"I don't think she deliberately wanted to see the company flooded. She probably just overslept."
"Even though she didn't bring the keys and it caused such a huge loss, I'm heartbroken too."
"If the company is struggling to get through this, I'm willing to chip in six hundred dollars from next month's paycheck to help cover some of it..."
Six hundred dollars. Against eighty thousand in damages. The contrast made me look like a monster.
Mr. Greyson stared at my name in the chat, tagged over and over, with zero response. Whatever shred of composure he had left shattered.
He issued his ultimatum:
"Hailey Chavez abandoned her post without authorization, resulting in $80,000 in company losses!"
"Finance is to freeze every payroll account and bonus under her name, effective immediately."
"I don't care if I have to lose the shirt off my back. I'm filing a police report and pressing charges!"
Six o'clock that evening.
Mr. Greyson called back every employee in the area who'd been off for the holiday. An emergency accountability meeting.
The main hall had been cleared out into an open space. Dozens of people crammed into the wrecked room, nobody daring to breathe too loud.