Chapter 2

The memories of my past life aligned perfectly with the scene before me.

Looking at their hypocritical faces, a cold smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

Our sales department ran on commission. Fall short of the quota, and you took home a pathetic base pay of two thousand dollars.

In a cutthroat city like this, two grand wouldn't even keep the heat on.

When I first arrived here from a poor rural town, sales was the only job that would hire someone with no college degree and no family background.

To hit my targets, I went from someone who couldn't stomach a drop of alcohol to out-drinking rooms full of middle-aged businessmen. I stood on street corners in freezing blizzards, handing out flyers all day long.

Because I had weathered the storm alone, I wanted to hold an umbrella for the people behind me.

After becoming the top earner, I routinely split my closed deals with my teammates, ensuring everyone took home at least five grand so they could afford to visit their families with their heads held high.

When they lost valuable clients, I stepped in to win them back. When they faced nightmare accounts, I took the blow for them.

Whenever they received a cut of my commission and calculated their paychecks, they couldn't stop thanking me.

"Thank you so much, Joyce! Without you, I wouldn't even be able to pay rent this month!"

"Joyce, you're an angel! You even bought us winter gloves and scarves for field visits!"

"All hail Joyce! Joyce is the best!"

Look at them now. Not a single soul remembered a shred of my kindness.

In my last life, Vivian’s lies had been full of glaring holes, yet they chose to believe every word. They signed a petition demanding corporate fire me on the spot.

When I pulled out hard proof of my innocence, they made snide remarks, asking if I could guarantee I wouldn't sleep with Hayes in the future.

After Vivian took the manager seat, she couldn't hit the department quota to save her life. Everyone naturally blamed me, demanding I carry the entire team's workload.

To prove my worth and clear my name, I had foolishly worked myself to the bone.

In the end, they divided the fat bonuses among themselves, while I was reassigned to a hazardous construction lot. Right up until my gruesome death, not one of them spared a single thought for what I had done for them.

Fine. In this life, let's play by the rules of raw competence. Let's see who laughs last.

Amid the barking crowd, I calmly accepted their demand to forfeit the reimbursement slot, promising not to cause trouble for Director Hayes.

Vivian couldn't believe I was rolling over so easily.

"Are you serious? You can't take this back once you agree!"

I brushed her off casually. "If I back out, go ahead and report me to Mr. Miller. Tell him to fire me."

Getting the answer she wanted, Vivian practically skipped toward the accounting office.

I sat back down and opened the monthly performance spreadsheet I had prepared earlier.

Every year, to make sure everyone took home a decent holiday check, I evenly shared my extra sales volume with those who hadn't hit their targets.

Now, I restored the original, raw numbers.

I plugged in everyone’s true, miserable performance, hit save, and emailed the file straight to Mr. Miller’s inbox.

Right now, the rest of the team had no clue their holiday bonuses were gone. They were loudly chatting about what games to play at the company party tonight.

I sat quietly, listening to their excited chatter. The light in my eyes hardened into ice.

In my past life, I drew Mr. Miller’s top-tier ninety-nine-thousand-dollar cash envelope. It was the biggest prize of the night.

Before I could even celebrate, Vivian grabbed the stage microphone and announced that Hayes and I were secretly dating, claiming Hayes had rigged the drawing by telling me the exact location of the envelope.

The second I opened my mouth to defend myself, Hayes stepped forward and confessed to Miller. He admitted to our imaginary affair and took the blame for leaking the prize's location.

It caught me completely off guard, turning my words into a stuttering mess.

Faced with Hayes’s dramatic remorse versus my clumsy denials, Miller chose to believe him.

Desperate to prove my integrity, I forfeited the money. The grand prize was promptly handed to Vivian for her "bravery in exposing corporate misconduct."

Miller forgave Hayes because of his "honest confession," while dismissing my explanations as pathetic excuses. He stripped my bonus and killed my upcoming promotion.

Checking the time, I knew Miller would be arriving at the office any minute now.

It was time to fire the first shot of my revenge.