From a stall in the office restroom, I overhear someone badmouthing me.

Henry Fielder, the intern I've been mentoring for three months, grumbles, "The guy's got zero people skills. He's a total fossil, like a robot stuck in one mode."

I'm about to push the door open and jump in when someone laughs and piles on.

"The paperwork is incomplete. The receipts aren't compliant. I can't reimburse it without a manager's signature. We could recite his canned empathy lines in our sleep!"

Once they're gone, I quietly head back to my office.

Later, Henry drops a thick stack of expense reports onto my desk. "Quit waving the rulebook and rejecting everyone's reimbursements."

I skim the fake receipts, and for once, I don't call him out.

Instead, I give a thin smile and say, "I have a headache. I can't make out the words."

"What?" Henry Fielder, the intern, froze, then his voice turned sharp. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? If you won't process the reimbursement, just say so. You're just making life hard for everyone. Why fake a headache?"

I took a deep breath and didn't bother arguing with him.

In the past, I would've patiently explained that reimbursement receipts had to be legal and valid. As the finance team, we were the gatekeepers and held legal responsibility for everything we approved.

"Rules are rigid, people aren't. Ever heard of flexibility, Ronan?" he snapped at me, wearing the same defiant look.

Even then, I stayed professional and walked him through the review process again and again.

Just remembering what Henry had said in the restroom left me colder than I'd expected. Since he didn't appreciate it, I had nothing more to say.

I grabbed my thermos and turned to leave.

Henry frowned and grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going? Feeling guilty?"

When I didn't answer, he raised his voice. "Do you have any idea how many people have had a problem with you? You think I'm the only one who can't stand you?

"You're always denying reimbursement requests. What, are you pocketing the money?"

I froze, floored by how absurd it was.

Just last week, Henry had applied for a full-time position, and I even wrote him a thoughtful recommendation. I hadn't expected him to turn on me before the decision even came down.

His grip hurt. I pulled my hand free and said, "Henry Fielder, listen carefully. The company has a formal process and policy for reimbursements. I was just following the rules."

He scoffed. "Rules? Are you even human? All you ever say is rules. The same lines, over and over."

Then he snorted, his tone edging into a command. "I don't care. You're approving everyone's reimbursements today. They're too polite to call you out, so I'll go first. Fix that lousy habit of yours, Ronan Cooper! Stop acting like a robot!"

As soon as he finished, the few onlookers who had been silent burst into snickers.

"Henry's got guts!"

"There's finally someone to deal with Ronan."

With people backing him up, Henry looked smug. "Now you see how many people are fed up with you? Learn from me. Cut everyone some slack and stop making them jump through hoops for you!"

I almost laughed out of sheer anger.

The top expense report on my desk had a bogus receipt attached to it. The line item read "business trip cab fare", but the amount came to 100,000 dollars.

I had to wonder if that coworker had taken a cab around the whole country.

I set that expense report aside and flipped to the next one. It was a screenshot of a bank transfer for 50,000 dollars.

The recipient's note read, "Love you, honey".

Henry stood beside me and explained, "This is from Mr. Lane in Sales. He even printed it in color. How considerate."

I didn't argue and turned to the next page.

It was entirely filled with QR codes, with a "thoughtful" line beside them that read, "Anyone in Finance with time to spare can scan the code and issue the invoice yourselves."

I set down the stack of expense reports and looked at Henry. I held back from saying that we were a legitimate company in the middle of going public, and none of this was reimbursable.

Instead, I smiled and said, "My head's killing me. I'm going to grab some meds. Since you're so considerate of everyone, you can approve it."

Ignoring Henry's attempt to stop me, I walked out.

It was almost lunchtime. Instead of sticking around like I usually did, I went straight out of the building.

Before lunch was even over, I got a string of calls from Janet Walker, the finance director. She even tagged me in the team chat. "Ronan Cooper, get to my office now!"

I took my time and got back at the last possible minute before we were back on the clock. Besides Janet, a few other department heads were there too, set up like I was on trial.

Seeing how calm I was, Janet slammed the desk. "Ronan, I received several complaints about you today. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I took my time, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Before I could speak, Henry poured fuel on the fire. "Ms. Walker, look at that attitude. He has zero respect for you!"

Janet grew even angrier. "Ronan, show some respect! Quit throwing your seniority around!"

I smiled, unfazed.

Back when the company had only a dozen people, I was the finance manager. Now, the company had over 1,000 employees, and I was still just the finance manager.

I shouldered nearly the same liability as the company's legal representative, but took home about the same pay as a janitor.

I'd assumed that as the company grew, I'd get a promotion and a raise. But what I got instead was Janet, a finance director parachuted in from above. She was the boss's wife, so I had no choice but to deal with it.

On her first day, she asked me to expense a Louis Vuitton bag. She didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

"What's with that look?" she had said. "The company belongs to my husband. He put me in charge of the money. It's perfectly reasonable for me to use our own money to buy a bag."

I had forced a smile. "For an amount that large, we'll need the receipt."

She stood at the mirror, reapplying her lipstick, and asked with a blank look, "What's a receipt? Can't you figure it out yourself?"

Then, she waved me off. "And you call yourself a professional. You need me for something this small. What a joke!"

With a superior like that, it was hard to fake respect.

The other department heads backed Janet's criticism.

Edward Lane from the Sales Department spoke up sternly. "Ronan, I've been wanting to say this for a long time. Times have changed. You're still stuck on those outdated rules, nitpicking our department every day. What's wrong with you?"

I shot him a cold look. "Nitpicking? Mr. Lane, are you talking about when your department landed a one-million-dollar deal and you blew 400,000 dollars on 'client entertainment' and 60,000 dollars on gifts for their executives? Then you requested a 200,000-dollar bonus for your department, which I denied.

"Or do you mean when you asked me to issue a fake two-million-dollar invoice for your client, and I refused?"

Edward pointed at me, his face flushing bright red. "How dare you?"

He looked completely furious. "Finance exists because Sales feeds you! I'm the top closer here! Ronan, you're basically the help. You don't get to tell me what to do!"

Instead of arguing with Edward, I looked down at my phone. The message I'd sent my boss, Victor Manser, that morning still hadn't gotten a response.

The office was loud as more people kept criticizing me.

"Logistics has a complaint too. You make us submit an itemized breakdown for every reimbursement. What, you think we're trying to rip off the company?"

"Procurement as well. You're always jumping in to review our contracts. Who exactly don't you trust?"

"HR has complaints also…"

I tuned them out and sent a reminder to Victor, who was on a business trip. "Mr. Manser, could you approve my resignation today?"

My phone finally lit up, and Victor's reply came through. "Cut it out! We're in a critical IPO phase. You can't just walk out. Whatever your issue is, wait until I get back. Don't cause me problems!"

I stared at the message, and the last of my hesitation was gone. I felt nothing but cold.

I'd known for a while that he didn't care about the Finance Department. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brushed me off repeatedly when I pushed to streamline the reimbursement process.

He wouldn't have shot down my plan to roll out basic finance training for the sales and operations department, either.

The pile-on was still going on in the office.

Janet saw me on my phone, ignoring her authority, and her tone sharpened. "Ronan, are you even listening? What kind of attitude is that?"

I locked my screen and looked up. My face didn't show much, but what I said made everyone pause. "Are you all done?"

No one said a word.

I stood, walked to Janet's desk, picked up the stack of expense reports Henry had just tossed over, and gave them a shake.

"Since you all think that I, Ronan Cooper, lack basic decency and hold this company back, fine."

I turned to Henry, shoved the expense reports back into his hands, and said evenly, "Henry says he'll be considerate of everyone, so I'm handing everything over to him. Ms. Walker, any objections?"

That caught Janet off guard.

But the other department heads, especially Edward, spoke up immediately. "I'm all for it. Let Henry take a shot. Young people are usually quick on their feet!"

"Exactly. It's about time we let some fresh blood take the lead!"

Seeing the room rally and sensing a chance to push me down, Janet went with the flow. "Henry, you'll temporarily take over Ronan's work. Do it well. Don't let me down."

Henry's face lit up with joy, and he nearly jumped on the spot.

He shot me a smug look and thumped his chest. "Don't worry, everyone. I'll finish the job fast and won't keep anyone waiting!"

I smiled. "I'll email everyone confirming the handoff and that, from here on, responsibility rests with you."

High on the rush of power, Henry answered without thinking, "Got it, got it. Spare me the lecture!"

I nodded and said nothing more. Walking back to my desk, I started slowly packing up my personal belongings.

For the rest of the afternoon, the office felt weirdly tense.

I quietly sorted through old files and cleared my computer, while Henry threw himself into the work like he was saving the company.

He approved almost everything that crossed his desk, with no substantive review. With department heads egging him on and flattering him, Henry signed off on one expense report after another.

A longtime coworker pinged me on the side. "Ronan, you're seriously stepping back? Those expense reports are a disaster waiting to happen!"