The Price of a Farewell Dinner Chapter 1

My resignation approval just went through.

The next second, Simon tagged everyone in the company Slack channel.

[@channel Grace is leaving. Tomorrow night, she’s treating the whole company to dinner. Pick any restaurant you want.]

I froze, holding my phone.

There were over a hundred people in the company, and no one had told me about this beforehand.

The channel exploded instantly. Hundreds of replies flooded the screen.

"That new Omakase place! $300 per person! Since we won't work together anymore, might as well rip her off!"

"Seafood feast! Lobsters and King Crabs! Let's eat back her project bonus. Heard she got a lot last month!"

"She's leaving anyway. This last cut must be deep!"

Looking at the popping messages, my face was expressionless.

My fingers slowly typed the address of the most expensive hotel in the city into the chat box, and hit send.

Then I picked up my phone and called the travel agency:

"Please book me a ticket to the Maldives for tomorrow morning. As soon as possible."

Hanging up, the chat was already boiling over because of the location I sent.

"Holy crap! Grace is going all out!"

"She's usually so quiet. What's wrong with treating us to a good meal before leaving? It's only right."

"Exactly! Her commission from those big projects is enough for ten meals!"

"@Grace What time tomorrow? I'm skipping lunch!"

I ignored the rolling messages, placed my phone face down on the desk, and started packing my cubicle.

* * *

For three years, I dedicated countless days and nights to this company.

I believed the bright future Simon painted for me.

"Grace, only you can carry this project..."

"Grace, work a bit harder, it's for our future..."

"Grace, you are the biggest hero by my side..."

But after I submitted my promotion application, all I got was a light "need more time to settle."

And the position I longed for was given to Hailey the next day—a girl whose basic spreadsheets were full of holes.

That was when I realized my three years of hard work were just paving the way for his favorite girl.

And now, they wanted to play me one last time.

Forcing me to pay out of my own pocket to treat this couple and these colleagues who kick someone when they're down to a feast?

In that case, I really hope every one of them remembers clearly... exactly what this meal tastes like.

"Grace."

A familiar, sticky voice sounded behind me. I knew who it was without looking back.

"Not bad." Hailey crossed her arms, tilting her head to study me, a fake smile plastered on her face. "I thought you'd be in Simon's office begging him to withdraw your resignation right now."

"Didn't expect you to hide it so deep. That revolving restaurant... Simon took me there last time. One meal cost thousands."

I ignored her, packing my things one by one.

Ignored, she didn't get angry. Instead, she reached out and pressed her hand lightly on the folder I was organizing.

"Grace, don't rush packing. I have business with you."

She smiled, pushing her laptop in front of me with her other hand.

On the screen was a PowerPoint with messy data.

"Simon needs to see this quarterly summary report tomorrow morning. Help me with it. It's a piece of cake for you."

I glanced at the disastrous deck on the screen.

"Miss Hailey, my resignation process is complete. What you said is not within my responsibilities."

Hailey's smile faded a bit.

"Grace, you can't say that. I know you're leaving and you're angry, but this report affects the whole department's evaluation. If Simon finds out, he'll think you didn't hand over your work properly, right?"

"Whether the handover is clear or not is on the signed checklist."

My tone was cold, eyes sweeping over the glaring errors in the PPT.

"Besides, these basic issues have nothing to do with the handover status."

My bluntness made Hailey's fake smile crack.

"Grace! What do you mean?"

"I may not be as experienced as you, but Simon is willing to give important work to me, not you..."

She got more agitated as she spoke.

"Can't stand it? Too bad. I'm the one sitting in the Project Manager seat now, and I'm the one who will be by Simon's side in the future! No matter how capable you are, you're just a stepping stone for me! You are not qualified to judge my work ability!"

Colleagues around us looked over.

I was too lazy to watch her performance and continued packing.

"Time will prove your work ability. No need for my evaluation."

"You!"

She choked, eyes turning red instantly, about to say something more.

"What are you arguing about?"

Simon's impatient voice cut in.

He frowned, his gaze landing first on the teary-eyed Hailey, tone instantly softening by half.

"Hailey, what's wrong? Who bullied you?"

"Simon!"

Hailey immediately found her backbone, voice crying.

"I just asked Grace to help me look at the report... She... she mocked my ability, said my work was trash... and said I took her place... I, I just want to do my job well, didn't want to disappoint you..."

She was incoherent, wronged as if she suffered a great injustice.

"Simon, am I really useless? Should I not have taken this position? I made it hard for you..."

I have to say, she's a master at gaslighting.

Hearing her words, Simon frowned even tighter, patting Hailey's back soothingly.

"Nonsense. You're doing great. This position is yours, no one has the right to gossip."

Then he turned to me, face sinking, eyes full of blame.

"Grace, what's wrong with you? Can't you behave even when you're leaving? Hailey asked humbly. Even if you don't teach her, you shouldn't hurt people with your words! Look how angry you made her! Apologize to her immediately!"

His voice was clear in the quiet office area. Everyone looked over, eyes focused on me, waiting for my reaction.

I looked at this couple. One acting and accusing falsely, one biased and unreasonable.

In the past three years, similar scenes might have ended with my endurance. But not today.

"Mr. Simon, I am not the one who needs to apologize."

My attitude was resolute, looking straight into his eyes without backing down.

Simon seemed surprised by my reaction. He looked at me for a long time, lowering his voice.

"Grace, come to my office."