Three years of my blood, sweat, and tears… Nearly one million dollars of personal subsidies every year… But it'd all been reduced to being "heartless" and "desperate for money".

Susan shoved her phone toward me, her hand shaking.

"Ms. Clarke! The internal company chat has blown up! Everyone's reposting Cecily's video, and some people are even… Some are even saying they're going to report us to the Department of Labor and the Department of Revenue!"

She paused, her voice dropping even lower. "And also… the cafeteria's Chef Pollard just sent word through someone. He asked if we plan to lay off his team and said that several suppliers have been calling about overdue payments…"

My phone rang again. It was the project director from our biggest client, Stellar Group.

His tone was extremely serious. "Ms. Clarke. I've seen the trending news about your company. Our company cares deeply about the reputation and stability of our partners. The board… has expressed serious concern about your current employee relations and the public backlash."

This was a major contract our marketing department had pursued for a whole year, with over five million dollars in annual profit. The profit from this single deal would directly determine the year-end bonuses for everyone in the company.

I took a deep breath, knuckles whitening from how tightly I clenched my fists.

My mind went back to the day of Cecily's final interview two months ago. As the final-round interviewer, the last question I asked her was, "Why did you choose our company?"

Her eyes had sparkled then, full of excitement and hope.

"Ms. Clarke! I've watched all your interviews! I especially resonate with what you said about how a company should be the strongest support for its employees! Especially the cafeteria here—it's practically a legend in the industry! It's my dream to work here!"

Strongest support? Legend?

I also recalled that in recent employee feedback sessions, there was always one longtime employee, nearly ten years in, leading the complaints. His name was Jeremy Stinson, from the technical department.

"Aren't our company's benefits a bit too excessive? Eating like this every day—how much does this cafeteria cost daily?

"Ms. Clarke is still too young and doesn't know how to manage money. How much company profit is wasted here?"

And every single time, Cecily just happened to be sitting next to him, nodding furiously.

I laughed bitterly.

Had I done too well these past three years that they had come to take everything for granted? Did they assume I was a pushover—someone they could push around at will?

I opened my laptop and pulled up the administrative department's financial records for the past three years.

The award-winning chef team had an annual salary of 1.6 million dollars. Daily procurement costs for premium ingredients were around 12.5 thousand dollars. And then there were the costs of afternoon snacks for the employees, holiday benefits, and so on.

After deducting the company-approved basic meal subsidies, I personally had to subsidize the cafeteria by approximately 935 thousand dollars every year.

I closed the laptop, and calmness returned to my gaze.

Since all they could see was that "four dollars", then I'd just show them what would be left in their bowls without my subsidy.

I began drafting a new announcement.

At 9:30 am, I hadn't even left my office when the door was suddenly shoved open from the outside.

Cecily and Jeremy walked in one after the other. Cecily wore the smug expression of a victor, her back straight as her gaze swept over me appraisingly, while Jeremy had a hypocritical smile plastered on his face.

He spoke first, "Ms. Clarke, don't take it personally. Cecily's just outspoken and blunt. She doesn't have any bad intentions. She just felt that the sudden price hike hurt everyone's feelings, so she wanted to speak up for us longtime employees."

Cecily no longer pretended to hide anything. She shoved her phone screen right in front of my face, showing me the skyrocketing video stats.

"Have you seen this, Ms. Clarke? The whole internet is talking about our company."

Cecily continued, "My account gained 100 thousand followers in just half an hour, and several big accounts with millions of followers have already reposted my video.

"If you insist on not lowering the price and refuse to apologize to us, I'm afraid… things could spiral beyond the company's control."

Jeremy immediately jumped in to play the good cop.

"Actually, resolving this is pretty simple. We're not unreasonable people, either.

"First, the seafood thermidor has to go back to being free. That's a matter of principle. Second, the administrative department needs to issue an apology in your name to all employees.

"And third, to compensate for the emotional distress this incident has caused everyone, the company should credit 250 dollars to every employee's meal card as compensation.

"If you handle it this way, everyone can walk away with their dignity intact, and we can put this behind us."

At that moment, Susan frantically burst in again, her face deathly pale.

"Ms. Clarke! It's bad! Downstairs… Downstairs in the lobby… A huge group of employees has gathered in the lobby, and they're saying that… if you don't give them an explanation today, they're not going to get back to work!

"And they've… They've even printed out a bunch of banners…"

I took Susan's phone and clicked on the photos she'd taken.

On the polished marble floor of the company's lobby, dozens of employees were either sitting or standing, holding up bold, striking banners that read "Evil company! Give us back our hard-earned money!" and "The heartless director must go!"

My eyes landed on a figure at the front of the crowd. It was Kenan Jeller, the director of the design department.

Last year, when a major mistake occurred on one of the projects he was in charge of, I went against everyone's objections to vouch for him and even voluntarily took half the blame and penalty myself.

I personally went with him to apologize to the client and pulled three consecutive all-nighters to salvage the project.

Afterward, he came to my office holding a cup of coffee, his eyes red.

"Ms. Clarke, from now on, my life is yours… Just say the word, and I, Kenan Jeller, will follow without question!"

But at this very moment, in the photo on Susan's phone, Kenan could be seen holding a sheet of paper high above his head. On it, in bold black letters, were the words "I stand with Cecily! Punish Moira! Give us back our benefits!"

My hands started shaking, and my nails were digging so hard into my palms that they nearly broke the skin.

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, only icy calm remained.

I looked at Cecily and Jeremy in front of me and asked flatly, "What you want… is for me to answer for this, right?"

…

As time ticked toward 2:00 pm, the company's largest conference hall was packed to capacity.

More than 400 employees company-wide—except for those required to stay on essential duty—were almost all present. This was the largest all-hands meeting in the company's history.

Cecily and Jeremy were surrounded by a crowd of supporters in the center of the front row. People kept going up to them, patting them on the shoulders and giving them thumbs-ups.

"Well done, Cecily! You're the whistleblower our company needed!"

"Jeremy, we owe this all to your behind-the-scenes strategizing!"

"You two are heroes to the rest of us working people!"

Whispers spread through the crowd.

"Just watch. That Clarke lady is definitely done for this time."

"No doubt. With how big things have gotten, the chairman will have to deal with her."

"Maybe we'll even get some compensation out of this!"

"Let's see if she can still strut around the office after this."

At 2:00 pm sharp, I stepped onto the stage, followed by a few department heads whose expressions were unreadable.

The moment I appeared, the entire hall fell silent, and hundreds of pairs of eyes locked onto me instantly.

I walked up to the microphone and got straight down to business.

"I apologize for taking your valuable afternoon work time to announce a major reform regarding our company cafeteria," I started, my voice calm and steady.

"First, regarding the recent public uproar over the cafeteria pricing… I, Moira Clarke, as Administrative Director of the company, would like to apologize to everyone."

"It was an oversight of mine. I failed to fully consult with employees, causing inconvenience and misunderstanding for everyone," I added.

Down in the audience, Cecily and Jeremy exchanged smug glances, and a few people even chuckled.

Without stopping, I signaled Susan to turn on the projector. A detailed financial report appeared on the massive screen behind me.

"This is a detailed financial report for the company's cafeteria that covers the three years since I took over and reformed it, and it has been audited by a third-party accounting firm.

"To ensure the cafeteria's operation, I've personally injected a total of 2.8 million dollars into the company's administrative account over the past three years.

"After deducting the company's standard meal subsidies, the actual annual deficit has been approximately 935 thousand dollars.

"The seafood thermidor dish that sparked this controversy costs 21 dollars and 30 cents per serving for ingredients alone, not including labor, utilities, and other operating costs. The planned selling price is 14 dollars, but in reality, I would have personally taken a net loss of 7.30 dollars per bowl sold."

On the report, every bank transaction showing my contributions and every major ingredient procurement contract was displayed clearly.

A stir began to ripple through the audience.

"Is this for real? Ms. Clarke has been subsidizing our meals by paying out of her own pocket?"

"Those records have to be edited, right? Who would be that stupid?"

But after seeing the contracts and bank transactions bearing official stamps, most people began to look uneasy.

I continued, "In light of the strong dissatisfaction with the cafeteria's market-based pricing—and to eliminate any misunderstanding that the company is profiting from the cafeteria—after urgent discussions with the board of directors, we're making the following adjustments to the cafeteria's management and operating model.

"Decision one—effective immediately, I will cease all personal financial subsidies to the cafeteria."

The hall erupted in murmurs. But before they could fully process it, my voice rang out again, "Decision two—effective immediately, the employment contracts of award-winning chef Marty Pollard and his entire team are terminated. They will leave today."

Someone in the audience let out an audible yelp.

"Decision three—to ensure employees' basic dining needs are met, the cafeteria will be fully outsourced to QuickBite, a pre-made meal provider."

QuickBite was a well-known low-end catering supplier infamous in the industry for its low prices and equally terrible taste.

Incredulous gasps and exclamations spread through the crowd.

"Decision four—all employee benefits exceeding national legal requirements—including but not limited to daily free fruit, afternoon tea, overtime late-night snacks, and snack corners—are canceled effective immediately."

As soon as I finished speaking, the new cafeteria menu and pricing rolled onto the screen.

"Set A (1 protein, 2 vegetables): 18 dollars.

"Set B (2 proteins, 1 vegetable): 21 dollars.

"Premium Business Set (includes soup and fruit): 30 dollars.

"Pasta/Noodles: starting at 12 dollars.

"Beverages: 4 to 8 dollars."

More than 400 employees froze in shock, and the entire hall fell silent. Everyone was dumbfounded.

"You!" Cecily shrieked, the first to react.

She shot to her feet, her face purple with rage as she pointed at me and screamed, "Moira! This is a personal vendetta! You're using your position to get back at us!

"We only asked you to lower the prices! Who told you to turn the cafeteria into this?"

I looked at her coolly, my gaze not showing even a ripple of emotion.

"Ms. Plinkton, in your video, you repeatedly called me 'heartless' and 'desperate for money' and said I 'milked you dry.'

"Well, now I'm giving you exactly what you want—I'm not making one extra dime. And not only am I not making any extra money, but I'm not subsidizing the company anymore either.

"The cafeteria will be outsourced, operating on a fully market-driven model, with prices set by a third-party company. It'll be fair and square for everyone.

"As for the free benefits, those were above-standard perks funded out of my own pocket. Since you clearly don't approve of that, I naturally need to correct that mistake."