My words landed like a bombshell in the office.

"Ms. Watson got a 200 thousand dollar bonus?"

"What the hell is going on?"

Every head in the room snapped toward Sasha. She went white, staring at Joe with panicked eyes, her lips trembling.

Joe's face tightened. Panic flashed in his eyes, then he forced his voice steady and snapped,

"Cassian, what are you talking about? This is slander!"

I let out a cold, humorless laugh and pulled up the screenshot on my phone.

"Slander? You want me to throw the notification from the banking app up on the big screen so everyone can see it? The memo on that 200 grand spells it out. It literally says 'annual special bonus!'"

Joe's eyes darted away, guilt all over his face. He opened his mouth like he wanted to speak, then shut it again.

I didn't let up. "You took money that could've saved a life and handed it to your niece as a 'special bonus'? Mr. Watson, that's some world-class accounting right there!"

The panic drained from his face almost instantly. His mouth pulled into a thin, fake smile that never reached his eyes.

"Cassian, I was actually prepared to let you walk away with a little dignity. But since you insist on pushing this, don't blame me for handling it by the book."

He slowly reached into his briefcase and pulled out a document.

"You secretly contacted one of our competitors. That's a serious violation of the non-compete agreement you signed when you joined this company!"

Joe slapped the document onto the table with a sharp crack and stabbed a finger at a line buried deep in the fine print.

"Read it carefully! Any breach means you owe the company a one-time penalty of 200 grand! This is your formal notice. You're fired. And effective immediately, you will reimburse the company for the full amount!"

A non-compete? A 200 grand penalty?

I had never signed any so-called non-compete agreement with Joe. The words hit me in a row, each one landing like a punch to the chest.

He'd planned this from the start. Skimming my commission wasn't enough. He'd lined up a fine-print trap to finish me off.

A cold, sick feeling crawled up my spine. My hands and feet went numb.

Joe's face lit with smug satisfaction.

Sasha lifted her chin, too. "Cassian, you're done."

A steady voice, edged with amusement, drifted in from the doorway. "Mr. Watson, look at you, throwing your weight around."

"Mr. Rimmer!" Joe gasped, his voice cracking.

The color drained from his face as if he'd just seen a ghost.

"You want to fire Cassian? That couldn't work out better for me! I was just about to poach him as my sales director and partner."