At Opaline Corp, the lowest-performing employee had to eat a plate of pasta mixed with live worms.

This time, Tristan Crocker lost three clients and landed dead last.

To keep Tristan from feeling singled out, my wife, Wendy Kline, hit me with a nine-million-dollar performance penalty because I showed up one minute late while sick—even though I'd brought in three million in revenue.

Just like that, I became the first employee in company history with negative earnings.

Grinning, Tristan shoved the plate toward me.

"Wendy updated the company rules last night to keep everyone in line. Anyone who's late gets penalized three times their performance. You always said mistakes deserve punishment. Now that it's your turn, you're not backing out, right?"

Every eye in the room locked on me, waiting for me to lose it.

Wendy quickly sent me a message:

[The nine million is only on paper. It's not a real fine. With your talent, you'll earn it back in three months. Tristan's allergic to worms. If he ends up in the hospital over a punishment, it'll damage the company's reputation. And if people hear we punished an outsider, that'll look even worse.]

[You're my husband. You're one of us. I love you, which is why I'm giving you the chance to show some leadership.]

[Once this blows over, I'll give you an extra twenty dollars a month, okay?]

When I didn't reply, she finally snapped.

"Company rules apply to everyone, even the top performer. If you don't like it, you're free to leave."

I nodded, unclipped my badge, and set it on the table.

"Fine. I quit."

I looked at her.

"And while we're at it, let's get divorced."

The whole office went silent.

Everyone knew Opaline Corp ran on me.

If I walked out, ninety percent of the company's contracts would go with me. Opaline wouldn't survive it.

People immediately jumped to their feet.

"Dylan's here thirty minutes early every day. In ten years, this is the first mistake he's ever made. Just let it go."

Wendy's expression darkened. Instead of answering, she sent me a message.

[Behave. Take the hit for now. Whatever you're upset about, we'll talk at home. Don't make a scene and embarrass us.]

I didn't bother replying.

The silence made everyone even more nervous. One coworker hurried forward.

"Forget it. I'll take the punishment. I'll eat the worms. Dylan, calm down. Don't do something you'll regret."

He didn't get it.

I wasn't acting on emotion.

This time, I meant it.

Back when Wendy and I first started the company, she loved making an example out of me. If I accidentally printed one extra copy of a document, she'd tear into me in front of everyone.

Later, she'd wrap her arms around me and explain,

"Honey, I know it's rough. But I have to manage the company. If they see me calling out even my own husband, they'll respect the rules."

I understood how hard she worked to keep the business running.

So I put up with it. I swallowed every bit of frustration and let her walk all over me.

Then Tristan Crocker—Wendy's younger college friend—joined Opaline Corp.

From day one, he was a walking disaster.

He was constantly late, printing the wrong files, and costing the company money.

More than once.

But Wendy never punished him.

Instead, she'd reward him with paid time off so he could "reset his mindset."

When I questioned her, she'd massage my aching shoulders and patiently talk me down.

"Honey, times are different now. Punishment doesn't work on younger employees. Positive reinforcement is what motivates them."

I believed her.

Right up until a new young employee accidentally called her by the wrong name.

Wendy publicly chewed her out for three straight hours. "You can't even get something this simple right? What are you good for?

"Get out. We don't hire garbage here."

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Why isn't Tristan being punished for his mistake?"

Wendy poured me a glass of water and smiled.

"Honey, Tristan came back from overseas with a PhD. Talent like that is rare. We're lucky he even agreed to work here, so of course I have to keep him happy. I can't just punish him whenever I feel like it."

"A top graduate who's dead last every month and still hasn't passed probation after six months?"

That shut her up.

Then Tristan pushed the door open.

Acting all ashamed, he made a bet. If he ranked last again next month, he'd eat a plate of pasta mixed with live worms.

To protect his ego, Wendy turned his personal punishment into a company-wide rule.

Maybe the threat worked, because Tristan did land three clients this time.

But when it came time to sign, every deal crashed.

No question—he was dead last again.

Last night, I went to bed early because I felt sick. I wanted to recover and watch Tristan face the music.

Instead, Wendy secretly changed the penalty rules overnight and set my alarm later, making me late so I'd take Tristan's punishment.

Unbelievable.

I stayed silent.

The whole room went tense. Even Wendy looked ready to speak.

Tristan lowered his head, pretending to be sorry. "I was wrong. Mr. Depp is Wendy's husband, so this company is basically his turf. I'm just a lowly intern. I had no right to enforce company rules.

"I'll quit right now before he holds a grudge and comes after me."

He said that, but didn't even touch his badge.

Everyone saw the act.

Wendy bought it anyway and grabbed his arm. "Don't talk like that. This company is fair. Who would dare abuse their power or make things hard for you?"

I let out a cold laugh.

My phone buzzed.

Messages from Wendy's trusted staff popped up in a group chat:

[Here we go again. Ms. Kline is so sharp. How did she fall for an idiot like him?]

[Exactly. To save him from punishment, Ms. Kline handed over connections she'd spent years building. Deals that only needed signatures, and he still blew them. Unreal.]

Seconds later, the two staff who sent the messages turned pale and hurried to delete them.

Clearly, they'd sent them to the wrong group.

I glanced around.

Everyone had their heads down, clearly watching the drama unfold.

I frowned.

I used to think Wendy only bent the rules over small things, no matter how unreasonable she got.

I never thought she'd burn her own connections and hand Tristan extra support just to save him from a bet he made himself.

And she called this "for the good of the company"?

What a joke.

Wendy still had no clue about the group chat.

After babying Tristan for ages, he stood there with fake tears in his eyes.

Then she glared at me. "Enough. If you don't want to be punished, don't be late.

"Back when you made mistakes, you could drink toilet water without even blinking. What, now that you're management, you forgot where you came from?

"Besides, worms are packed with protein. Some people can't even buy them. Why are you being so dramatic?"

Just like always, she tore me down in front of everyone.

Like I would still be dumb enough to believe the lies she dressed up as love.

She had no idea I'd already had enough of her double standards.

I'd just uncovered a massive mistake Tristan had made. I was even planning to give her some dignity and handle it in private.

But if she was dead set on making me the scapegoat, then I had no reason to keep up appearances.

I tossed the documents I'd printed earlier onto the table.

Proof that Tristan had sold Opaline Corp's confidential information.

"I can follow the rules and eat the pasta with worms. But according to company policy, shouldn't Tristan be fired and held liable for selling company secrets?"

The room erupted.

Everyone stared at the documents in disbelief.

No one expected Tristan to stab the company in the back after Wendy had practically bent over backward for him.

With everyone watching, Tristan's eyes turned red.

"Wendy, I'm sorry. I got drunk and someone tricked me into it. I didn't mean to."

For a mistake that serious, Wendy barely reacted.

"You've completely lost control of your drinking. You're not allowed to drink anymore."

Then she looked at me. "Dylan, I just realized the rule about tripling performance penalties for being one minute late is unfair to top performers like you. I wasn't thinking clearly last night. That rule is canceled. Meeting adjourned."

Just like that, she erased the punishment.

No one would be penalized.

Everyone in the room understood exactly who she was protecting.

And it wasn't me.

As she turned to leave with Tristan, I picked up the plate and stepped in front of them.

"Hold on.

"If that rule's canceled, Tristan is still last place.

I held the plate toward him.

"You're the one who insisted on enforcing company rules. You came up with this punishment yourself. Don't tell me you're backing out now."

The other co-workers immediately piled on. "It's just a punishment. We've all been punished before.

"Go ahead and eat. We're only looking out for you.

"You're so skinny. Think of it as extra protein."

Tristan stared at the worms still wriggling in the pasta.

His face went white.

He nearly threw up.

Wendy rubbed his back and snapped at everyone else.

"I said the meeting is over. Why are you all still standing around? Get back to work. Do I need to personally escort each of you out?"

The crowd quickly scattered.

When she saw me still standing there, her tone softened. "Don't worry. Mistakes will be punished. No one gets special treatment.

"Tristan, come to my office later and write a ten-thousand-word reflection report. You're not leaving until it's finished."

I almost laughed.

Her favoritism wasn't exactly new.

I didn't even bother arguing.

I grabbed my phone and headed for the door.

She had been comforting Tristan, but the moment she saw me leave, she panicked and hurried after me.

Pulling me into a corner, she held up a medical report. "Look. Tristan really is allergic to worms.

"If I wasn't worried about things getting out of control, would I have let you take the hit?

"Honey, for the sake of the company and our family, can you let this go just this once?"

Back when she found out I was allergic to peach, she'd shoved allergy medicine into my hand and made me eat it anyway.

I wasn't going to die, after all.

But when it came to Tristan, suddenly everything was different.

I opened my mouth to cut her off.

Her phone rang.

She answered immediately.

Tristan's aggrieved voice came through the speaker. "Wendy, I drank a lot yesterday. The worms freaked me out, and now my head really hurts.

"What should I do?"