My Bonus Became a Cash Grab,So I Sent One Transfer and Took Her CompanyChapter 1

I worked myself to the bone for an entire year—nights, weekends, holidays—all for the hundred-thousand-dollar bonus my boss had promised me.

But when bonus day finally arrived, Blair White posted a group collection request in the company chat.

Everyone had to pay a different amount. My share was the highest: a hundred thousand dollars. The exact sum I was supposed to receive.

I messaged Blair privately, asking if there'd been some mistake. Shouldn't the company be paying me, not the other way around?

Her reply came instantly: "The company's hit a rough patch, Bella Lambert. You're one of our founding pillars—you should be setting an example. Even if it means draining your savings, you need to help us weather this storm!"

I laughed. A cold, hollow sound.

Fine. So that's how you want to play it.

That very night, I transferred a hundred thousand dollars to the company operating account, publicly declaring my commitment to stand with the company through thick and thin.

Everyone thought I'd lost my mind. Blair practically choked laughing.

What they didn't understand? The company was about to be mine.

Consider it an early investment.

1.

I made the transfer at one in the morning, hunched over my phone in the dark.

My account was five thousand short, so I quietly used my boyfriend's phone to cover the difference.

The next day, I dropped both transfer receipts into the company group chat and tagged Blair directly.

"There. A hundred thousand for the company. Anything else you'd like to say?"

Radio silence from Blair.

But at lunch, I caught whispers snaking through the break room.

They were talking about me. Laughing.

"Did Bella snap because she didn't get her bonus? Blair tells her to transfer a hundred grand, and she actually does it?"

"Did you see? She needed two transfers to make it—ninety-five thousand, then five thousand. She doesn't even have the money!"

"I think she's actually lost it. She logged more hours than anyone this year, and what does she get? No bonus. She has to pay. I'd lose it too!"

The words stung, but none of it surprised me.

Soon enough, Blair's secretary summoned me to her office.

I walked in to find Blair draped in designer labels, practically glowing with self-satisfaction.