Chapter 1

The company decided to implement a brutal stack ranking system. Despite generating over $500 million in revenue for them, I was the one who received the termination notice.

I marched straight into the HR director’s office to demand an explanation.

She leaned back in her ergonomic office chair, casually shrugging her shoulders.

"Chloe, your signature fragrance line did bring in massive revenue, but the production cost for your formula exceeded the budget. When we run the numbers, there’s barely any profit margin left for the company."

Only I knew the truth. The raw materials I used for my custom blend only exceeded the internal budget limit by a mere three cents per bottle.

Holding the financial cost report, I went straight to my direct supervisor, Marcus.

"Look, Chloe, I know you feel wronged," Marcus said, placing his hands on his desk. "But this company doesn't need a rogue genius who brings in cash. We need cogs that follow the rules. If everyone acted like you, how would we keep this place running?"

He put on a show of being caught in a difficult position, pretending to offer me a favor.

"How about this? I’ll personally plead with HR to keep you on as a basic perfumer. However, your base salary will be slashed from five grand a month to a measly five hundred dollars."

I didn’t say a word. I silently handed him my letter of resignation, walked out, and booked a flight to the Maldives for a vacation.

Within just three days, my Snapchat and WhatsApp were blasted with over a hundred frantic messages.

"Chloe, get back here right now! If you delay any longer, the company is going to go bankrupt!"