Chapter 2

My knees hit the hardwood floor, and a sharp, throbbing pain shot up my leg.

"Audrey, just because you didn't get the promotion doesn't mean you can stomp on my feet to vent! Look at you, clumsy as hell!"

Instead of apologizing, Brad immediately twisted the truth.

The surrounding colleagues began whispering and pointing at me again.

"Audrey, are you blind or something?"

Suppressing the pain in my scraped hands and bruised knees, I forced myself up from the floor.

I stared coldly at Brad.

"Move your damn leg."

Brad slammed his hand on the desk and stood up.

"You stepped on me on purpose, and I didn't even get mad, and now you're cursing at me?"

"Do you still think you're the untouchable queen of sales? You're nothing but a joke now!"

Just then, Cody Miller, the intern I had been mentoring, walked over with red eyes. He gently helped me to a chair.

As he spoke, his voice cracked with tears.

"Audrey, what am I going to do?"

I frowned, looking at the paper in his hand.

It was a demotion notice.

It stated that because Cody had failed to meet his targets during his probation period, he was being demoted to a front-desk assistant with his pay cut in half.

"What is this?" I asked.

Cody wiped a tear away.

"Richard said I'm too stupid. He said I can't do anything right."

"Audrey, I really need this job. I have to pay for my grandmother's medical bills."

He sobbed miserably, looking completely helpless.

Seeing him like this made my anger soften slightly.

In this cutthroat company, maybe this fresh graduate was the only decent person left.

Remembering how hard we had worked together over the past two months, I patted his shoulder gently.

"Sales is a tough industry. It’s normal not to have clients when you've just started."

I thought about it, then pulled a client sheet from my desk.

"Tell you what. I have a few renewal contracts from my loyal clients. The commission isn't huge, but it's enough to get you through probation."

"Go close these. I'll put them under your name so you can get the bonus."

Cody’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Really? Audrey, are you really giving your clients to me?"

I nodded.

"Times are tough. We have to look out for each other."

Cody clutched the paper, a huge smile breaking through his tears.

"Thank you, Audrey!"

Watching him run off happily, I sighed.

The scrape on the back of my hand was still bleeding.

I limped toward the restroom to clean myself up.

If I met Mr. Harrison looking like this, it would be extremely unprofessional.

I limped down the hallway.

I kept telling myself that as long as I held the $100 million contract, I still held all the cards.

But I never could have guessed that my kindness was just another piece of their sick joke.

"BANG!"

Suddenly, the sound of a confetti popper exploded from the main office.

Followed by a loud cheer from the entire team.

"Woohoo! Let's congratulate Cody on becoming our new Sales Director!"