Chapter 6
The following day, Olivia went to work with dark circles under her eyes. She had barely reached her table when her manager summoned her to his office.
Olivia thought of her elderly grandmother, Barbara, and her enormous debt. She had no choice but to swallow her pride. She clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and opened the door to the manager’s office.
“Mr. Chaney, were you looking for me?” Olivia forced a small smile on her face.
Mike Chaney was in his forties, balding, and had a protruding beer belly. Overall, he appeared leery and unpleasant.
Immediately after Olivia spoke, Mike threw the document in his hand at her face. “Olivia Greenwood! What rubbish report is this? Weren’t you a smart student? Yet you can’t complete such a simple task! Why should our company keep you? You’re fired! Now!”
Olivia was stunned. She stared at the document on the floor. That was last week’s report. Mike had looked through it then. Why did he reject it now?
“Mr. Chaney, you read this report last week,” Olivia said. “You said it was fine.”
“When did I say it was fine?” asked Mike. “You’re making excuses! Not only do you not own up to your mistakes, but you’re also shifting responsibility. I am officially informing you now. You have failed your internship!”
Mike’s words hit Olivia’s heart like a brick. Olivia tried very hard to bear with it, but she finally broke. “Mr. Chaney, is my report the real problem?”
Mike’s eyes flashed. He shouted, “Do you think I am the problem? I want you to pack up your things and get out now!”
Olivia clenched her fists very tight. She stared hard at Mike. “Mr. Chaney, you brought me to meet a client the night before. You…”
“Shut up!” Mike cut her off aggressively. He pointed a stubby finger at her. He said furiously, “How dare you talk about last night! I would have closed that deal if you didn’t slip out halfway. You should be grateful that I didn’t demand any compensation from you! How dare you try and bargain with me now!”
Olivia slammed the table. Now, she was angry too. “Who’s in charge of making the deal? You or me? What has your failure got to do with me? Don’t you know why I left halfway?”
Mike was taken aback when Olivia yelled back.
“Should I make a police report and ask them to investigate?” shouted Olivia.
Mike’s expression changed when Olivia said that. But he quickly calmed himself. “Sure, go ahead. I want to see how you’ll prove it to the police.” After seeing how things turned out, Mike did not want to keep pretending. “Olivia Greenwood, I’m telling you, you caused my deal to fall through, so you can forget about working here.”
Olivia heard him admit it. She felt a chill run through her. Just because she did not sleep with that client, Mike fired her out of revenge.
Before her internship, Olivia had never imagined the world outside to be so sinister. Or was she simply too naive?
Mike’s face looked very smug. He knew that Olivia had no proof, and thus, he was not in the least bit afraid.
Mike had chosen Olivia precisely because she was an intern without powerful backing.
If Olivia slept with the client and he had closed the deal, Mike intended to keep her quiet with money. If she kicked up a fuss, he could fire her. It was supposed to be a no-risk business transaction.
However, things had gone wrong, and the deal had fallen through. Now, Mike had to fire Olivia to prevent her from telling others in the office.
“Alright, I’ll leave, but you must give me my paycheck,” said Olivia.
Mike thought he had just heard the biggest joke in his life. “You just lost the company millions of dollars. We’ve been kind to you by not making you pay. And you still want your paycheck?”
Olivia was furious. “You sounded so absurd. You made it seem like you could have made the deal if I hadn’t left. If I’m so capable, then why are you the manager?”
