The smile on Fiona’s face immediately disappeared.

She grabbed my claim form and crumpled it before throwing it at me.

“Nick! How dare you accuse me of that?!

“Liam is helping our company to expand our network! Do you know who Mr. Smith is? He’s our future client! Twenty thousand dollars is nothing! If we can win his bid, I’ll even approve a bill for two hundred thousand dollars!

“As for you, Nick, look at you!”

She sized me up in disgust.

“You’re dressed like a poor worker with zero taste. If I get you to meet our clients, you’ll only know how to drink. You don’t even know what to say.

“Your pathetic appearance will only embarrass the company! Now, you’re talking back to me? If you waste any more of my breath, I’m going to forfeit your claim!”

Liam was suppressing a grin with his arms crossed. Then, he said sarcastically, “Fiona, don’t get too angry. After all, Nick’s old. He’s in his thirties, and he has a mortgage and a car loan to pay. It’s normal that he’s stressed.”

He extended his hand, and there was an expensive watch on his wrist. He then lightly tapped on my phone, which I had placed on the desk.

“But Nick, you don’t seem poor. This phone is the latest model, and it costs a good few thousand dollars,” Liam exclaimed exaggeratedly.

Then, he turned toward Fiona. “Fiona, he’s only earning four thousand dollars a month. After mortgage, utilities, and food, how did he have so much money left for an expensive phone? Could he…”

When Fiona heard this, her eyes immediately became sharp and wary.

“Nick, how dare you tell me you’re poor?”

She walked out from behind her desk and approached me.

“You’re earning four thousand dollars a month, so how are you able to buy an expensive phone? Poor men like you are shallow and entranced by money.

“Tell me! Did you manipulate our purchasing bill and use the company’s money to buy luxury goods?”

The accusation was massive.

In this industry, if I was accused of embezzlement, my career would be over.

“Fiona, you can’t say that without any evidence!” I was shaking from anger. “I bought this in installments! I’m paying a few hundred dollars every month, and I have to pay for twelve months! All my accounts are cleared for audit!”

“Stop faking it!” Fiona sneered with disdain.

“I’ve seen many people like you who appear to be honest on the surface but are sneaky behind the scenes.

“I didn’t approve that five-thousand-dollar bill because I wanted to audit your accounts! Before it’s cleared, don’t even think of using a single cent from the company!

“Not only am I not approving your claim, but your salary will also be withheld for this month!”

Liam grabbed Fiona’s arm and said in a sugary sweet voice, “Fiona, you’re so smart! You have to teach this dishonest person a lesson. Otherwise, the company will go bankrupt because of him.”

Fiona patted the back of Liam’s hand and dotingly said, “Liam, you’re the best. You always think about the company first.”

I felt disgusted when I looked at them.

I had wasted five years of my youth here.

Suppressing my anger, I picked up my claim form and left.

She would not be able to survive the consequences of stealing my money.

That afternoon, Fiona suddenly announced a company-wide meeting.

“We have two agendas for today.”

Fiona cleared her throat and swept her gaze across everyone.

“Firstly, I wanted to recognize one of our new colleagues, Liam.”

Liam’s professional photo appeared on the big screen.

“Even though Liam has only joined us for a short while as an intern, he’s hardworking, proactive, agile, and always looking at the big picture!

“Yesterday, he managed to get an important client on his own. He’s the face of our company and our rising star! Everyone should learn from him.”

There was sparse applause from the crowd, and it was mainly from colleagues who were closest to Liam.

Colleagues with longer tenure hung their heads expressionlessly.

Everyone clearly knew that Liam was not hardworking.

He had just been buttering Fiona up.

“Secondly…”

Fiona suddenly sounded very serious.

“I want to criticize a very problematic behavior! Some people are not performing and are only relying on their tenure here. All their efforts are spent on cheating the system and stealing the company’s money!”

After that, she pressed on her clicker.

The slide on the big screen changed to a photo of my five-thousand-dollar claim form on the screen.

Someone had crossed it out with a big red “X,” and it looked stark.

“Nick!” Fiona yelled and pointed at me as I sat in a corner.

Everyone was staring at me.

Some were sympathetic, some were gloating, while others were waiting for a good show.

“This claim isn’t detailed, and the amount is too high! How dare you ask for five thousand dollars for an event? You must have grown brazen over the years!” Fiona yelled before everyone.

“We hired you to create value for the company, not for you to suck the company dry! I will not let anyone off the hook for these fake claims and potential embezzlement!”

She paused and stared at me coldly.

Then, she announced, “Due to Nick’s misconduct, I have decided that the company will not reimburse him for the five-thousand-dollar claim!

“One more thing. I’m deducting your salary, allowance, as well as project bonus for this month. That’s a total of eight thousand dollars!

“This is your punishment and compensation for the company! Everyone should take this as a lesson and be wary of such actions!”

Everyone was shocked.

Liam was sitting in the front row, and he looked at me smugly.

He mouthed, “Old man, you won’t win against me.”

At that moment, my anger strangely disappeared.

I smirked.

“Are you sure you’re going to deduct my salary? Fiona, it’s not good to burn bridges. I’m afraid you’ll suffer from coveting my money.”

Fiona was momentarily stunned before she yelled in anger immediately after, “I started this business from scratch, and I’m not afraid of anything! I’ve seen too much to be timid! Do you think you can really curse me over this?”

Her face fell, and she slammed the table.

“Nick, you’re suspended! If you don’t want to work here, you can just leave!”

She did not have to prompt me, as I wanted to quit too. However, when I thought of what was going to happen tomorrow, I decided to stay for another day.

The next morning, the company’s biggest client, Ms. Black of Grand Corporation, appeared with her team.

I had worked on every single detail of this project and its proposal for six months.

As long as we managed to sign the deal, we would be able to get two million dollars’ worth of net profit. It was also the biggest project of the year for the company.

I organized my files and walked toward the meeting room. However, Fiona stopped me.

She grabbed my elbow and pushed me toward the corner of the corridor.

“Nick, are you oblivious?” Fiona lowered her voice and asked fiercely.

“Look at your cheap clothes! They looked washed out, so why are you wearing them? Stop annoying Ms. Black with your presence.”

She then pointed at the pantry.

“Make her a cup of coffee! After you serve it, hide in the washroom and stop embarrassing us! If you dare mess this deal up, I’ll make you pay!”

Before I could refute, Liam walked out of the office.

He was dressed to the nines, and he was holding the project proposal that I had pulled three all-nighters to deliver.

“Fiona, what do you think about my outfit today? Ms. Black will definitely like it.” Liam spun around and showed off his custom-made suit.

Fiona immediately put on a fawning smile and smoothed out his collar.

“Perfect! You’re the face of our company! Liam, it’s your time to shine! Once you sign the deal, the commission is all yours!”

After that, she and Liam walked toward Ms. Black and her team, who had just stepped out of the elevator with huge smiles on their faces.

“Ms. Black, welcome! I’m Fiona, and this is our project manager, Liam. He’s a graduate from overseas, and he’s the lead for this project. He’s very creative!”

I stood at the pantry door and tightened my grip on the paper cup. I suppressed the desire to expose them right then.

I wanted to wait a little longer.

The projector soon lit up in the meeting room, and Liam presented at the podium.

I went in with a tray of coffee and overheard him stammering over the slides.

He had never seen the content of the proposal, so he could not even pronounce the jargon correctly.

Ms. Black’s frown deepened the more she listened to him.

She was a practical woman, and she hated those who were incompetent.

“Mr. Taylor,” Ms. Black interrupted Liam’s monotonous speech. “Could you please explain the risk hedging model on page three in detail? What database did you use to build this model?

“What’s your proposal if the market fluctuates by 5%?”

Liam was taken aback.

He opened his mouth but no words came out. Cold sweat started to break out on his forehead.

“Ms. Black, Liam’s looking at the big picture. He’s focused on creativity and setting the general direction.

“As for these technical details, we don’t have to bother about it…”

Ms. Black frowned. She was about to say something when her secretary, Angela Swift, received a call.

Angela’s expression quickly changed. She quickly walked toward Ms. Black and whispered in her ear.

Ms. Black immediately stood up with a stern expression.

“Ms. Anderson, the bank has just called and told us that your company account has been frozen due to tax issues.

“Apparently, there are records on a lot of unpaid taxes.”