The Top Closer's Golden Ticket

In my past life, I drew the grand prize of ninety-nine thousand dollars at the company’s annual Labor Day gala. Right on the spot, my coworker framed me, claiming our department director and I were sleeping together and that the raffle was rigged. From then on, I fell straight into the trap of self-defense. Bonuses, benefits, promotions—I gave them all away, just to prove I wasn’t dirty. Yet it still wasn't enough. During the holiday, while inspecting an active construction site, that same coworker shoved me into a deep pit, leaving me buried alive in concrete. Only right before dying did I realize she was the one sleeping with our director. The two of them had orchestrated the whole thing, walking all over my corpse to climb the corporate ladder. "Congratulations, Joyce! The holiday weekend is right around the corner. Everyone’s rushing to get their expense reports processed, so how is it that yours got cleared so fast?" "If you have some special trick, don't hold back on us. We're all on the same team here. Do you really have the heart to let the rest of us stress over money all weekend?" My coworker, Vivian, tossed an expense form onto my desk. Her sharp, sarcastic tone dripped with venom. Before I could even speak, she drove the knife in deeper. "Word on the street is you went out to dinner with Director Hayes last night. No wonder your reimbursement was signed off this morning. I guess eating out of someone's hand really works wonders. So, Joyce... what exactly did you feed him?" She framed it as me treating our boss, but her sneering eyes crawled down my face to my chest. She was making it blatantly clear to the entire room: I had slept my way up to jump the line. With the long weekend approaching, no one was focused on working anyway. Vivian’s shrill voice turned every head straight toward me. "Oh, so that’s what happened! Hayes had zero work left yesterday, yet he stayed behind just to walk out with Joyce. Gross." "Come on, Joyce. It's not like the company won't pay us back. We all need that cash for the holiday. Why do you get to cut the line?" "Selling yourself out over a single dinner just to get reimbursed first? That’s desperate." The office erupted into a storm of whispers and sneers. Vivian’s smirk grew wider by the second. Seeing my silence, she assumed I was trapped with no way out, so she poured fuel on the fire. "Honestly, it’s a brilliant investment. Director Hayes decides all our bonuses, raises, and promotions, doesn't he? Joyce, don't tell me you're coming back after the break as our new manager?" Dozens of eyes locked onto me. Hungry, judgmental, venomous glares threatened to tear me apart. Yet my mind was anchored in the memories of my previous life. It had started just like this. Vivian made up a wild rumor about Hayes and me, forcing me into an endless cycle of self-justification, making me hand over everything I had earned with blood, sweat, and tears. First, it was the priority reimbursement. Then, the grand prize at the company party. Finally, the management promotion. Vivian had played the fearless champion of office fairness, yet she was the one who walked away with every single reward. Meanwhile, I was banished to a dangerous construction site, where she shoved me into a dark foundation pit bristling with rebar. Only in my final, suffocating moments did I learn she was Hayes’s real mistress. They had set me up together, stepping on my throat to take my spot. "Look, she can't even say a word! Vivian was right!" "We can't tolerate this toxic crap in our office. Joyce, hand over that reimbursement approval!" The mob was whipped into a frenzy. I was public enemy number one. Someone grew hesitant, murmuring, "Wait... what if Director Hayes retaliates against us?" Vivian waved her hand dismissively with grand bravado. "What are you scared of? I’m the one calling it out! If there are consequences, I’ll take them alone! I won't let her ruin everyone's holiday!" Her bold declaration earned instant applause. As the room chanted for my reimbursement slot to be handed over to Vivian, I calmly stood up. Looking Vivian dead in the eye, I spoke clearly. "Technically, the first slot shouldn't have been mine. And you're right. I did use personal connections to jump the line." Vivian’s smug grin stretched across her face. But it vanished just as quickly. I turned toward the rest of the room. "If I used connections to cut the line, then Director Hayes abused his authority to grant it to me. Shouldn't we report Hayes to HR and get him fired, too?" In my past life, faced with sudden accusations, all I wanted was to prove my innocence. I never suspected Hayes and Vivian were working together, which was why I fell right into their trap. No matter how much evidence I brought, the moment Hayes publicly claimed to be my boyfriend, no one believed a single word out of my mouth. Now, my mind was crystal clear. Since you want to drag me into the mud, I’m dragging both of you down with me! Sure enough, the moment Hayes’s job was on the line, the righteous mob went dead silent. They only had the courage to bully someone when they held a numbers advantage. Deep down, they knew neither the money nor the promotion would ever go to them, but watching someone else burn was their favorite pastime. Vivian never expected me to turn the guns on Hayes. Panicking, she scrambled to protect her lover. "You're the one who threw yourself at him! Hayes is the victim here!" The bootlickers immediately chimed in. "Exactly. If you hadn't seduced him, he wouldn't have bent the rules for you." "We all know Hayes is a decent guy. He was just manipulated." "She probably blackmailed him. Poor guy might have been cornered."The memories of my past life aligned perfectly with the scene before me. Looking at their hypocritical faces, a cold smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Our sales department ran on commission. Fall short of the quota, and you took home a pathetic base pay of two thousand dollars. In a cutthroat city like this, two grand wouldn't even keep the heat on. When I first arrived here from a poor rural town, sales was the only job that would hire someone with no college degree and no family background. To hit my targets, I went from someone who couldn't stomach a drop of alcohol to out-drinking rooms full of middle-aged businessmen. I stood on street corners in freezing blizzards, handing out flyers all day long. Because I had weathered the storm alone, I wanted to hold an umbrella for the people behind me. After becoming the top earner, I routinely split my closed deals with my teammates, ensuring everyone took home at least five grand so they could afford to visit their families with their heads held high. When they lost valuable clients, I stepped in to win them back. When they faced nightmare accounts, I took the blow for them. Whenever they received a cut of my commission and calculated their paychecks, they couldn't stop thanking me. "Thank you so much, Joyce! Without you, I wouldn't even be able to pay rent this month!" "Joyce, you're an angel! You even bought us winter gloves and scarves for field visits!" "All hail Joyce! Joyce is the best!" Look at them now. Not a single soul remembered a shred of my kindness. In my last life, Vivian’s lies had been full of glaring holes, yet they chose to believe every word. They signed a petition demanding corporate fire me on the spot. When I pulled out hard proof of my innocence, they made snide remarks, asking if I could guarantee I wouldn't sleep with Hayes in the future. After Vivian took the manager seat, she couldn't hit the department quota to save her life. Everyone naturally blamed me, demanding I carry the entire team's workload. To prove my worth and clear my name, I had foolishly worked myself to the bone. In the end, they divided the fat bonuses among themselves, while I was reassigned to a hazardous construction lot. Right up until my gruesome death, not one of them spared a single thought for what I had done for them. Fine. In this life, let's play by the rules of raw competence. Let's see who laughs last. Amid the barking crowd, I calmly accepted their demand to forfeit the reimbursement slot, promising not to cause trouble for Director Hayes. Vivian couldn't believe I was rolling over so easily. "Are you serious? You can't take this back once you agree!" I brushed her off casually. "If I back out, go ahead and report me to Mr. Miller. Tell him to fire me." Getting the answer she wanted, Vivian practically skipped toward the accounting office. I sat back down and opened the monthly performance spreadsheet I had prepared earlier. Every year, to make sure everyone took home a decent holiday check, I evenly shared my extra sales volume with those who hadn't hit their targets. Now, I restored the original, raw numbers. I plugged in everyone’s true, miserable performance, hit save, and emailed the file straight to Mr. Miller’s inbox. Right now, the rest of the team had no clue their holiday bonuses were gone. They were loudly chatting about what games to play at the company party tonight. I sat quietly, listening to their excited chatter. The light in my eyes hardened into ice. In my past life, I drew Mr. Miller’s top-tier ninety-nine-thousand-dollar cash envelope. It was the biggest prize of the night. Before I could even celebrate, Vivian grabbed the stage microphone and announced that Hayes and I were secretly dating, claiming Hayes had rigged the drawing by telling me the exact location of the envelope. The second I opened my mouth to defend myself, Hayes stepped forward and confessed to Miller. He admitted to our imaginary affair and took the blame for leaking the prize's location. It caught me completely off guard, turning my words into a stuttering mess. Faced with Hayes’s dramatic remorse versus my clumsy denials, Miller chose to believe him. Desperate to prove my integrity, I forfeited the money. The grand prize was promptly handed to Vivian for her "bravery in exposing corporate misconduct." Miller forgave Hayes because of his "honest confession," while dismissing my explanations as pathetic excuses. He stripped my bonus and killed my upcoming promotion. Checking the time, I knew Miller would be arriving at the office any minute now. It was time to fire the first shot of my revenge.At exactly 3:10 PM, Mr. Miller stormed through the office doors, just like in my previous life. Except this time, he was screaming into his phone, completely frantic. The moment he stepped into the bullpen, he barked toward our department, "Joyce! What the hell is going on? Why hasn't the venue deposit for tonight’s gala been wired? The hotel just told me they're about to release our ballroom to another company!" I popped my head up from my cubicle, wearing a look of helpless innocence. "I'm sorry, Mr. Miller. My reimbursement hasn't cleared. I don't have the cash to front the deposit." Miller turned purple with rage. "Didn't I tell you to get your paperwork processed first? What the hell is accounting doing?" Just then, completely oblivious to the room's atmosphere, Vivian strutted out of the finance office, waving a stack of cash. "Cutting the line pays off! Three thousand two hundred dollars in hand! My weekend is going to be amazing!" The words barely left her mouth when she ran straight into Miller’s murderous glare. And Miller had heard every word. "What is this? I explicitly ordered Joyce to be processed first so she could pay the venue deposit! Why the hell did you take her spot?" Only then did Vivian realize that my priority status had nothing to do with Hayes bending the rules. Miller needed the company card cleared for a critical payment. Her clever little stunt had just triggered Miller’s worst wrath. "Mr. Miller, I—" "Shut up! You needed your damn three grand so badly that you couldn't wait five minutes? Were you going to die without it?!" "Do you have any idea what you just did? If we lose the venue tonight, where is the entire company supposed to celebrate? Are you going to pull a luxury ballroom out of your ass?!" "Useless trash! What are you standing there for? Waiting for me to kick you out myself?!" Every excuse Vivian had died in her throat. I stood up, walking toward accounting. As I brushed past her shoulder, I leaned in and whispered in her ear. "This is just the beginning. Watch your back." Vivian’s eyes bulged as she bit her bottom lip until it nearly bled. She could only watch helplessly as I strode into the office. I knew she was burning with pure hatred. And that hatred would make her even more reckless when she tried to frame me tonight. That was fine by me. The moment the company seal was stamped onto my paperwork, I had already finalized my counterplay. At 5:20 PM, I arrived at the luxury hotel with the rest of the company. The banquet hall was decked out in gold and crimson, with giant banners praising the workforce. It was obvious Miller had raked in massive profits this year, which explained the absurd ninety-nine-thousand-dollar grand prize. The second I entered, I spotted Vivian and Hayes whispering in a shadowed corner. They looked just as slimy as they did in my past life. Back then, after shoving me into the pit, they stood at the edge, looking down at my body impaled on jagged rebar, delivering their self-righteous verdict. "Joyce, you brought this on yourself. You always had to be number one." "As long as you're here, I'll never get promoted, and you'll eventually replace my man." "Look at how much everyone hates you. The losers you pitied? Every single one of them wanted you dead." "You thought people actually appreciated your handouts? Treating us like stray dogs must have made you feel like a god, didn't it?" The agonizing memory made my chest tighten, my eyes burning with unresolved fury. Only then had I realized that my charity was perceived as an insult. They took my help while secretly treating me like their ultimate rival. Noticing my icy stare, Vivian turned pale and quickly put distance between herself and Hayes. Instead of sitting with the sales department, I took the seat Miller had reserved for me at the VIP table. To my right stood a giant, spinning raffle board covered in red envelopes. Third row, second envelope from the left. That was the ninety-nine-thousand-dollar prize that had destroyed my life. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Vivian and Hayes watching me closely. As the company's top earner, I would be invited to draw first. Hayes had placed the winning envelope in that exact spot because he knew my subconscious habits. To avoid their trap, all I had to do was pick a different envelope. But I refused. What I earned with my own sweat, I would never surrender to thieves!