that because they didn’t receive the payment by the deadline, they viewed that as a violation of the contract? So the contract is voided.”

Harry pointed at me while panting. “I already reminded you about this! You’ve just cost the company millions! I’ll definitely report this to the headquarters!”

I sneered and pressed enter on my keyboard. The next second, everyone’s cell phone started beeping.

Harry impatiently pulled out his cell phone to have a look.

“You don’t have to read that. I’ve already sent the agreement with Glory Corporation, as well as the screenshots of the repeated payment requests to the headquarters.

“Oh, but I accidentally cc-ed everyone in the company too… Mr. Manson, how should we manage this?”

Lily suddenly yelled, “Impossible, I have already… already…”

She realized she had said something wrong. She came to her senses and slapped her hand over her mouth.

She thought that she had deleted my payment requests to cover her tracks.

However, she did not know that I had a habit of documenting all of my actions.

Harry finally became anxious.

If the headquarters got involved, he would not be able to get out of this as a general manager.

He glanced at his watch and yelled at Lily, “What are you still doing here? Quick, arrange the payment for Glory Corporation!

“Mindy, call Mr. Taylor! I bet he hasn’t sold off the stock yet. We should be able to pay on time!”

I casually leaned against my office chair. “Don’t waste your efforts. He has already sold the stock!”

Harry frowned. “What? To whom?”

“To me!”

“What?”