"Brooke, did Mr. Kline mention why he wanted you to—"

I cut off my teammate's question. "Since you all already know, you'll have no problem climbing the ladder from now on. Not only will you make money easily, but your futures will be limitless too."

At my sarcastic remark, my colleagues couldn't hold back and started firing back at me.

"Pfft, sour grapes much?"

"Ms. Richmond is a graduate of a top-tier overseas university. You really think you're in the same class as her? Get real. It's like comparing a dumpster to a diamond."

"She's way prettier than you, and her academic background is better too."

"You're just jealous."

With one remark after another, the whole exchange took on the feel of haggling at a flea market.

Everyone knew perfectly well that Sandy had only landed the manager position because she was Dustin's girlfriend.

In truth, she was just a recent graduate, and all that praise for her excellent education and good looks was mere lip service.

When Dustin claimed I lacked experience, it was nothing but an excuse.

After packing up my things, I handed over my work to Sandy, who looked at me with disdain from head to toe.

By the end, she even lectured me like my mother would.

"Look at you, Brooke. You really should make more of an effort with your appearance, seeing as you're always dressed like some frumpy housewife." She snorted in disgust. "Unlike me. I'm pretty, and I know how to dress. That's how I landed a great boyfriend like Dustin."

I almost wanted to throw up right then and there.

If she could stomach being with Dustin, how could she possibly not put up with me?

"Sure, sure. You're into Mr. Kline because he's older and never showers, right? You really are so desperate that you'd be with just about anyone."

Dustin stood at five-foot-five, a portly man whose most striking feature was the conspicuously bald spot crowning his head.

Sandy's face flushed with rage, and she raised her hand to slap me.

I grabbed her wrist and shoved it aside. "I'm not your punching bag, so don't take your anger out on me."

Ignoring her reddened, angry face, I picked up the documents and turned to leave without another word.

As soon as I got home from work that evening, I complained to my client, "Dad, Mr. Kline says I'm not capable enough and wants me to hand over my hard work to the company for free."

He might be my client on paper, but in reality, he was actually my father, Ian Sullivan.

"I'm no longer the project lead now, so you really need to think about this carefully."

At this, Dad's smile instantly vanished. "I was already doing them a favor by injecting funds into their company, yet this is how they treat you? I told you to join our family business, but you wouldn't listen.

"Instead, you insisted on chasing some dream. Have you finally realized how harsh reality can be? Have you felt the tough lessons society has to offer? Quit that job right now."

"Oh, I'm definitely quitting. Who told them to mess with a college graduate who knows how to fight back?"

A year ago, I turned down Dad's arrangements and chose to join a relatively small software development company as a developer. There, I came across a proposal that no one was interested in and suggested to Dustin that we should give it a try.

Since there was no funding support in the early stages, I had to persistently convince Dad to inject capital into the company.

With the infusion of funds, this niche project showed considerable potential, so I put in my utmost effort to make it the best it could be.

So now, the project had become the golden goose of the entire company, and everyone wanted a piece of it.

Prior to this, I never imagined I would be the one to shake things up in the workplace.

The internet always said Gen Z would quit without a second thought. Since they had no family to support, no mortgages or car loans tying them down, they weren't afraid to voice their dissatisfaction and stand up for their rights.

But honestly, all they ever wanted was to be treated fairly. They wanted to work with transparency, not office politics, and to do their job with a healthy mindset.

After all, no one wanted to spend their days feeling unhappy at work.

In the workplace, experiences like being targeted by a supervisor, unpaid internships, or even having to pay to work, and uncompensated overtime were all too common. In the end, it often came down to nothing but mental resilience.

Over the past year, I worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk.

Dad felt for me, so he promised to transfer the final nine million dollars to the company regardless of how the project turned out—all because he had my back.

When Dustin caught wind of this through the grapevine, he couldn't wait to claim the project's success as his own just days before my contract renewal.

Unfortunately, not only were there still unresolved bugs in the software, but Dad also had no intention of paying them the remaining funds.

What Dustin didn't know was that his threats meant nothing to me, as I could easily file a labor arbitration claim to recover my rightful wages.

The day after the incident, I decided to slack off and see what Dustin and his darling girlfriend could come up with.

After all, we were the generation known for taking the path of least resistance. Thus, staying true to the art of doing the bare minimum, I began clocking in and out exactly on time.

Instead of actually working, I just relaxed at my desk and scrolled through short videos to pass the time.

On the third day, just as I was about to leave right on the dot, Sandy slammed a USB drive onto my desk.

Probably still holding a grudge from our confrontation the other day, she pointed at me and yelled, "Brooke, why didn't you tell me there were still bugs in the software? Did you do this on purpose?"

I glanced at her and replied innocently, "That's because you never asked. Since you didn't, why should I say anything? After all, I've already handed over all the files.

"Besides, there were clearly gaps in the code. Don't tell me you didn't notice? Anyway, I've got to head home now and binge-watch some shows in bed."

With that, I turned and dashed off, completely ignoring Sandy's furious shrieks behind me.

…

At exactly 8:00 am, I clocked in right on time.

Slumping into my office chair, I saw there were hardly any documents left on my desk.

With no work to do for now, I picked up my phone and started playing ranked matches.

My colleague from the next cubicle, Candice Burch, spotted me and immediately leaned over to relay a message from Dustin.

"Brooke, last night Ms. Richmond went to complain to Mr. Kline. The client said they specifically want you involved in the project, and Mr. Kline agreed. You're also expected to attend the project meeting this morning."

I totally tuned her out and kept playing my game. To me, she looked like a throwback to some old-time servant in a wealthy household, acting all arrogant and entitled for no reason.

Right as my team was closing in on the enemy's base and we were moments away from winning, I heard Sandy's shrill screech cut through.

"Brooke, are you deaf? Can't you see the client specifically asked you to report on the project progress? How dare you make everyone wait for you?"

Only after finishing my ranked match did I slowly look up, casually digging my ear.

"God, that was loud. If I didn't know any better, I'd think someone was slaughtering a pig. Ms. Richmond, getting angry so early in the morning isn't good for your health, you know."

Usually, everyone was used to Sandy's habit of shouting and making a scene whenever something happened, and they would quietly go about their work without daring to speak up.

But now, things were different. I had already been kicked out of the project team by Dustin, so at most, they would just gossip behind my back.

I strolled leisurely to the conference room door and took a closer look. Well, well, it was a room full of familiar faces.

I took my seat with practiced ease and opened my game before greeting the client's representatives with a friendly smile.

"Here's the thing—I'm no longer the project lead, so the new project lead will handle the reporting from now on. Ms. Richmond, please go ahead. As the lead, you should give a proper presentation."

Sandy's face visibly paled. She had no idea how to present the report at all.

Dustin hadn't expected me to completely step back and not care at all.

He and Sandy exchanged uneasy glances, clearly at a loss.

The client's representatives looked at each other before one spoke up.

"In that case, let's have Ms. Richmond go over the project progress."

Sandy hesitated and stumbled over her words, too afraid to admit she didn't yet have a full grasp of the project.

As she passed by me, I couldn't resist giving her a cheeky, insincere cheer.

Sandy forced her way through the presentation, stumbling and fumbling from start to finish.

Then came the Q&A session.

"Ms. Richmond, we'd like to understand more about the bugs you mentioned earlier—specifically, which ones are currently unresolved?"

"Uh, it has to do with incomplete scenario restoration in some areas," Sandy stammered.

"A friendly reminder, Ms. Richmond—we'd like to know about all of them."

Sandy stood stiffly in place, silently pleading with me to step in and save the situation. Sitting nearby, Dustin also shot me a meaningful glance.

Oh, God. This was so boring. I might as well stare at the ceiling to pass the time.

As the client's representatives continued to ask questions, Sandy kept dodging and downplaying the issues, which only made them grow even more dissatisfied.

Their questions grew sharper and more pointed.

By the time the meeting ended and the client's representatives left, they had made it clear—both directly and indirectly—that Sandy was clearly inadequate. This earned me a fierce glare from Dustin.

After the meeting ended, Dustin hastily called for another one.

"Lately, some of you have been not only slacking off at work but also clocking in and out right on the minute. That's downright unacceptable. You young people should work hard. This company hired you to work, and that paycheck is what lets you establish yourselves in society!"

"Yeah, we should totally do that since we get paid extra for coming early and staying late," I muttered sarcastically under my breath.

…

The entire meeting was filled with nothing but empty motivational talk and lofty ideals. The whole tone of the discussion was dripping with passive-aggressiveness, clearly aimed at getting under my skin.

At 5:00 pm, Sandy called me into her office and reluctantly asked for my help.

"Brooke, what does this line of code mean?"

When I saw the code snippet, I almost laughed out loud.

Her fake smile was barely holding up. "It's just been so long, so I can't remember the details clearly anymore."

Sure, sure. It had been "so long" since she graduated that she couldn't even understand the most basic C programming language.

Sandy spent the whole time asking questions but never got to the point.

At 5:59 pm, I dragged Candice into the office.

"Ms. Richmond, it's almost time for me to clock out. But Candice here would be more than happy to stay and work overtime with you, so I'll be heading out now."

Before either of them could say anything, I rushed downstairs as fast as I could.

Just as I reached the entrance of the company, Dustin's call came through.

I held the phone away from my ear as he shouted, "Brooke, how can you just leave when everyone else is busy fixing bugs? Get back here right now! The launch is only a few days away! Do you even care about getting ahead?

"I want all the bugs fixed in three days! You are to come back now and work overtime!"

"Mr. Kline, isn't Ms. Richmond still there? And there's still a week left. You should trust in her ability. I'm sure she can pull it off."

Dustin was briefly stunned into silence, only to erupt into shouting again moments later.

"I'm ordering you—get back here and work overtime now! Otherwise, you can forget about getting paid!"

For someone in charge, he was surprisingly out of the loop. Had he really not realized my contract was about to expire?

Moreover, what kind of boss tried to squeeze an employee dry right before their term ended instead of talking things over properly to keep them around?