My boss, Grant Conner, tells me that since the company has doubled its sales performance this year, he'll make sure to reward me nicely.

I'm filled with anticipation, thinking that perhaps it's time he's giving me a raise.

When everyone's having dinner at the year-end party, they are all discussing how much they'll get for the year-end bonus.

"Allow me to toast to you, Shania!"

Clare Randall, an intern who has joined the company for a month, shakily stands up to her feet while holding a full glass of red wine.

Her cheeks were flushed. She was clearly drunk.

"I feel so lucky, Shania! I'm just a fresh grad who doesn't know anything at all, and yet my boss has given me a six-thousand-dollar base salary! On top of that, I even get to learn from a wonderful mentor like you…"

My hand trembles violently at Clare's words, almost resulting in me spilling juice all over the table.

I've been working at this company for five years, and yet I've never received a raise before. But Clare's salary is twice my salary even though she's just joined!

In that moment, the noise around my table in the private hall seemed to disappear. The only thing left echoing in the air was the laughter of Clare Randall, the intern.

I slowly lowered my cup, my fingertips turning slightly white from the pressure.

Five years ago, the company had only a dozen or so employees, all crammed into a dilapidated residential unit.

During the interview, the company's founder, Grant Conner, held my hand and spoke sincerely.

"Shania, the company is just starting out. Right now, I can only offer you three thousand dollars. But rest assured, as long as we grow and succeed, I'll make sure you get your fair share."

I believed him.

For five years, I handled administration, human resources, and part of the business development work all by myself.

I watched the company grow from a dozen employees to the 300 it had today. I watched Mr. Conner's car upgrade from a used Volkswagen to a Porsche Cayenne.

I always thought everyone was like me—still scraping by on meager wages and working together to get through hard times for the company's future.

After all, at every meeting, Mr. Conner would plead poverty, saying the company was expanding too fast and cash flow was tight.

That was why I never had the heart to bring up a raise. I didn't want to make things difficult for Mr. Conner.

But now, a fresh graduate who couldn't even use Excel functions properly was getting a base salary of five thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, I was still earning a salary of three thousand dollars.

The sheer absurdity of the situation made my stomach churn.

I instinctively turned to look at a few of my longtime colleagues sitting at the same table.

Wendy Johnson, Ivan Weaver, and Anna Curtis were all veterans in the finance department who had started around the same time as me.

I thought I would see the same shock and anger on their faces that I felt.

But there wasn't any.

Wendy lowered her head to sip on her soup, the spoon clinking against the porcelain bowl.

Ivan was frantically scrolling through his phone, as if some urgent matter had suddenly come up.

Anna had even turned around to loudly talk about today's dishes with people at the next table.

In that moment, I understood completely—everyone else's salary had gone up.

I was the only fool still earning the same salary from five years ago and doing the heavy lifting, thinking I was being dedicated.

Finally, someone reacted.

"Oh dear, Clare's had too much to drink!"

The person next to Clare quickly pulled her back, trying to cover her mouth. "Don't talk nonsense. Eat your food!"

As that colleague spoke, she shot me a nervous glance.

Clare was pushed back into her seat, still mumbling, "I'm not talking nonsense… It's written in the contract…"

I looked at the greasy pork rib on my plate and felt nauseous.

Suddenly, the hall felt very stuffy—so stuffy that I could barely breathe.

"Excuse me." I set down my utensils, my voice trembling slightly as I spoke. "I need to go to the restroom."

I fled from my seat, keeping my head down as I quickly walked through the hotel's thickly carpeted corridor.

I splashed some water on my face in the restroom and tried to clear my head.

Just as I returned and was about to round the corner, I heard Clare's voice. She was talking to someone.

"Mr. Conner, I think I might have just messed up. In my excitement, I think I let something slip about the salary…"

I instinctively held my breath and pressed my body rigid against the cold marble wall.

I heard Grant laugh indifferently. "If you let it slip, that's that. It's no big deal."

Clare's voice was probing, tinged with a hint of playfulness as she said, "I saw Shania's expression shift. What if she quits?"

Grant let out an extremely contemptuous scoff. "Quit? She doesn't have the guts, not even in a million years. Shania's like a leashed dog. Even if you kick her a few times, she won't bark.

"Besides, she's got a 30-year mortgage to think about. She has to make that payment every single month without fail. Even if I told her straight to her face that she has the lowest salary in the whole company, she'd have to suck it up.

"She's 30 years old, unmarried, and has no kids. Who else is going to hire her?"

I felt something inside me snap. I stood in the shadows, feeling like a laughingstock that had been stripped of my dignity.

I had worked diligently for five years and never complained. I did the work of three people, working overtime until dawn without ever daring to ask for overtime pay.

I negotiated discounts to save the company money and pushed through projects even when I was sick, just to meet deadlines.

Looking back, it seemed I was the biggest joke in the world.

"Alright, don't worry about her anymore." Grant yawned. "When you get back to the private room, remember to offer her another toast. Butter her up, okay? We need her to slave away on that big project next year.

"Stick close to her, learn her ways, and take over her contacts. Then, you can get promoted to manager."

"Got it! Thanks, Mr. Conner!" Clare said before making her way back to the hall.

I took a deep breath before walking back to the restroom. I turned on the tap, splashing cold water on my face and letting my tears wash down the drain.

When I returned to the hall, the year-end bonus ceremony was just starting. Grant, red-faced, stepped onto the stage with a microphone in hand.

"This year, our company has achieved a historic breakthrough!" he announced.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Grant gestured for everyone to quiet down, then said, "But first, I want to give out a special award. This award belongs to an exceptionally outstanding and dedicated employee. Shania Lawrence! Come on up!"

All eyes in the hall suddenly turned to me.

In that moment, my heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Grant had finally grown a conscience?

Under the gaze of hundreds, I stood up and walked excitedly to the stage.

Grant enthusiastically beckoned me up, grabbed me by the shoulder, and gave me a hearty pat.

"Shania works diligently and never complains! She's a true team player who isn't calculative and always puts the company first!"

As I stood beside him, the heavy scent of booze and cologne made my head spin.

"So, I've specially customized an unprecedented award for her."

With that, Grant handed me a certificate that had "The Company's Backbone" written on it.

My entire body tensed up on the spot, but Grant acted as if he hadn't noticed my stiffness and solemnly pressed the certificate into my hands.

"Here, take it! It's too tacky to offer you money. This honor is truly priceless. It's the highest recognition the company can give you!"

The applause from the audience sounded again, now even louder than before.

Grant told me not to go back to my seat, but to stay on stage as a "role model" for the other colleagues receiving awards.

I stood under the spotlight like a fool, holding that worthless certificate in my hand.

I watched as one colleague after another happily walked up to the stage. Jared Burch took home ten thousand dollars. Maya Porter took five thousand dollars…

Even Clare, who had only been here a month, got a two-thousand-dollar bonus for the "Best Newcomer" award.

Somehow, I made it off the stage and went home in a daze after the event ended.

…

The next day was the weekend, so I turned off my alarm, wanting to sleep in until I could wash away all my exhaustion and humiliation.

However, my phone kept buzzing.

Half-asleep, I reached for my phone and opened Slack.

It was a message from my department's manager, Howard Vance, along with a picture of an Excel spreadsheet.

"@Everyone: The schedule for the holiday shift is out. Please confirm your dates and message me privately if there are any issues."

I clicked on the image and skimmed through it.

With just one glance, I snapped wide awake, and anger surged through me like an electric shock.

On the schedule, for the entire one-week holiday, starting from Christmas, I was the only person listed on duty.

I was even scheduled to work on New Year's Eve!

I thought I had misread it, so I zoomed in and looked again.

I wasn't mistaken—it was just my name.

Immediately after, Howard specifically mentioned me in the group chat.

"@Shania: Most of our team are from out of state. They've been looking forward to going home and celebrating with their families all year. They already bought their tickets, so it's not easy to schedule them."

"You're a local and a longtime employee of the company. You've got a better head on your shoulders, and you don't have much going on at home."

"So, just do us a favor and cover everyone for this holiday season. Thanks a million!"

My hands shook with anger as I read his messages.

This was how it had been in previous years. Every time a holiday came around, Howard would use this same speech to guilt-trip me.

In the past, I would soften up because I felt bad for the new hires. Tickets were hard to get too. Since I was a local, what was a few days of covering shifts?

But now, I knew they were going home happily with year-end bonuses of tens of thousands.

Why should I have to sacrifice my entire holiday so they could spend time with their family?

"@Howard: I'm not doing it. Whoever wants to work can do it."

The moment the message was sent, the once-lively group chat fell into a dead silence.

No one spoke for several minutes. They probably hadn't expected me to publicly snap like that.

Soon, a private chat from Howard appeared.

"Shania, what's with that attitude? There were so many others in the group! Mr. Conner thinks highly of you and specifically told me to entrust you with this heavy responsibility. Don't ruin your own future over something so trivial!"

I was so angry that I laughed out loud. Why should I do all this for three thousand dollars?

I didn't reply to Howard. I simply closed the chat and logged out of Slack.

Then, I got out of bed and sent an email. The content was just one sentence.

"I accept your previous job offer."

The boss of the competing company had tried to poach me multiple times before, but I had always refused. Still, he told me that the offer would always be available for me.

Since these people wanted to play dirty, they couldn't blame me for being disloyal.