Chapter 2

Aunt Meadow replied, "Well, you have to make yourself worth his time! Look at you, working all year round for a job that only pays a few thousand dollars a month. What's so busy about that?"

I grabbed a piece of steak and didn't say a word.

A few thousand dollars? My salary last month hit 150 thousand dollars with a quarterly performance bonus.

But nobody at this table knew about it. It was not that I didn't want to say it, but even if I did, they wouldn't believe me.

Three years ago, I told my mom I'd been promoted to vice president.

She asked, "Vice president? What does that even mean? How many people do you boss around? Did you get a raise?"

I told her, "Yeah, it went up a lot."

She said, "Good. Make sure you stash it away."

After that, I stopped talking about work altogether.

Mom suddenly set down her fork. "Daphne, Aunt Meadow means well. Don't be difficult."

"Westin's family is hosting a birthday dinner this Friday. Are you going?"

Aunt Meadow looked at me, her eyes full of expectation. "His mom asked me to check with you. She said they'd reconsider you."

They would reconsider me?

I swallowed the piece of steak. It felt like chewing on a stone.

Westin wasn't impressed with my looks, and his mom didn't like me either, but they were willing to reconsider me. What a privilege.

"I'm working overtime that day," I said.

Mom said, "Who works overtime on Friday? That awful company of yours..."

I replied, putting down my fork. "Mom, I really do have work."

The table fell silent for a couple of seconds.

Uncle Finley jumped in to break the tension. "Alright, alright. Let them be. Young folks have their own way of thinking."

Aunt Caroline grumbled quietly, "What's the point of having your own ideas? If you can't get married, you're still a worry."

With my head down, I quietly ate my food, finishing the meal without saying another word.

Back in my room, I fired up my laptop and logged into the company intranet.

I pulled up Westin's resume. It stated, "Education: Master's degree. That part was legit. Previous company: Opulent Group, Project Management Department."

But in the "Position" field, it wasn't "project manager." It was just "project specialist." A specialist was two rungs below the manager.

I checked what he put for expected salary. It said 80 thousand to 100 thousand dollars a year.

A guy who brags about making 150 thousand dollars a year put down 80 thousand dollars as his expected salary?

I closed my laptop.

Outside, fireworks started popping again. Red and green burst, gone in a blink.

Westin, how much of your story was actually real?

*****

Monday, I went to the office at 7:30 am. Sapient Tech was on the twenty-ninth floor of a CBD skyscraper.

As soon as the elevator doors slid open, the receptionist jumped to her feet.

"Good morning, Ms. Parsons," she greeted me.

I slipped on my heels, put on my black suit, put my hair up in a bun, and fastened a pair of tiny diamond studs I bought in Yamore last year.

I was a world apart from the girl in a black puffer and bare face just days ago.

Violet was already waiting at the office door.

"Ms. Parsons, we've got eleven interviews today. You're handling the final round for six of them. They're scheduled from 2 pm to 6 pm. Here's the list," she said, handing me a tablet.

I took it and scanned through it. Westin was scheduled for his interview at 4 pm.

"Violet, who's handling the first round for the Operations Director position?" I asked.

She replied, "Ezekiel Evans. After the second round with HR, they'll come straight to you for the final interview."

I asked, "How did Westin perform in his initial interview?"

Violet flipped through the records. "Ezekiel commented that he has strong communication skills and extensive project experience. However, there's a remark."

"What's the remark?" I asked.

Violet replied, "Ezekiel wrote that some parts of Westin's resume don't quite line up with the details he gave when pressed. Recommend probing further during the final interview."

Something didn't add up...

I nodded and set the tablet down. "Check Westin's departure details from Opulent Group for me. Use the official background check process."

Violet paused for a moment. "Right now? We haven't even made him an offer yet."

"Do it first," I said.

She replied, "Got it."

She left the room.

I sat down in my office chair and looked down through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

From the twenty-ninth floor, I could see half the city's rooftops.

Under those roofs, some people were celebrating a birthday, and some were having dinner.

And somewhere out there, someone was pretending to have 150 thousand dollars per year.

At ten in the morning, Violet knocked on the door and walked in.

"Ms. Parsons, Opulent Group got back to us," she said.

She set the printout on my desk.

It said, "Westin Deleon, Start Date: March 2022. Position: Project Specialist. End Date: October 2024. Reason for Leaving: Fired by the company."

I locked onto the last line. Fired by the company.

It wasn't a resignation, and it wasn't because his contract ended. He was fired.

"What was the reason for his dismissal?" I asked.

Violet shook her head. "It's some internal issue, so they won't say more. They confirmed it wasn't because of his performance."

He got fired for something other than poor performance. There were only a few other reasons.

I closed the printout and said, "The interviews this afternoon go on as usual. Stick to the standard procedure."

"Understood, Ms. Parsons," Violet replied.

Once the door was shut, I checked my phone.

Aunt Meadow had sent another voice message.

She said, "Daphne, Westin's mom wasn't too happy you skipped the meeting. Find a time to treat her to dinner and make sure you're on your best behavior."