The Company Demanded Everything From Me, So I Let It Burn Chapter 01

The Company Demanded Everything From Me, So I Let It Burn Chapter 01

For as long as I could remember, I’d had the Midas touch.I could buy a Coke and somehow end up winning a car.

Any time I chose the final bid figure, Vantage Industrial Solutions won. Because of me, the company went from the brink of bankruptcy to one of the top three industrial contractors in the Chicago area.

Then, during a business trip, I picked up a scratch-off on a whim and won $500, only for the new staff accountant to demand every cent of it.

I told him I’d paid for the ticket out of my own pocket. Evan Cole went ballistic.

“Anything an employee makes on company time belongs to the company! Who the hell do you think you are, deciding company policy doesn’t apply to you?”

“Win half a million dollars off the clock and the company can’t touch it. But if you win one dollar on company time, that’s company money!”

I wasn’t going to waste my breath arguing with him, so I called my fiancee, Vanessa Grant, the CEO.

To my surprise, Vanessa sided with him.

“He has a point. If the company hadn’t paid to send you on that trip, you never would’ve had the chance to win in the first place!”

Evan’s grin widened.

“Just hand it over. We’ll dock the $500 from your paycheck, then take another $5,000 as a penalty for pocketing company funds. Maybe that’ll teach you not to try it again.”

I curled my fingers around the scratch-off and said nothing more.

A week later, at Vantage’s biggest bid of the year, every head turned toward me.

I smiled faintly.

“Sorry. I don’t work here anymore, so I’m under no obligation to submit your final bid.”

***

“You heard Ms. Grant, didn’t you?” Evan said, looking unbearably pleased with himself.

“She put me in charge of cleaning up misconduct around here. You still think you can pocket company money? Keep dreaming.”

I had no interest in giving him another argument, so I turned to leave.

Evan stepped into my path and grabbed my watch. His eyes lingered on it a little too long.

“You think you can walk out before you’ve turned everything over? There’s no way you can afford a watch like this. Bet you got it on a business trip too. That makes it company property.”

I swallowed my anger.

“It was a gift. It has nothing to do with the scratch-off or any business trip.”

Evan rolled his eyes.

“Bullshit. What, did some rich older woman buy it for you after you slept with her on one of those trips?”

“Wow. You really do hustle. I always wondered why you were so eager to fly all over the country. Turns out you’ve got a side business in every city. Pretty committed gigolo operation you’ve got going.”

My coworkers started whispering among themselves.

“No wonder Ethan always came back saying he’d gotten lucky. Guess it wasn’t the lottery. Those women were paying him.”

A calculating look crossed Evan’s face.

“So which is it? A sugar mama bought it for you, or you won it while you were on the company’s dime?”

When they saw my expression harden, one coworker tried to play peacemaker.

“Ethan, just say you won it. It’s a watch. It’s not worth trashing your reputation over.”

“Exactly. Worst case, you hand it over to the company. Just don’t do it again.”

Heat rushed to my face. I pointed at one of them.

“You bought the shoes you’re wearing on a business trip in December.”

“You bought a gaming console on a trip last month.”

“And you.” I looked at Jake, who’d been making the most noise.

“And you were bragging about this one. Your wife got pregnant after she visited you during a business trip.”

“By your logic, all of that belongs to the company too, right?”

The room went quiet.

I stepped up to Evan.

“If none of them had to turn any of that over, what exactly gives you the right to take my watch?”

Humiliated in front of everyone, Evan yanked the watch from my hand and hurled it to the floor. It shattered on impact.

“Oops. I gave it back. Not my problem you couldn’t catch it.”

That was it. I pulled out my phone to call the police.

Someone snatched it from my hand and smashed it against the floor.

“Enough! How much longer are you going to make a scene?!”

Vanessa strode over, her face set in a scowl.

“Ethan, I’m warning you. Don’t push this any further. Now you’re threatening a coworker with the police?”

“Apologize to Evan. Right now.”

Evan dropped the swagger in an instant and arranged his face into an apology.

“Ethan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. I’ll pay you back.”

Vanessa moved in front of Evan as if to shield him, her voice soft when she spoke to him.

When she looked back at me, her eyes held nothing but disgust.

“It’s a watch, Ethan. Stop acting like it’s the end of the world.”

I drew a slow breath and forced the anger back down.

“My fiancee gave me that watch for our anniversary.”

Only then did Vanessa take a real look at the ruined watch on the floor. She went still for a beat.

I smiled anyway.

“You’re right. It’s only a watch. Why should it matter? I’ve already decided to end things with her anyway.”