Chapter 1Day of the client dinner, I found out someone'd been stealing my paycheck for SIX YEARS.
My boss told me to prepay twenty grand for the meal. I said all I had left was three hundred bucks.
His face went cold.
"Blair, you make tens of thousands a month. You really gonna lie about something this stupid?"
The whole room stared at me. Like I was trash.
But when the hell was I making tens of thousands?
Six years at this company.
Six years getting the same forty-five-hundred-dollar paycheck my supervisor boyfriend approved.
I tried to explain. My boyfriend cut me off.
"Quit being cheap. Just cover it—he'll pay you back."
I thought maybe my boss got it wrong. Swiped my credit card. Maxed it out right there.
Then he told me to get the client a fifty-grand gift package.
I really didn't have fifty grand.
He snapped:
"You've been here six years. Six raises. Thirty-eight grand a month. Plus bonuses."
"Just this month, you got an extra fifty. Don't tell me you're broke."
I couldn't breathe.
Six years.
How much money didn't I see?
And who the FUCK spent it?
---
At dinner, everyone sat down.
My boss leaned over:
"Blair, go downstairs, put twenty grand down at the front desk. This deal might not even happen, but we gotta look good."
He showed me his phone—thing was dead.
"Battery died. Just cover it, I'll pay you back."
I just stood there, hands sweating.
I'd been at this job long enough to know—this moment right here? Made or broke the whole thing.
But I checked my account and forced it out:
"Mr. Hayes, I... I got maybe three hundred bucks."
"Can't do it."
Nobody said anything. The client Mr. Pierce took a drink.
Everyone stared at me. The bosses, my coworkers, everyone.
Mr. Hayes' face went hard. Like I just said the dumbest thing ever:
"Blair, we just got paid. You make tens of thousands a month and you got three hundred dollars?"
"My phone's dead, I'm asking you to cover me—this is what you tell me?"
Mr. Pierce looked around, then at me.
"Kids today lie right to your face. Don't even know when to shut up."
"You guys run your business like this, I don't know if you can handle what we need."
Everyone heard it.
That was a warning. Mr. Hayes looked even more pissed.
My face was burning but I didn't have the money.
So I looked at Garrett.
He was my boyfriend. Also my supervisor.
He knew what hit my account every month. He knew I didn't have it.
All he had to say was "her pay's not that high" and this would be over.
But Garrett smiled. "Bosses are watching, babe. Don't make this weird."
"Just cover it—they'll pay you back. Don't be cheap."
Under the table he squeezed my hand. Like he was helping.
Out loud? Nothing. Not one word for me.
My stomach dropped.
"Right, right." My coworker Kyle jumped in.
"Blair, you been here six years—you gotta be making way more than us. Can't come up with twenty grand?"
Presley sat on Garrett's other side.
I trained her myself. She said real soft:
"You guys don't get it, Blair's always super nice to us."
"She probably just... spent her whole paycheck already. Must be something she can't talk about, you know?"
That one line killed me.
Mr. Pierce looked up. "Oh? Something she can't talk about?"
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.
What was I supposed to say?
That I made forty-five hundred a month?
That I still owed thirty grand on my credit card?
In front of the client? In front of Mr. Hayes?
Say that and the deal's dead.
But it was already tense.
I was stuck. Mr. Hayes tapped the table twice.
"Blair, help us out tonight. Finance'll take care of it tomorrow."
"You can't step up, you piss everyone off, I'm putting someone else on this project."
I freaked out for a second, then just walked to the front desk.
Went through five credit cards. Found one that worked.
Available: 20K.
Soon as I swiped it, my hands started shaking.
Dad's blood pressure meds next week. Eight sixty.
Mom's physical therapy. Twelve hundred a session.
They wouldn't pay me back till next month at the earliest. My parents couldn't wait that long.
I started doing the math:
Two more hours on my customer service job at night. Fifteen an hour.
That's an extra four fifty a month.
Still not enough.
Walking back, I heard laughing.
Presley's voice came through the door. Real soft:
"Blair's really sweet. It's just... she cares way too much about money sometimes."
Garrett laughed.
"That's just how she is. Grew up broke. Money's everything to her."
I stood outside the door. Took a deep breath.
Pushed the tears back down.
Chapter 2
I walked in.
Garrett was doing shots with everyone, all smiles.
"Come on, let me apologize for my girl."
He stood up. Threw his arm around me. Raised his glass.
"My girl's just used to being cheap. Don't hold it against her."
"Cheap?" Kyle laughed. "Garrett, that's not cheap."
"Team outings, three hundred to split the bill—she never shows. Not once."
"Kevin's wedding, everyone gave five hundred minimum. She gave two."
Another girl giggled:
"And she brings like a protein bar and crackers for lunch every day. We order food, she never joins."
Whole table laughed.
Mr. Pierce had a few drinks in him.
"Sounds like Ms. Ashford's got more saved up than you, Garrett."
Garrett raised his glass. "You got that right, Mr. Pierce! Saving it all for the wedding!"
Everyone laughed again.
But I was dying inside.
I couldn't afford three hundred for team dinners.
That two-hundred-dollar gift? I cut groceries for two weeks to scrape it together.
Six years.
After work every night I did customer service calls till 3 AM just to make ends meet.
Six years together. I paid rent every single month.
Garrett said he only made like a hundred bucks more than me. Said being a supervisor was tough.
Had all these work dinners he had to pay for. Kept saying "I'll get us a nice place later."
I covered everything else.
Every couple weeks he'd hand me fifty bucks. "Make it work."
Six years of this.
Presley held up her wrist. New watch. Light hit it just right.
"Blair taught me everything. I always try to pay her back but she won't let me."
She made three grand a month but spent like crazy—probably some rich girl playing poor.
Mr. Pierce looked at me.
"Ms. Ashford, gotta know how business works. Can't be so stiff."
"It's all about being generous."
Garrett jumped in:
"Exactly, Mr. Pierce! Young people gotta be open-handed. Like Presley."
I was the punchline now. The thing everyone could bond over.
Mr. Hayes looked at Garrett and Presley. Nodding along.
I couldn't breathe. Made an excuse and went to the bathroom.
In the stall my phone buzzed twice.
[Your credit card balance of $30,000 is overdue. Please pay ASAP.]
Second text. My side job group chat.
"Blair, sorry. Boss gave the night shift to his nephew. You're off tomorrow."
I stood there leaning against the stall door.
Just put twenty grand on my card. Thirty from last month still isn't paid.
And now I just lost my night job.
Checked my phone: $312.80
That's it. That's all I got.
Splashed some water on my face.
Just hold on.
Get through dinner. Find two more jobs.
I walked back. Heard the HR lady talking quiet to Mr. Hayes:
"Her salary, the bonuses—she shouldn't be broke like this."
"But that intern? Makes three grand and everything she's wearing costs more than my rent."
"Her and Garrett. Think something's going on there?"
I stopped.
Mr. Hayes saw me. Still looked pissed.
I sat back down.
Just watched Garrett and Presley doing shots together.
Chapter 3
Dinner wrapped up.
Server brought the bill. Three hundred over. I covered it.
Mr. Hayes' face relaxed a little.
But now I was down to twelve bucks and change.
Thought I was done. Started to get up.
Mr. Hayes put his glass down. "Mr. Pierce is renewing. Dinner's not enough."
"Blair, go downstairs. Get some gift boxes."
"Bourbon, cigars, maybe some scotch—good stuff. Have it sent to Mr. Pierce's hotel."
"About fifty grand. Front it, expense it later."
I froze.
Fifty grand?
I don't even have fifty bucks.
"Mr. Hayes..." My throat was dry. "I don't have any money left."
Nobody said anything. Again.
Mr. Hayes' face went hard.
All that patience? Gone.
"Blair, this is a seventy million dollar deal! You really gonna tank this?"
"I didn't wanna say anything, but you're making tens of thousands a month. You're senior staff."
"Company's given you every raise, taken care of you—and you're still giving me this shit?"
"Think the company's gonna screw you over, or you trying to make me look like an idiot in front of the client!?"
Everyone stared at me.
Mr. Pierce just sat there watching.
Someone tried to help.
"Mr. Hayes, come on. Blair's always been like this. Money's her whole thing."
Presley walked over:
"Blair, Mr. Hayes trusts you, this is for our whole department..."
"Deal's about to close and now you can't pay? That makes us all look bad."
"I really don't have any money. What I just used was my last card."
My voice shook. Barely holding it together:
"Mr. Hayes, I worked on this deal too. I wouldn't mess it up now—"
"I really, really can't come up with it—"
"ENOUGH!"
Mr. Hayes slammed the table.
"No matter what you spend, you didn't blow your whole paycheck in two weeks."
"This month you got all your bonuses, all your subsidies—I even gave you a raise!"
"A raise?"
I just stared at him.
"My raise got denied this year."
Started to say more but Garrett grabbed my arm.
"Babe, stop talking."
"Just go do it. You're making everyone mad."
His eyes went thin. That smile was ice cold.
Mr. Hayes laughed. Mean laugh.
"Blair, I thought you wanted this. That's why I never fucked you over."
"Six years. Every raise—all six—I made sure you got them."
"Thirty-eight grand a month. Bonuses, everything."
"This month with the project bonus? Fifty grand more than anyone. Garrett approved it."
"Now you can't cover this? Think I'm stupid!?"
My ears started ringing.
I couldn't talk.
Took me a second. Then:
"Mr. Hayes."
"What did you say... how much this month?"
Everyone looked confused.
Mr. Hayes stared. "What do you mean how much?"
"You don't check your pay?"
I grabbed my phone.
"Been here six years. Every month. Forty-five hundred."
"No raises. No bonuses. Nothing."
"Not once."
