Chapter 2

"Samantha, I know you mean well." I smiled. "But I've made up my mind."

"Then before you leave, could you finish updating the operating manual for the supply chain system?" Samantha said.

I paused for a second.

"Mr. Carter said someone needs to take over this part of the business after you leave," she added.

Someone needed to take over, huh?

Who?

"Samantha, are you taking over the supply chain?" I asked.

"Mr. Carter wants me to." She looked away, nervous. "I'll learn the ropes first, and I'll ask you if I don't understand something."

I suddenly found it amusing.

The system I'd built from scratch by myself over three years was going to be handed over to her after a month.

No wonder Richard wouldn't give me that 1.5 thousand. He thought I was replaceable.

I said, "I've already finished the operating manual. It's on the shared drive. You can go through it yourself."

"That's it?" Samantha frowned. "Lillian, how can you—"

"Samantha," I cut her off. "I'm supposed to hand things over to whoever Mr. Carter picks, not you."

Her face hardened. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." I walked out of the lounge. "Mr. Carter hasn't signed off yet. What's the rush?"

*****

When I got home that evening, I opened my laptop and started organizing everything I'd accomplished over the past three years.

Project files, process diagrams, client records, negotiation notes, and more. There were more than 200 gigabytes of data in total.

All of it was backed up on the company server, but there was one thing they didn't have.

I opened an encrypted folder. Inside was an algorithm model I'd developed on my own. It could improve supply chain efficiency by 40 percent.

Three years ago, I brought it up to Richard, and he told me it wasn't necessary.

Two years ago, I brought it up again. He said the company didn't have the budget.

Last year, I stopped bringing it up because I knew that even if I finished it, the credit would never be mine.

I kept the algorithm on my own hard drive.

Now, it was my bargaining chip.

My phone rang.

It was Claire. "Ms. Shaw, NovaTech wants to interview you as soon as possible. Would Saturday work for you?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Great." She sounded excited. "Honestly, Mr. Sutton asked to meet you."

She was talking about Ronan Sutton. The CEO of NovaTech, and a legend in the industry.

"How does he know about me?" I asked.

"Mr. Sutton's been following your work on the Eastburne Region supply chain project," Claire said. "He said that anyone who could improve efficiency by 35 percent in three years had to be exceptional."

That number represented what I'd accomplished, but Richard had never once mentioned it publicly.

He only ever said it was "the team's effort".

"Claire, I'll see you on Saturday," I said.

"Great. I'll send you the address," she replied.

After hanging up, I leaned back in my chair.

Three years. For the first time, someone had told me that what I'd done was exceptional.

I was no longer being told that I was "too young", that I "didn't have enough experience", or that "the credit belonged to the whole team". For once, someone was simply telling me that what I'd accomplished mattered.

*****

At eight on Saturday morning, I showed up at NovaTech.

The receptionist took me straight to the meeting room, and Ronan was already there, waiting.

He was in his early fifties, lean, with an intense, watchful expression. "Lillian?"

"Morning, Mr. Sutton," I replied.

"Have a seat." He gestured to the chair across from him. "I've gone through your resume, and I want to ask you a few things directly."

"Sure."

"You spent three years at your last company. Why didn't they ever promote you?"

Straight to the point. I respected that.

"My manager thought I wasn't good enough," I answered.

"What about you? What do you think?" he pressed.

"I think the work I did deserved better pay and a better position."

Ronan looked at me, saying nothing.

"I improved efficiency across the Eastburne Region supply chain system by 35 percent, and I did it myself," I said. "Over three years, I had no major incidents and no customer complaints."

"Your old company's website calls it a 'team achievement'," he said.

"Yeah, I saw it."

"Does that bother you?"

"It does." I met his gaze. "That's why I left."

Ronan smiled. "Lillian, do you know why I wanted to meet you?"

"No," I said.

"Last year, one of your company's projects was on the verge of collapsing. You went to Riverdale alone and saved the deal in three days. I was in the conference room next door."

I remembered.

The client had changed their mind at the last minute and wanted to cancel the contract. Richard told me to "give it a try" and sent me there with nothing.

I lugged my laptop to Riverdale, spent three days there, and kept the contract alive.

When I got back, Richard stood in front of the entire company and praised "the team's hard work". He never mentioned my name.

"Lillian, I need someone who can get things done," Ronan said. "Claire already told you. 150 thousand a year, plus project bonuses. If you deliver, you could make 200 thousand in your second year."

200 thousand? That was ten times what I made now.

"Any questions, Lillian?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "If I deliver, who gets the credit?"

Ronan paused, then burst out laughing. "Lillian, here, the person who does the work gets the credit. That's my rule."