Chapter 2

The conference room lights were blindingly bright, and without warning, my vision went black.

When I finally opened my eyes, Victoria Vance's bright red lipstick was the first thing I saw, her mouth moving rapidly.

"Sienna, fainting in the middle of a pitch? Why didn't you just faint all the way to the morgue?"

She held a printed sheet of paper and slapped it right onto my face.

"Faking an illness to disrupt company order. That's a thousand-dollar penalty, deducted directly from your paycheck this month."

I propped myself up against the table. The ringing in my ears from the low blood pressure hadn't completely faded yet.

"Victoria, I have chronic low blood pressure. It wasn't an act."

"If you're sick, go to a hospital. Don't throw a fit at work," Victoria sneered, looking around the room. "You call yourself our top sales rep with that pathetic body? You look more like a useless slacker looking for a free ride! Look at her, everyone. This was the most important review meeting of the year, and she wasted thirty minutes of our time. With a fragile body like yours, a thousand-dollar fine is a cheap lesson. Do it again, and you're fired!"

The entire conference room was dead silent. Nobody dared to speak up for me.

Beside me, Chloe Carter immediately stood up and eagerly handed Victoria a bottle of water.

"You're absolutely right, Victoria. This company isn't a charity. Sienna, you really need to take care of yourself and stop causing trouble for everyone else."

She pretended to care, but the gleeful smirk in her eyes was unmistakable.

I ignored her. I just looked at Victoria calmly. "Fine. Do I need to sign the deduction slip?"

Victoria didn't expect me to comply so easily. She blinked, surprised, before letting out a contemptuous snort. "At least you know your place."

She thought I was backing down.

I just didn't want to waste my breath.

I had been at Apex Solutions for five years. I went from a clueless intern to the backbone of the sales department. Ninety percent of our clients were secured by me, one grueling negotiation at a time.

Victoria was a nepo-baby hired six months ago. She knew absolutely nothing about sales, but she was a master of office politics.

She hated me from day one, probably because I was blocking her from placing her own friends in my position.

Over the past six months, she took credit for my project reports, sidelined my team members, and held up my expense reimbursements for three months without any reason.

I endured all of it.

My husband, Ethan, always told me to let it go. He said it was just a job, and keeping the peace was better for our family.

He was climbing the corporate ladder himself, and he didn't want any drama from my end to affect our life.

But today's thousand-dollar fine wasn't just a minor setback. It was a direct spit to my face, stepping on my dignity and grinding it into the dirt.

I picked up the penalty slip. The name "Sienna" printed on it felt like an eyesore.

Back at my desk, I opened my laptop. Instead of working, I messaged a recruiter I hadn't contacted in a long time.

"Rachel, is that new opportunity you mentioned still open?"

She replied instantly. "Sienna! Of course! Zenith Group has been waiting for you. I'll send you the job description right away."

Zenith Group---Apex's biggest competitor.

I closed the chat, clicked on an encrypted folder, and started organizing five years' worth of client profiles, supplier contracts, and final pricing bids.

Every single file represented late nights, endless coffee, and ulcers from high-stakes dinners.

Victoria, you used a thousand dollars to teach me a lesson. I'll use these files to teach you an eighty-million-dollar lesson.