As the top phone service sales representative, I unexpectedly received a malicious complaint. I expect to be given a fair resolution, but nothing of the sort happens. The director calls off my imminent promotion and has an intern take my place.

I'm indignant and want to resign, but I accidentally overhear the intern acting coquettishly toward the director. "Daddy…"

The director is the general manager's husband, though. Everyone in the company knows they're DINKs. Where would he have gotten a daughter from?

I chuckle and shred my resignation letter. Behold my wrath and revenge!

A SIM card was flung right at my face.

"You couldn't help me over the phone. Well, I'm here now. Hurry up and fix this!"

I sighed helplessly. "Please believe me when I say I want to help you, but the card you own is from Revenant Corp. You're currently at Revelation Corp."

"I don't care. My phone is broken, and I demand compensation! You must give me a new one, or I'll file a complaint against you!"

The woman throwing a tantrum was none other than Fiona Johnson. She had called me three hours ago.

I worked as a phone customer service representative for Revelation Corp. Therefore, it was my job to aid clients with their data plans via online means.

Fiona had demanded that I replace her phone the second I answered her call.

This was a request that I had never encountered in the past.

Plus, she made the demand, citing that her phone would crash whenever she inserted the SIM card.

Frankly, her words were so ridiculous I could feel my brain cells dying.

To make matters worse, she refused to listen to reason even after I told her repeatedly that a SIM card couldn't possibly cause a phone to crash like that.

"I see what you're doing here. You're trying to shirk responsibility! Well, I don't care. You must get me a new phone now that my phone is broken. Also, I won't be accepting any phones that are cheaper than one grand. You know what? Just get me the latest phone."

Did she even hear herself? I was just customer service, not a wishing well!

In the end, I looked up her phone number in order to reason with her.

That was when I found out that her number wasn't even registered with our company.

So, I kindly gave her Revenant Corp's customer service number, but she kept harassing me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't hang up on her due to company policy.

Thus, I had no choice but to weather her yelling for an hour until she finally hung up.

However, she didn't forget to leave me a one-star review after she ended the call.

Now, I had to pay a five-dollar fine because of that one-star review.

Just as I was lamenting my bad luck, Anna Lowe, the new intern, peeked at my screen.

"Oh my, Maya. How on earth did you get a one-star review first thing in the morning?"

Her voice was so loud that everyone in the office heard her.

I instantly felt the director's incensed gaze landing on me despite the rows of computers between us.

Anna blathered on dramatically, "I've been interning for so long, and I've never gotten a single bad review. How did you do it, Maya?"

I was already simmering in anger, but she just had to poke the bear.

I snapped my head up with a barb ready at the tip of my tongue when she spilled her drink all over my uniform. "What?"

My shirt clung to me, utterly drenched. The drink had even seeped through my uniform to my underwear.

Anna shrieked, "Maya, I was just asking for advice! Why did you bump into me like that? Now my wrist hurts."

After that, she darted through the row of desks, nattering off, "Hey, do you have a Band-Aid? Maya bumped into me, and my hand's in an awful load of pain."

"Can you blow on it?"

Meanwhile, I rushed home to change into a fresh uniform to avoid a penalty for violating the dress code.

As soon as I returned to the office, a colleague informed me that Fiona, who had called me earlier, was already at my desk.

I reiterated the explanation I had given her over the phone and even called Revenant Corp for her.

However, the person on the other end of the line immediately hung up when they heard me claim that a phone was damaged due to a bad SIM card.

I couldn't help but envy their assertiveness. Frankly, it made me want to change companies.

Still, the company I work at prioritized service above all else. Thus, we were expected to greet a customer with a smile no matter how unreasonable they might get.

Fiona threw the SIM card at my face. Sadly, I had to stuff my anger into a little box and squeeze a smile.

In the end, I gave up and sought help from the director, Connor Aloe, due to her incessant harassment.

"Is she crazy? Wait here. I'll toss her out," he growled.

Connor stormed into the reception room. Yet, his face did a complete 180 when his eyes landed on Fiona. "Hello, ma'am. I'm the director. How can I assist you on this fine day?"

It was obvious he was also upholding the rule that the customer was always right.

Fiona didn't hesitate to point at me. "I want to file a complaint against her."

My heart sank. A promotion was going to be up for grabs next week.

I was a shoo-in for the manager's position based on my stellar work performance.

Now, a total of 100 points would be deducted from me because of a single complaint. That would affect my chances of getting that promotion.

I couldn't help but voice my protest. "Ms. Johnson, how is your request related to my job? I'm only a customer service representative. You can't file a complaint against me for this."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I do what I want. Do I have to tell you the reason? I could rescind that complaint, but only if you pay for a new phone out of your own pocket."

I was on the verge of tears due to sheer rage.

I, myself, was using a second-hand phone worth 300 dollars. Yet, she wanted me to get her a phone that cost more than one grand?

Plus, I was the innocent party!

I had to restrain myself from choosing violence when I saw her smug expression.

Alas, I could only swallow my anger as I recalled my near-weightless wallet.

Meanwhile, Fiona continued to rant. She even went as far as to curse my parents.

When I heard that, I couldn't help but blurt, "Ms. Johnson, please watch yourself."

Before Fiona could respond, Connor, who had been silent until then, became agitated. "Maya, how could you speak to a customer like that? You're at work!"

Fiona could not be deterred from filing a complaint against me. So, the director shot me a discreet look.

I could roughly understand what he was getting at.

After all, not every complaint would lead to immediate penalty toward the staff. There would be an opportunity for the staff to appeal against it.

The higher-ups would generally ignore those unreasonable complaints.

It seemed he wanted to placate the unruly Fiona and then help me withdraw the complaint later.

This was a relief for me. So, I no longer feared Fiona's complaint.

I was exhausted both mentally and physically after that farce.

Nevertheless, I chose to work unpaid overtime for the sake of my work performance this month.

I was the top employee in this department, consistently achieving the best results each month.

My colleagues had grown accustomed to my work habits, so none of them had ever commented on it.

Yet, Anna decided to approach me with a pout. "Maya, why are you always working overtime? Are you slacking off during the day and pretending to work hard after hours?"

My iron grip on my temper loosened as I recalled the events earlier today.

"Keep your mouth shut if you've got nothing good to say. Are you so blind that you can't tell that I'm the top employee every month?"

Anna froze before she started crying right in front of everyone. Then, she choked out, "I just graduated. I'm not really good with workplace intricacies. Please don't hate me, Maya."

Work was already bothersome enough.

Alas, I was unlucky enough to bump into my nemesis, Fiona, on my way home.

She was dancing away in front of a restaurant.

I initially thought about ignoring her and just walking by, but I stomped back after giving it some thought.

The more I tried to let it go, the more infuriated I felt. My anger had reached its boiling point.

So, I stood right before her and watched her dance with a murderous glare.

"You must work here as a server, don't you? Well, I'm going to dine here. Then, I'm going to file a complaint against you!" I declared.

The arrogance she had in the day was long gone.

Instead, she groveled and pleaded, "Why don't we sweep everything under the rug, huh? I'm not a server here. I'm just a dancer. This is my side gig. I'm actually an actor. I take on various odd jobs just to make a living. Please don't make things difficult for me."

Oh, how the table had turned. It was finally my turn to stomp her to the curb.

So, I crossed my arms over my chest and regarded her haughtily. "Why should I care? You certainly didn't care when you screwed me over during the day."

She continued to smile apologetically. "I wasn't targeting you per se, but someone did hire me to act that way."

I was taken aback.

Then again, it was true that it took a certain amount of idiocy to make those unreasonable demands.

I had considered all possibilities and even went as far as to suspect that she was mentally unsound. Yet, I never once thought she was a paid actor.

"Who hired you?"

She refused to spill the beans, citing professional ethics.

However, she did offer to withdraw the complaint in order to make it up to me.

I declined and told her that no sane company would entertain those unreasonable complaints.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but wonder just who would go as far as to hire an actor to file a complaint against me.

Although a promotion was dangling right above our heads, none of my colleagues could be considered my rival.

So, why did they do such a thing?

Unfortunately, I still had to work despite my annoyance.

I saw a notice at the entrance announcing my penalty as soon as I stepped into the company the following day.

It stated in black and white that I had been penalized with a deduction of 100 points due to a customer's complaint.

I wasted no time seeking out the director to ask just what was going on.

He languidly lifted his cup and took a sip. "Do you really have to ask? A complaint was filed against you, negatively impacting the company. You're merely being penalized according to company policy."

I couldn't take this lying down.

"Her demands yesterday were beyond ridiculous. Therefore, if we're talking about company policy, complaints like hers would usually be tossed aside. Besides, you shot me a look yesterday."

He placed the cup on the table with a clink, his displeasure obvious.

"When did I do such a thing? Even if I did, I must've done it to make you shut up and not further provoke the customer! Have you forgotten that our motto is that the customer is always right?"

I inhaled deeply and informed Connor what Fiona had told me, highlighting the fact that she was hired to file a complaint against me.

He hadn't even said a word when a derisive giggle burst to life.

"Gosh, Maya. You're hilarious. If you trust her, then you must believe me when I say I'm royalty!"

I turned to look at Anna, who was laughing so hard she could barely stand, and felt a surge of anger welling up within me.

Still, this wasn't the time for me to get even with her.

"Mr. Cole, you can give Fiona a call if you don't believe me. I kept her contact information. Plus, she's given me her word that she would come over and withdraw the complaint.

Connor frowned. "The penalty notice has already been issued. So, the complaint can't be withdrawn even if the customer rescinds herself. And another thing, your story is too far-fetched. Are you insinuating that someone in the office has spent money to hire an actor just to frame you?"