Chapter 2

“Ms. Turner, are you okay?”

Marcus, a subordinate who’d only been with us for two months, stood behind me.

I shook my head.

“I’m fine. Go back to your work.”

I stood up, heading toward the break room to get some water.

The corridor was narrow. Derek saw me coming and deliberately stretched his leg into the aisle.

I tripped over it and fell hard to the floor.

My knee hit the hard surface, sending a sharp, drilling pain through me instantly.

“Oh my! Why is our great Director Turner bowing so low?”

Not only did Derek not apologize, he mocked me loudly with heavy sarcasm.

The surrounding colleagues burst into laughter again.

“Sasha, are you blind or something?”

I endured the searing pain in my hand and knee, struggling to get up from the floor awkwardly.

I looked coldly at Derek.

“Get your dog leg out of the way.”

Derek slammed his hand on the desk and stood up.

“You walk without watching where you’re going and blame others? You think you’re still that high-and-mighty top salesperson? You’re nothing but a joke now!”

Marcus walked over, his eyes red.

“Ms. Turner, ignore them.”

He helped me to my chair, his voice choked with tears.

“Ms. Turner, what am I going to do?”

I frowned, looking at the paper in his hand.

It was a demotion notice.

It stated that due to Marcus’s failure to meet performance standards during his probation period, he would be demoted to reception assistant with his salary cut in half.

“What’s this about?” I asked.

Marcus wiped away tears.

“Mr. Richards said I’m too stupid and can’t do anything right. Ms. Turner, I really need this job. I have a sick grandmother back home to support.”

Seeing him like this, the anger in my heart subsided slightly.

In this cold company, perhaps only this fresh graduate still retained some human warmth.

Remembering how I’d trained him hands-on these past two months, I softened.

I patted his shoulder consolingly.

“Sales is tough for everyone. You just started—not having resources is normal.”

I thought for a moment and pulled out a client list from my desk.

“Tell you what—I have some repeat orders from old clients here. The profit margins aren’t high, but they’re enough to get you through probation. Take these and follow up on them. They’ll count as your sales numbers, give you a cushion.”

Marcus’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Really? Ms. Turner, you’re really willing to share clients with me?”

I nodded.

“Everyone’s struggling. We should help each other out.”

Marcus clutched the list tightly, breaking into a smile through his tears.

“Thank you, Ms. Turner! You’re like a second parent to me!”

Watching his joyful retreating figure, I sighed helplessly.

The wounds on my hand were still bleeding.

I went to the restroom to clean them up.

Otherwise, meeting Mr. Wilson this afternoon looking like this would be far too unprofessional.

I limped toward the restroom.

I firmly believed that as long as I held that one-billion-dollar contract in my hands, I’d have the capital to turn things around.

But I never imagined that what I thought was kindness was just another carefully crafted joke.

A party popper went off in the office area.

Immediately followed by everyone’s cheering and celebration.

“Come on, everyone! Let’s congratulate Mr. Richards on his promotion to Sales Director!”