Carolyn marched back into her office, pulled out her chair, and tossed the sh

drive onto the desk. Her re could have set the room on fire. "What is this trash?

If

f you can''t even do your job, then pack your stuff and leave. Now."

The assistant project manager stood in front of her, head bowed and voice barely above a whisper. "Ms. Witt, please calm down."

"You''re the new assistant project manager, right? You''re the one who signed off on this proposal?" Carolyn leaned back in her chair, eyes narrowed as she sized

him up.

"Yes..." Devin stuttered, sweat gathering at his hairline.

As CEO, Carolyn rarely bothered with something as minor as approving project proposals. That was far below her.

Off to the side, project manager Peter kept his eyes glued to the floor. "Ms. Witt, Devin just started. He might not be familiar with your standards yet, so—"

She cut him off, cold and sharp. "Is it that he doesn''t know my standards, or did you just pull strings to sneak someone unqualified into thispany? You both know exactly what''s going on."

Both men froze, stomachs sinking.

"You-" Carolyn pointed straight at Devin. "You''re fired. Get out. I don''t want to see you here again."

"Ms. Witt, please! Just give me another chance!" Devin dropped to his knees, his voice cracking.

"Out!" Carolyn snapped.

Devin''s face was streaked with tears. "Ms. Witt, I have a family to take care of. I can''t lose this job, please-I''ll do better, I swear, just don''t fire me..."

Carolyn''s eyes were icy. She didn''t bother answering. Instead, she picked up her office phone and dialed. "Send security to my office. Make sure Devin leaves the building."

Her assistant responded immediately, "Yes, Ms. Witt."

Devin stayed on the floor, begging, but Carolyn ignored him. She turned to Peter instead. "Peter, how long have you been at thepany''s domestic branch?"

Peter''s forehead was slick with sweat. He answered quietly, "Four years."

"You''re good at your job," Carolyn said, her tone suddenly even colder. "But you crossed the line."

da

She grabbed a stack of papers and flung them at Peter. The pages hit his face and scattered everywherez "You abused your position to bring your brother-inw in, then made him assistant project

manager even though he''s totally Ipetent. Fantastic, Peter you can leave with him."

After Joshua had rejected her proposal, Carolyn had gone over every page herself.

She''d always been happy with Peter''s work. She trusted him, so she''d stopped double-checking the proposals he reviewed.

Who would''ve thought he''d use his role to bring in his own brother-inw and prop him up to management?

Carolyn never bothered with these lower-level hires.

But this one mistake had just cost her a huge deal with Fisher Corporation. She was furious.

Peter stood there, frozen, as Devin''s résumé slipped from his face to the floor. "Ms Witt, it was my mistake was caught up with the Yunsheng. projectand didn''t give this proposal enough attention. I honestly didn''t know you nned to use it for the Fisher deal-"

"That gives you an excuse to ck off? To lower your standards?" Carolyn cut in, her voice like ice.

"You didn''t just neglect your own et

job you brought in dead weight and put him in charge. You''ve got nothing to say for yourself. You both need to go."