"Are you coming or not?"

"Let me spell it out for you. Once my family gets into this company, every single one of them will outrank you. If you don't start kissing up to me now, you'll regret it later."

I listened to Maureen Fox's threats and bribes from the other end of the line, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"What a coincidence. I've never been the type to kiss up to anyone. Since your family is so well-connected, figure out your own ride home."

I hung up.

Maureen must have been seething, because a string of messages came through almost instantly:

"You're a factory floor grunt and you have the nerve to talk back to me?"

"Just wait."

"I'm not just going to have my cousin fire you. I'm going to have you blacklisted from the entire industry!"

I stared at the messages and was genuinely speechless.

I ran over a dozen companies. My net worth cleared ten billion dollars. And here I was, being threatened with career destruction by an intern.

If word of this ever got out, my friends in the business world would laugh at me for a solid year.

But Maureen's arrogance wasn't what actually concerned me.

It was her cousin.

A single HR director shouldn't have had that kind of reach. Which meant the rot inside the company had already spread to the upper ranks.

With that thought, I sent a message to Vice President Gallagher:

"Send out a notice. Tomorrow morning at nine, I'm holding a company-wide meeting. All employees must attend. No exceptions, no leave requests."

The message barely went through before Desmond replied:

"Understood, Mr. Henson."

The next morning, I drove to the office as usual.

The moment I stepped out of my car, I spotted Maureen standing at the front gate with her arms crossed over her chest.

Next to her stood a man in his early thirties, sharply dressed in a tailored suit, radiating the kind of smugness that came from unchecked authority.

I glanced at his name badge. Rupert McClain, HR Director.

The second Maureen saw me, she darted forward to block my path and turned to him.

"That's him, Rupert! That's the one!"

Rupert looked me up and down with the slow, deliberate appraisal of a man who believed he held all the cards. "So you're the factory worker who disrespected my cousin?"

"Who hired you in the first place? I don't recall ever seeing your face."

To avoid the tedious formalities that came with my position, I always kept a low profile at the branch office. Plain clothes, no entourage, and the cheapest car in my garage. Only the core executives knew who I really was.

An HR director didn't come close to qualifying.

When Rupert said he'd never seen me before, Maureen's eyes lit up like she'd just stumbled onto the find of a lifetime.

"Rupert, even you don't recognize him? Then he definitely got in through the back door!"

"Fire him. Right now!"

Rupert let out a short laugh, his expression dripping with contempt. "A back-door hire. That explains the attitude."

He tilted his chin up, every inch the petty tyrant savoring his moment.

"Tell you what. Out of the goodness of my heart, since you did chauffeur my cousin to and from work for a month, I'll let you keep your job. But you'll need to agree to a few conditions."

"First: a placement fee. Fifty thousand dollars, wired directly to my personal account. Otherwise, one word from me and you're gone."

"Second: from now on, you drive my cousin to and from work every single day. You do whatever she says, whenever she says it. No questions asked."

"Third: last night, you ignored my cousin's request to come pick us up. That requires compensation. Cab fare, one thousand. Drinks and karaoke, four thousand. And since my cousin was so upset she couldn't sleep all night, that's another ten thousand for emotional distress."

He held up a hand, ticking off the total like a loan shark settling accounts.

"That puts you at sixty-five thousand. Cash or transfer?"

I stood there, taking it all in.

Never in my life had I imagined that as the owner of this company, I'd have my own employees shaking me down for a hiring fee.

Right outside the gates of my own company, no less. Broad daylight. Not an ounce of shame.

Rupert pulled out his phone and flashed his payment QR code, waiting for me to transfer the money like an obedient mark.

Maureen stood beside him, gloating. Her eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of someone savoring every second of payback.

A crowd of employees had gathered to watch.

Nobody seemed the least bit surprised by Rupert's behavior.

A few shot me sympathetic looks, urging me to just pay up before I lost my chance to stay at the company. Others smirked and mocked me, saying I'd picked the wrong person to cross—of all people, Director McClain.

Watching their reactions, I couldn't help asking Rupert:

"So everyone who wants to work here has to pay you a fifty-thousand-dollar 'placement fee'?"

Rupert let out a cold laugh.

"Depends on the situation."

"Someone like you, who bypassed the standard hiring process—me, as HR Director, smoothing over your paperwork and fixing your records—you don't think that deserves a little compensation for the trouble?"

Maureen nodded eagerly. "Exactly. The fact that my cousin is even willing to take your money means he thinks you're worth the effort."

"Just like when I rode in your car—that was a privilege for you."

I paused, then asked:

"What if I refuse?"

Rupert's expression went cold in an instant.

"Refuse?"

"Let me spell it out for you. The company's owner is coming here today to hold an all-staff meeting. All I have to do is mention to him that you're an unauthorized hire who got in through the back door. You won't just lose your job—whoever recommended you will go down with you."

"So think carefully. Sixty-five thousand for peace of mind. That's a bargain."

Maureen's eyes lit up. She grabbed his arm.

"Rupert, the owner is really coming today?"

Rupert nodded.

"The VP sent a notice in the group chat first thing this morning. Everyone's required to attend."

Maureen immediately started fussing with her hair and makeup, barely able to contain herself.

"Do you know what type of woman our boss likes?"

"Do you think I have a shot?"

Rupert looked her up and down. "You're young and pretty. I doubt any man could say no."

"That's exactly why I brought you into the company."

"Once the boss gets here, I'll find a way to introduce you. If you can win him over, our whole family goes straight to the top."

Maureen swallowed hard, her voice thick with ambition. "Don't worry, Rupert. I'll make him fall for me. Count on it."

Watching the two of them scheme, I couldn't help but say:

"The boss isn't going to be interested in someone like you."

Maureen's face twisted with fury.

"You backwater nobody—what would you know?"

"Pay what you owe and shut your mouth. Once I'm the boss's wife, you won't even be worthy of kissing up to me!"

I said nothing.

Rupert's patience had run out. "I'm asking you one last time. Sixty-five thousand. Yes or no?"

I looked at him, my voice even. "No."

Rupert's eyes narrowed to slits, his tone dropping low.

"Since you don't know what's good for you, don't blame me for what comes next."

He turned and waved over the security guards.

"Get this unauthorized factory grunt off the premises. Now."

On his order, several guards moved toward me, ready to drag me out.

Then, at the critical moment, someone in the crowd shouted: "Vice President Gallagher is here!"

Every head turned. The employees straightened up and greeted Desmond Gallagher with respectful nods as he approached.

Desmond scanned the crowd, his brow furrowed.

"What's going on here? Why is everyone gathered at the front gate?"

Rupert stepped forward immediately, wearing a sycophantic grin as he addressed Gallagher with exaggerated deference.

"Vice President Gallagher, I just caught someone who snuck into the company through the back door. No proper hiring process, no formal recruitment. He just slipped right in."

"And his attitude is absolutely appalling. Not only did he refuse to cooperate with my investigation, he was openly disrespectful to my face."

"I know the boss is coming today for the big meeting, so I wanted to get this guy thrown out before the boss arrives. Last thing we need is some nobody causing a scene in front of him."

Maureen chimed in from the side, nodding vigorously.

"Exactly! He didn't just weasel his way in through connections. He had the nerve to speculate about the boss's personal interests and hobbies, talking trash about him behind his back."

"Scum like that needs to be kicked to the curb immediately!"

Gallagher's expression darkened. "He dared disrespect the boss?"

"Take me to him. Now. I want to see who's got that kind of nerve."

Rupert jabbed a finger in my direction. "That piece of trash, right there!"

Gallagher followed the line of Rupert's hand, his gaze cutting through the gathered crowd until it landed on me.

The instant he saw my face, his eyes blew wide. His voice came out shaking.

"B-Boss?"