Chapter 3

No wonder Bea had the balls to join the circus. Bob was backing them from the shadows.

Amber and Bea were just his pawns.

One operating in the light, the other in the dark, using public outrage to dethrone me, the founder.

Everything started making sense.

Lately, Bob’s administrative accounts had been looking a bit fuzzy. Out of respect for our history, I hadn't pushed him too hard.

But this preschool's expenses were personally audited by me. Every penny was accounted for, completely cutting off any room for embezzlement or kickbacks in procurement.

He saw my passion project as a threat to his side-income.

He wasn't mad that I was spending money on a non-profitable project. He was terrified that my tight auditing would eventually expose his dirty laundry!

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked back at the comments. They had turned vicious.

"Dox this greedy corporate witch! Let's bankrupt her company!"

"This company is toxic. Let's spam the regulators and get them shut down!"

The next morning, a crowd of local reporters and camera crews had gathered outside our office building.

The second I stepped through the doors, the atmosphere felt suffocatingly tense.

Everyone kept their heads down, pretending to work, but their eyes followed my every move.

Amber and Bea were standing in the middle of a crowd of younger employees.

Seeing me, Bea walked over with a fake, patronizing smile.

"Chloe, please don't be upset. Amber’s methods might be a little extreme, but she’s just giving voice to what the people want."

"Why don't you just give everyone what they want so we can all move past this?"

Amber crossed her arms, a smug grin plastered across her face.

"Chloe, have you seen the internet? The entire country is on my side."

"If you don't find a way to satisfy us, I can't promise we won't make national headlines tomorrow."

Ignoring their tags-team performance, I walked straight into my office.

I had hoped that at least the parents whose children were currently enrolled in the preschool would stand up and speak the truth.

But I was disappointed.

They remained dead silent in the company group chats, occasionally dropping a weak, neutral "let's all calm down."

They were terrified of being dragged into the line of fire. They didn't want to be targeted as the "privileged few."

Most of all, they were afraid of offending Amber's angry mob.

My kindness had turned me into a laughingstock.

I let out a cold, self-deprecating chuckle.

I picked up the phone and dialed my assistant.

"Announce an all-hands meeting in the main conference room at 3:00 PM."

My assistant hesitated. "Chloe... are you... going to give in?"

"Give in? No. I just think it's time to give them the exact 'equality' they've been begging for."

"I want to see how long they can hold onto their own bowls after they’ve personally smashed everyone else's."

Amber and Bea were just clownish puppets. My priority was to drag the "loyal director" who leaked the budget sheet out of the dark.

If you don't lance the wound, the infection will eventually kill the body.