Chapter 3The $88,000 Corporate Mascot: Getting Paid to Do Absolutely Nothing

She was furious.

She couldn't sit still.

She gathered all the company's employees in the conference room for a meeting.

Once everyone was present, she slammed my six-month payroll statement onto the conference table.

"Slacking off from morning till night, doing absolutely nothing! Penny Cash, what gives you the right to take a high salary of $88,000 a month?"

"The rest of your colleagues work themselves to the bone every day, and the most they make is thirty or fifty grand! What gives you the right? Do you feel at peace taking this money? Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

The conference room was dead silent.

Victoria thought her words had stirred everyone's emotions and looked quite pleased with herself.

"You earn what you work for. Penny, you do absolutely nothing all day and have contributed nothing to this company. So I've decided: starting next month, your salary will be reduced to $800."

"The original $88,000 will be used to give an across-the-board raise to all the employees!"

"Nobody has a problem with this proposal, right?"

Huh? Wait a minute?

Using my salary as a favor to buy people's loyalty for herself?

Is this human behavior?

You can touch me, but you can't touch my money.

I slammed my hands on the table and stood up. Just as I was brewing my emotions and thinking about what to say, my dear colleagues couldn't sit still anymore.

First was the Director of Sales Department 1.

A forty-something rough-and-tumble guy from Texas, Mike Dawson.

"VP Lodge, I disagree. Giving employees a raise is your own prerogative. What gives you the right to deduct from Penny's salary?"

"Being generous at someone else's expense, do you have bubbles in your brain?"

"Let me make my stance clear right now. I don't want this money. Don't give me a raise!"

After he spoke, the other colleagues nodded in full agreement, stating they didn't want this raise and that my salary couldn't be cut.

"Penny has made the biggest contributions to the company. You can't cut her pay. That $88,000 is exactly what she deserves. It's lucky!"

"VP Lodge, you'd better wait until Mr. Cole gets back to discuss this, otherwise, you're definitely going to cause a massive disaster!"

Everyone chimed in, one after another, fully defending me.

Victoria's face turned livid with anger.

She slammed the table and kicked a chair.

"Enough! Shut up, all of you!"

"I don't tolerate freeloaders in my sight. HR, process her severance with a standard package, and tell her to get lost!"

Not cutting my pay anymore, now she's making me resign?

As soon as these words came out, the conference room exploded even more.

"VP, you can't do this! Penny cannot leave!"

The Director of Sales Department 2 almost freaked out.

"Penny is our company's lucky charm! If she leaves, what happens to our business? How will we close future deals?"

The other colleagues echoed her sentiments.

"Yeah, VP. If we don't have Penny, how are we supposed to handle difficult clients in the future?"

"Exactly! If we don't have Penny, when we meet a tough client, won't I have to revise my proposals until I drop dead? You can't do this, VP, please spare my miserable life..."

"VP, you can't drive away our mascot! When Mr. Cole gets back, he's definitely going to lose his mind!"

"Boss's wife, she's our lucky koi! The company literally can't survive without her!"

...

More and more people pleaded for me.

Victoria's face grew uglier and uglier.

The way she looked at me became extremely dark.

I accidentally made eye contact with her and it gave me the chills.

So scary.

Victoria banged on the table twice.

"All of you, shut your mouths!"

"What's wrong with all of you? Every single one of you protecting her? What? Am I your boss's wife, or is she?"

"I knew she was sleeping with Harrison! You're defending her so hard, you must have taken plenty of bribes from her before, right?"

"You, you, and you—the ones yelling the loudest. Have you slept with her too?"

A warrior can be killed, but not humiliated! You can hit me or scold me, but you absolutely cannot start dirty rumors about me!

I've been single since birth for twenty-three years, a pure, super innocent little girl!

Seeing the people she named turning red with anger.

I slammed the table.

"Enough, Victoria!"

"Give me three months' severance, and I'll leave right now!"