For five consecutive years, I secured eighty million in core contracts for the company.

Yet my salary remained six thousand.

At the annual company gala, I simply told my boss, “I want a raise.”

In response, he slapped me across the face three times right in front of the entire company.

“Do you think clients come to you? They recognize the company!

“Paying you six thousand is already charity, so don’t push your luck!”

Everyone in the office watched, laughing at me.

I said nothing, only quietly wiping the blood from my lip.

The very next day, I took all the client resources and moved to a rival company.

Three days later, my former boss broke down over the phone, screaming, “Why?! Why did they all pull out?!”

The atmosphere at the annual company gala was lively.

On stage, the boss, Daniel Aster, spoke passionately, his face flushed with excitement.

“This year, we secured eighty million dollars in core contracts, and that wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s hard work!

“So this year, everyone’s year-end bonus will be doubled!”

The room instantly erupted.

“My fifty-thousand-dollar bonus just arrived! Thank you, Mr. Aster! Thank you, company!”

Daniel’s niece, Veronica, was the first to raise her phone and scream.

Then cheers followed one after another.

“Wow! Veronica is right! I got fifty thousand too!”

“Same here! The company really delivered this year!”

“Mr. Aster is so generous! Hard work pays off! Let’s make next year even greater!”

…

One shout of “fifty thousand” after another burst around me like firecrackers.

I lowered my head and checked my banking app.

It was empty. Just like previous years, there wasn’t a single deposit notification.

A tight frustration slowly built in my chest.

I had joined the company right after graduating from college with a monthly salary of six thousand.

Eight years had passed; the company had grown from five employees to five hundred.

Yet my monthly salary was still six thousand.

For five consecutive years, I had secured eighty million dollars in core contracts for the company.

While everyone else on the team received a fifty-thousand-dollar year-end bonus, mine was zero.

What I received, as always, was still just the six-thousand-dollar base salary.

“Lily, do you have any wishes for the new year?”

Perhaps my expression stood out too much in the middle of all the celebration.

Daniel suddenly called my name.

“I want a raise,” I said.

My voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it.

The room suddenly fell silent.

People slowly turned to look at me.

The smile on Daniel’s face disappeared.

“What did you say?” He walked down from the stage.

He tossed the microphone aside, and it let out a sharp screech.

“Say it again.”

He stopped in front of me.

“I want a raise,” I repeated.

“Mr. Aster, I’ve been with the company for eight years, and my monthly salary has always been six thousand. New hires are already making fifteen thousand a month, but I’m still at six.

“And for five straight years, I secured eighty million dollars in core contracts—”

"Smack!"

Before I could finish, a slap struck my face.

My head snapped to the side.

My ears buzzed, and my cheek instantly burned.

Before I could react, a second slap came. Then a third.

"Smack."

"Smack."

"Smack."

He slapped me from left to right three times.

I hadn’t even processed it when a metallic sweetness filled my mouth.

Blood slid from the corner of my lips and dripped onto the collar of my white shirt, blooming like red flowers on snow.

He was breathing heavily, his finger almost stabbing my nose.

“Eighty million in core contracts?

“You think those clients signed because of you? They recognize the company!

“Without the company, what are you even worth?!

“Paying you six thousand is already charity, so don’t push your luck!”

I slowly raised my eyes.

His face was twisted with anger.

Behind him were the familiar faces of my coworkers. People I had once guided step by step, whose proposals I had stayed up all night helping revise.

They simply watched.

Some looked away, while others covered their mouths and laughed.

There were some who even raised their phones, as if they were watching a ridiculous show.

In the end, the hotel manager walked over.

“Sir, assaulting someone in public is illegal. Please be mindful of the situation.”

She turned to me, her voice softening.

“Ma’am, do you need any help?”

Following her gaze, I looked down at my clothes.

Blood from my nose had dripped onto them. It looked like a mess.

I nodded, raising a hand to wipe the blood away.

Then I turned around and followed a server to the lounge.

After the door closed, I could still hear Daniel shouting outside.

“You want to call the police? Go ahead if you’ve got the guts!

“A nobody from some second-rate college. Without me, who would give her such a good job?”

The lounge door shut, cutting off all the noise from outside.

I lowered my head and looked at the woman reflected on my phone screen.

Both sides of my face were swollen red, with clear finger marks printed across my cheeks.

My hair had come loose, too.

I looked like a crazy woman.

…

The door handle turned, and someone came in.

It was Emily, one of the company’s old-timers.

Now she had worked her way up to Vice President.

She sat down beside me.

“Lily,” she said, patting my hand, and tried to console me. “Don’t take what happened today too seriously. You just happened to catch Mr. Aster at a bad moment.”

I didn’t move or look at her.

I just stared at my phone, then opened a chat with a headhunter I had added a week ago.

At the time, they had asked if I was interested in new opportunities.

I had replied with one line.

[Not considering anything for now. Thanks for checking in.]

Now I typed four new words.

[We can talk now.]

Emily kept talking beside me.

“As for this year’s contracts, I know you contributed a lot. Everyone has seen it.

“But you have to understand, your success depends on the company’s support.

“Without the company’s reputation behind you, how would those big clients trust someone as young as you?

“Although the other employees under you may not be as strong in business as you are, they’ve contributed to the company in other ways. Even if their achievements aren’t outstanding, their effort still counts.”

She began using the persuasion tactics she was best at.

“You didn’t receive a year-end bonus, but that was the result of a comprehensive evaluation.

“You’re still young, and you need to think long-term. Next year, as long as you maintain the momentum you had this year, I’ll personally fight to get you a year-end bonus.”

Next year…

I had heard those words for eight years.

When the company was just starting, there had been no year-end bonus.

She told me it was because I hadn’t closed any contracts yet and had to wait until next year. Once I landed deals, I’d definitely get a bonus.

After I secured contracts, there was still no bonus.

So she said my degree wasn’t great. Next year, she’d make it up to me with a bonus.

Year after year passed, and still my salary never increased, nor was there any year-end bonus.

Now I had been slapped three times.

Yet she was telling me to wait for next year again.

I couldn’t help letting out a bitter smile.

For eight years, I had worked like a tireless old workhorse.

In the end, they really treated me like livestock.

Seeing that I didn’t respond, Emily sighed.

“Lily, be realistic. These days, there are graduates from top universities everywhere. With your degree, what’s your competitive edge in the job market?

“The job market is tough right now. Jobs aren’t easy to find, and six thousand a month isn’t exactly low…

“Think it over carefully.”

Then she stood up and left.

Right then, my phone vibrated.

It was a message from the headhunter.

[Ms. Frasier! I’ve finally heard back from you! Are you available for a call right now to discuss in detail?]

The message was excited and enthusiastic. It was a level of respect I hadn’t received in eight years at this company.

The call went smoothly, and the offer they made was very generous.

As long as I joined them, my monthly salary would be sixty thousand.

My year-end bonus was calculated separately.

On top of that, there would be equity incentives.

In an instant, I was offered everything I hadn’t received in eight years at the company, and it would all be written directly into the contract.

I put my phone down.

Then I looked at my swollen face in the mirror.

It felt like a full stop to the past eight years.

…

The next day, I showed up at the company on time.

Not for anything else but to resign.

The swelling on my face hadn’t completely faded yet, and a dark red scab had formed at the corner of my mouth.

The moment I walked in, the noisy office suddenly fell silent.

One glared at me like needles stabbing, filled with undisguised ridicule, curiosity, and gloating.

“Well, look who still has the nerve to show up.”

The one speaking was the boss’ niece, the same Veronica who had been the first to show off her fifty-thousand-dollar bonus.

She deliberately carried a cup of coffee as she walked past me, her voice just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

“I thought after taking those hits yesterday, you’d be lying at home for a few days.”

I didn’t look at her and walked straight to my desk.

I turned on my computer. My inbox was already filled with unread emails.

The company group chat was still being flooded with photos from last night’s gala and records of the bonus payouts.

I closed it immediately and opened a new document titled “Resignation Letter”.

The content was brief and cold.

There were no words of gratitude, no reflection on the past.

Just one sentence: [Due to personal reasons, I hereby request to resign effective immediately.]

Then I opened an encrypted folder on my computer.

After entering the password, an eighty-page document unfolded on the screen.

[Core Client Relationship Maintenance Manual.]

Every single word in it had been earned over the past eight years through countless sleepless nights, endless travel, and drinking sessions that had nearly ruined my stomach.

It wasn’t just simple contact numbers or contracts.

It recorded things like which executives disliked each other, whose son wanted to get into which elementary school, and what specific detail would make someone finally give in at the last moment of a negotiation.

These were the details that actually made deals happen, and partnerships continue.

It wasn’t company secrets, but the result of eight years of my effort.

Calmly, I exported the file, encrypted it, and uploaded it to my private cloud storage.

Everything left on the computer was irrelevant.

After finishing all of that, I finally stood up.

I printed the resignation letter, signed my name, and then walked toward Daniel’s office.

I knocked and went in.

Daniel was leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed while talking on the phone.

When he saw me, he didn’t hide the disgust in his eyes.

He said a few perfunctory words into the phone and hung up before leaning back in the large leather chair and looking me up and down.

“So, you figured it out? Came to apologize?”

He let out a mocking laugh.

“Yesterday you were still thinking about calling the police to arrest—”

Before he could finish, I placed the resignation letter on his desk.

He glanced at it, and the smile on his face froze.

He didn’t pick it up.

Instead, he slowly lit a cigarette.

“Lily, what I said yesterday might’ve been a little harsh, but that was for your own good. Sometimes you need a wake-up call so you can understand your place.

“Go ask around outside. What company would hire someone from a second-tier college like you? And still pay you six thousand a month? Keep dreaming!”

“I’m not here to argue about that,” I said calmly. “Please approve my resignation.”

“Approve it?”

He exhaled a ring of smoke and flicked the ash.

“According to the contract, you need to submit a written request thirty days in advance. During those thirty days, every bit of work you’re responsible for stays the same. You think you can just walk away? It’s not that easy!”

I understood what he meant.

He wanted to make things difficult for me during those thirty days.

Just then, the phone on his desk rang sharply.

Daniel picked it up impatiently.

“Hello? …What? The system crashed? Data loss?”

His expression changed instantly, and his voice rose.

“Their boss specifically asked for Lily to handle it? Useless! A bunch of useless idiots!”

He slammed the phone down hard. His chest rose and fell as he glared at me, his expression complicated.

There was anger, reluctance, and a trace of embarrassment he couldn’t quite hide.

…

“Apex Technology’s system ran into trouble. Mr. Johnson spoke up personally and asked for you by name to handle it.”

He gritted his teeth, every word squeezed out between them.

“As you’re still an employee of this company, you have to fix this problem for me.

“If you mess it up and cause losses, you’ll take full responsibility.”

I looked at his furious face and suddenly found it a little ridiculous.

When they needed someone to put out fires, I was the firefighter. However, when it came time to share the rewards, I was the disposable extra.