2: 2
Staring at the photo of my mother with tubes running out of every part of her, my vision went black and my heart slammed against my ribs.
I couldn't hold back anymore. I lunged forward, shoved Gail hard out of the way, and threw myself at the desk.
"Wire fifty thousand to the insurance card right now! I have to save my mother's life!"
The shove sent her crashing to the floor, the back of her head striking the wall, and she started wailing in pain.
"Security! Joyce Harding is attacking the finance department! Get over here and grab her!"
She clutched her head, twisting toward the guards across the lobby as she screamed.
Two of them jogged over, but one look at my bloodshot eyes and they hung back, not daring to touch me.
Gail's face went green. She braced a hand on her lower back, hauled herself up, and jabbed a trembling finger at me.
"Joyce, you… you're hijacking company systems! I'm calling the police!"
I didn't spare her threat a second of attention. My eyes locked on the screen as I clicked into the payroll system.
She was already dialing.
"I'm… I'm reporting you to Mr. Fox right now! We're in the peak of the project, every cent of capital is in motion!"
"You touch that and you're sabotaging the company's IPO! Wait till Mr. Fox comes down here and deals with you!"
My chest was on fire. I found my own employee photo and started the wage transfer.
Then I pulled up the leave system, ready to click approve.
All I could see now was my mother's worn, hollow face.
One click, and the money would land, the surgery could start, and I could finally be at the hospital with her.
"Go ahead and click it. But you'd better think about what comes after."
Chad Fox walked in through the lobby doors, his voice cold and hard.
"Mr. Fox, thank god you're here!"
"Joyce has lost her mind! She shoved me down, forced through her own wage transfer, and approved her own leave!"
Gail scrambled over and clung to his leg, playing the victim.
"Joyce, you signed a non-compete agreement when you were hired."
"We're at the peak of the project. If you transfer funds and quit without authorization, that's two breaches, and together you'd owe the company two million."
He calmly pulled out a stack of contracts and slapped them on the desk in front of me.
"Clause sixty-one, the hidden clause. It's spelled out in black and white."
The hand about to click froze. I stared at Clause sixty-one, and the blood in my body turned to ice.
The line was small, but it was unmistakable, and it was followed by a two-million penalty.
A tiny line of text I could never have spotted the day I signed.
And now it had me completely locked in.
"Click it! Go on, click it! Click it and you owe two million!" Beside me, Gail's face turned smug.
She brushed the dust off herself, circled around to my side, gloating now.
"Go ahead. Two million's nothing, just your entire salary garnished and still not enough to cover it."
"And even if you refuse to pay, Mr. Fox can drag you through court until you're finished. You'll never work again!"
I froze, staring at the clause with bloodshot eyes. My gaze flicked to the transfer on the screen, and my fingers started to shake.
Two seconds later, I glanced up at her and Chad, gritted my teeth, and jabbed down hard.
Two million, then. So be it! It would save my mother's life! I'd worry about the payment later!
As I hit it, a red scanning light swept across the camera, and Gail froze completely, her eyes going wide with disbelief.
Chad watched me, then flicked a look at that red light, and one corner of his mouth curved into a strange little smile.
Watching the transfer approval appear on the screen, I let out a slow breath. My mother was finally going to be saved.
But two seconds later, the process stopped, and a cold error message popped up.
"Face detected without administrator permissions. Your action is invalid, and the transferred wages have been frozen!"
My mind went blank with a roar, and every drop of blood in me turned to ice.
How could this happen?
"So Mr. Fox set the permissions ahead of time! Exactly to stop crazy women like you!"
Beside me, Gail finally caught up, covering her mouth and giggling softly.
A chill ran through me, and before I could do anything else, the attending physician called again.
"Miss Harding, your mother's been delayed too long. She's gone into terminal shock!"
