I opened the folder and scanned the page. Each name looked familiar yet distant: a PhD from Harvard, a postdoc from MIT, a math genius from Cambridge.
My finger slid down the list until it stopped at the last name, one that instantly caught my eye.
Skylar Griffin.
Graduation: Vanderbilt University Law School, Faculty of Law (Bachelor’s & Master’s).
Assigned Department: Legal Affairs and Risk Control.
Employee ID: 10327.
I stared at her name, and the corners of my lips lifted without meaning to. Well, well, look what fate has brought my way. What a satisfying surprise.
Even more amusing, the lawyer she had hired was from Caldwell Law Firm, and Caldwell just happened to be one of Cognitech Technology’s biggest business competitors.
So, a reserve staff member from my company’s Legal Department, not even officially onboard yet, had already teamed up with a competitor’s lawyer to sue her own boss. I picked up my phone and dialed Skylar’s number.
“Hello.” Her tone carried that same arrogant calm.
“Ms. Murphy, have you made up your mind? Are we settling this or not?”
“I told you, I’ll give you my answer in three days.” My voice stayed calm.
“Changed your mind already?” She let out a small laugh. “I knew it. Ordinary people like you can’t win against me.”
“How about this, I’ll give you another chance.”
“Tomorrow, bring the settlement agreement and come find me. And remember to be polite.”
I smiled.
“Alright. Tomorrow at ten in the morning, same place,” I said slowly and clearly.
“I’ll personally bring you the answer you’re waiting for.”
The next morning, I arrived at the apartment right on time.
Skylar and her lawyer had been waiting for a while, their faces barely hiding their smug confidence.
“Ms. Murphy, it seems you were a smart woman after all,” the lawyer said first, sliding a prewritten settlement agreement across the table toward me.
Skylar leaned back on the sofa, lazily sipping water from a glass.
“Good. You’ve finally come to your senses. Wouldn’t it have been easier if you had done this earlier?”
“Sign it. Once you do, you can start the renovation right away.”
“Oh, by the way,” she added casually, “my parents are getting old, so you might as well hire two full-time caregivers for them. Pay their salaries monthly and link your bank account to my phone.”