Ford

ed, the air in the cramped office sudd

ir minor authority, he was used

e being pressed so grace

es for any sign that I was bluffing

absolutel

e cold

l defense comple

nd, payin

il audit that would l

he desk in a pathetic, last-di

donut bounced o

" he blustered, his voice c

This is me, a wrongfully terminated employee, requesting the exact compensation I am lega

ut, the words tasting l

nd, showing him

sockets. "Fifty thousand?! Ar

rving my lips. "Five thousand. Exactly. Three month

ned him into ab

ch less than

ng him, I would have asked

ly legal, meticulously calculated s

st he could later report to Darius; I

ed, his voice a desperate hiss. "You never set f

you'll be a distant, unple

hatred, his trembling hands

a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills, and slap

t there in front of his flushed

ow

bera

p bill a

aper was a rhythmi

humiliation of watching a woman he had just ca

I said cheerfully, tapping the stack agai

feated, pathetic form. "Pleasure d

he yelled at my back, a hol

ven break

gave a little, dismissiv

ea, I felt the heavy air of t

rst real step tow

ng nervously by

e's closed door, his expressi

elief when he saw I wa

as I pa

al wolf who had always t

oking for a new posting within the pack. Maybe the southern borders. T

shock, I walked out of the logistics ce

my fre

starting

time to buil