Chapter 1

I had just submitted my wedding leave application when the new hire turned to me and said:

"Chloe, Ruth just informed me that starting tomorrow, all your projects will be transferred to me."

"Your salary is being cut by eight thousand, and mine is going up to twenty thousand."

I fell silent.

I'd been with the company for seven years and had been the top salesperson for six of them.

The new hire had only been here three months, and I'd completed his first project for him.

And they were demoting me and cutting my pay?

I laughed bitterly, stood up from my desk, and walked straight to HR's office to demand an explanation.

HR manager John coughed twice and pulled out my wedding leave application.

"According to company policy, wedding leave disrupts normal operations, so we must take disciplinary action. This is Paul's decision."

I smiled coldly.

Paul had no idea that my fiancé was none other than the company's biggest partner.

"Chloe, it's not that I don't want to help you. This is Paul's decision."

In HR manager John's office.

When I explained why I'd come, John pointed to my recently approved wedding leave application on his desk, hinting.

"You know how busy the company is at year-end. Requesting wedding leave at this time—aren't you deliberately causing trouble?"

I remained silent.

From graduation until now, I'd been with the company for seven years, and I'd been the top salesperson for six of them.

Even my lowest-level projects were worth at least a million dollars.

A month ago, after I'd secured the partnership with SKY Group, boss Paul had specially thrown a celebration banquet to commend me:

"Chloe, you're amazing! I knew I was right about you. When the project officially launches, I'm definitely giving you a promotion and a raise!"

"The Market Manager position is yours."

But now, just because I'd submitted a wedding leave application,

I was being demoted and having my salary cut by eight thousand.

Facing John's accusatory gaze, I didn't rush to argue back. Instead, I calmly pulled up my overtime records from the past three months.

"I only requested seven days for wedding leave, and that includes three statutory holidays."

I pointed at my phone screen.

"For these seven days, I worked three consecutive months without rest, arriving at eight a.m. and leaving at midnight every day."

"According to company policy, that totals eleven days of compensatory leave."

John's smile stiffened.

I continued scrolling through my phone, pulling up this month's business list.

"Of my projects, five are completed; three are in progress but already signed and finalized."

"There's one waiting for a response from our partner, Pierce. I just spoke with him yesterday."

"Pierce is on vacation in Norway and won't be available until after the New Year."

"I clearly communicated all of this when I submitted my wedding leave application."

I stated these facts calmly, staring at him without flinching.

"So John, I'd like to ask—which part of the company's operations did my wedding leave disrupt?"

"And how did you and Paul determine that my requesting leave to get married was causing trouble?"

Sweat began to bead on John's forehead.

"Chloe, that's not exactly what I meant..."

"I'm not finished."

I cut him off and pointed through the glass door toward a desk near the window—that was Paul's assistant James's workstation.

He'd gotten married last month, and since his hometown was out of state, he'd taken half a month off.

"James got married on the 8th of last month and took two weeks off. On his first day back, the company gave him a family establishment benefit and raised his salary by a thousand."

"John, if you say I'm incompetent and demote me with a pay cut, I'll accept it."

"If you say I caused major losses to the company and demote me with a pay cut, I'll accept that too."

"But demoting me and cutting my pay because I requested seven days of wedding leave, and letting a new hire who's been here less than three months step on my head and completely replace me—"

"I'm sorry, John, but that I cannot accept."

My voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.

John's face turned from dark to pale, and finally he just threw in the towel:

"It's no use telling me all this. Who told you to be a woman?"

"What?"

I froze, thinking I'd misheard.

John rolled his eyes at me and said coldly:

"You only requested seven days of wedding leave, but won't you have to have kids after marriage? And won't having kids mean maternity leave and parental leave? Add all that up—who knows how much the company will lose in the future? Can you take responsibility for those losses?"

"I just can't stand you young women, thinking you can play tricks just because you're getting married, always requesting time off at the drop of a hat. If everyone did that, the company might as well close."

"Alright, I'll pretend I didn't hear any of this today. Get back to work."

"Really think you're someone special."

John muttered, looking at me like I was a piece of replaceable trash.

I looked at him, feeling chilled to the bone.

I'd worked hard for the company for seven years, and just because I'd applied for wedding leave once, seven years of effort became "causing trouble."

I'd been the top salesperson for six years, generating tens of millions in revenue for the company, and just because I was getting married, my position and salary could be easily replaced by a new hire.

This was the company I'd worked for seven years.

Efficient, and brutally cold.

I stood up, gave John one last look, and turned to leave.

Since that's how it was, I didn't need to tell the company.

My fiancé was actually Stuart, the CEO of SKY Group—the company's biggest current partner.