Chapter 3

"Emily Lane, right?"

"Yes."

"I heard you want to take a week off?"

"Yes, Director Warren. I haven't been feeling well lately-"

"I don't care why," Jessica Warren said without looking up from the file in her hands. "Do you know your Admin Department ranked dead last in performance this month?"

"What does that have to do with my leave-"

"Of course it has something to do with it." She finally looked up at me. "If you take leave, everyone else's workload goes up. If mistakes happen, who's responsible?"

"I've already handed off all my work."

"Handed it off? What about Friday's annual gala? Who's going to oversee the on-site execution?"

"I've already finished the plan. As for the on-site part, someone can be assigned-"

"You assign it? What gives you the right?"

I stood there, my hands curling into fists. Jessica set the file down and leaned back in her chair. "Emily Lane, let me be blunt. There are plenty of people in this company who can do your job. If you take a week off and come back, this seat may not still be here. I looked at your file. Four years, and you're still just a specialist. Maybe you should think about why that is." It was exactly the same thing Charles had said. I stood there for about three seconds and suddenly felt unbelievably calm. About 113 million dollars. No, technically I hadn't claimed it yet, but it was there, tucked inside that thin little ticket. And here I was, in an office that wasn't even 215 square feet, being lectured by someone whose annual salary probably wasn't even a rounding error compared to what I was about to have.

"Director Warren, so what you're saying is, you won't approve my leave?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't approve it. But you need to think about the consequences."

I nodded. "I've thought it through." "Hm?" "I'm still taking the leave."

Jessica lifted a brow, clearly not expecting that answer. "Suit yourself. But let me make one thing clear first-if anything goes wrong while you're away and the company suffers any losses, you'll be personally responsible for all of it."

"Fine."

I turned and walked out of the office.

I had barely stepped into the hallway when Megan Marsh from my department stopped me. "Emily, you're really taking leave?"

"Yeah."

"I heard Director Warren wasn't happy about it."

"Doesn't matter."

Megan hesitated, then lowered her voice. "I've got something to tell you, but don't repeat it."

"What is it?"

"After work yesterday, Supervisor Grant and Director Warren talked in the office for a long time. When I passed by, I heard them mention your name. It sounded like they said something about 'might as well use this chance.'"

I stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't hear everything, but it felt like they were planning to use your leave as a chance to give your position to someone else."

"Who?"

Megan glanced around before lowering her voice even further. "I think it's Supervisor Grant's relative-the girl who interviewed last month. Mandy Jones."

I remembered her. Back when she interviewed last month, someone in HR had quietly mentioned that Mandy Jones was Charles Grant's wife's cousin. Her education was average and she had zero experience, but Charles had been pushing for her the whole time. They didn't hire her then because there was no opening. Now, one was about to appear.

I smiled. "Thanks for telling me."

When I got back to my desk, I submitted my leave request. Charles Grant approved it in the system without even looking at me.

At lunch, I sat alone in a corner of the cafeteria. Fiona came over with her tray and sat across from me. "Emily Lane, have you really thought this through? Once you go, that seat's gone."

"Why are you so worried about my seat?"

"I'm worried about you," Fiona said, picking at her food with her chopsticks. "You too, only 1,600 dollars a month. Is it really worth fighting that hard to protect? But then again, if you quit, where can you even go? With your education..."

She didn't finish, but the meaning was obvious.