1 I was about to sign a crucial contract when my phone buzzed with an unknown number. “Do not sign that contract. Your girlfriend bribed the client to hide massive legal traps in the clauses.” “If you sign it, you will go to prison and be saddled with millions in debt. Your best friend will take your promotion and marry your girlfriend.” “By the time you get out of prison, their kid will be in kindergarten, and they will mock you for being a broke ex-con.” A cold chill ran down my spine. “Who is this?” The line went dead. Was this a malicious prank by a rival firm, or… were the two people closest to me really plotting my downfall? My mind swirling with doubt, I arrived at the client’s office, deciding to carefully review the contract before doing anything else. The moment I opened the first page, my girlfriend, Sarah, impatiently urged me on. “Didn’t we verify everything a few days ago? Stop stalling and just sign it!” I twirled the Montblanc pen in my hand, speaking slowly. “Sarah, reviewing the clauses carefully before signing is basic common sense in our industry, isn’t it?” “When you sign your own contracts, you usually spend at least an hour double-checking every single line.” Realizing she had slipped up, Sarah softened her tone. “This is different! We’ve worked with Mr. Davis so many times. By scrutinizing it like this, you’re blatantly showing you don’t trust him.” Mr. Davis’s face darkened on cue. “If Mr. Sterling doesn’t trust my company, I can always find another partner.” I clearly caught Sarah shooting Mr. Davis a subtle, knowing look. My heart turned to ice. On the drive over, I had tried to convince myself the phone call was just a sick joke. But Sarah’s desperate behavior confirmed every word. The call was real. This contract was definitely a death trap. I glanced at Liam, sitting to my right, and pushed the folder toward him with a smile. “Bro, I felt bad about not giving you that lead last time.” “Why don’t you take this account? Consider it my apology.” “The commission on this one is twenty grand more than the last. I’m a pretty good friend, right?” I locked eyes with Liam. He had pestered me endlessly, complaining about his low salary and lack of clients, begging me to throw some accounts his way. Sometimes I agreed, sometimes I refused. Whenever I said yes, he would smile so wide his face looked like it might split in half. But right now, there was no smile. Only sheer panic. Snapping back to reality, Liam shoved the contract back at me as if it were a live grenade. “No need, man. I couldn’t possibly steal your client.” My gaze drifted down to his wrist. When Sarah came back from her business trip last month, I noticed a new luxury smartwatch in her bag. I thought it was an early birthday gift for me. Not wanting to ruin her surprise, I quietly put it back. That exact smartwatch was currently strapped to Liam’s wrist. The pen slipped from my fingers, hitting the mahogany table with a sharp clack. As I bent down to pick it up, I smoothed my expression into a mask of calm. “Why so polite all of a sudden? Weren’t you just begging me for two accounts last…” Sarah’s irritated voice cut me off. “Arthur, just sign the damn contract! What are you dawdling for?” “Stop pretending to be the generous guy. When you fought tooth and nail for the Director promotion, why didn’t you offer to step aside for him?” “Fought tooth and nail?” I stared dead at Sarah. “I was the top performer in sales for five consecutive years. Earning a promotion is considered fighting tooth and nail?” Sarah interrupted me again, her patience clearly wearing thin. “Enough with the nonsense. You love money more than anything, so just sign it.” I uncapped the pen and hovered the tip over the signature line. Sarah and Liam stared at my hand, completely holding their breath. I didn’t sign. Using my left hand, I flipped to the next page. “I’ll sign it when I’m done reading.” Sarah shot up from her chair. “Are you doing this on purpose, Arthur? What are you trying to pull?” I looked up at her. “I’m trying to read the contract.” “The real question is, why are you trying so hard to stop me from reading it? What are you hiding?” Liam subtly shook his head at Sarah. She forced herself to calm down. “I’m not stopping you from reading it. I just want to lock this deal in! I’m worried you’re going to offend Mr. Davis. What if he backs out?” Mr. Davis immediately played his part, pretending to pack his briefcase. “Forget it. That rep from Apex is still trying to get a meeting with me.” I stopped him. “Give me exactly one minute. I’ll skim through every page.” Mr. Davis looked at Sarah, then nodded reluctantly. “One minute. That’s it.” I rapidly flipped through the document, pausing for only a few seconds on each page. It wasn’t enough time to actually read the fine print, but it was enough to capture the evidence. They were so frantic they didn’t even notice I was wearing glasses today—something I, with perfect 20/20 vision, never did. As I hit the last page, Sarah eagerly pressed, “Can you sign it now?” I capped my pen, slid it into my briefcase, and pushed the contract back to Mr. Davis. “Mr. Davis, I won’t be signing this today. You are free to take your business elsewhere.” Mr. Davis froze, completely forgetting to maintain his act. Sarah and Liam stared at me in utter disbelief. I stood up and walked out. Sarah chased after me, refusing to give up. “Arthur, what is the meaning of this?” “We negotiated everything! Why are you backing out?” “Is this how you show responsibility to the company?” “Go back in there, apologize to Mr. Davis, and sign the damn contract!” I ignored her completely and headed straight back to the corporate headquarters. As luck would have it, Chairman Vance was visiting from the main branch. “How did it go, Arthur? Did we lock in the Davis account?” Sarah chimed in before I could answer. “No, Chairman Vance. I don’t know what’s wrong with Arthur today, but he flat-out refused to sign.” “By now, Mr. Davis has probably already signed with our competitors.” Chairman Vance’s expression instantly darkened. “What is going on here, Arthur? Do you have any idea how crucial this deal is for the firm? Why did you refuse to sign?” “The bulk of our quarterly profits relies on this single account!” “Explain yourself right now!” I kept my voice calm. “Chairman Vance, I can’t explain it right now.” It wasn’t the right time. Without concrete proof, even if I exposed the traps in the contract, Sarah and the others would deny everything and shift the blame entirely. Hearing my answer, Chairman Vance’s face turned thunderous. “What kind of attitude is that, Arthur?” “You can’t explain it? Ridiculous. If you can’t explain your actions, pack your desk and get out!” “Sarah, start reviewing the candidates. We are promoting a new Director!” I nodded, turned around, and walked back to my cubicle to pack my things. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Liam’s reaction. He didn’t look thrilled about my firing; he actually looked panicked. Sarah quickly plastered on a desperate smile, practically begging the Chairman. “Chairman Vance, please don’t be angry. Arthur has been with us for five years. You know how capable he is.” “Could you please give him one more chance to redeem himself?” “Handle it yourself!” Chairman Vance stormed off, fuming. I raised an eyebrow. Things were not playing out the way I had assumed. Logically, if the Chairman fired me, Sarah—as the branch manager—could easily promote Liam to the Director position. But my termination didn’t make them happy. They actively begged the Chairman to keep me on. Did they really need me to end up bankrupt and in prison to be satisfied? I had a creeping suspicion there was a deeper, more sinister plot at play. That evening, the office emptied out. Sarah and Liam left together. Neither of them asked me to join them. It hit me then that this had been the norm for a long time. When the clock struck five, they always left together in perfect sync. I used to pack my things in a rush just to catch up with them in the lobby. When I stayed late working overtime, they never checked on me. They never waited for me. Without realizing it, I had long become the third wheel in my own life. Soon, I was the only one left on the floor. I walked over to Sarah’s desk and noticed she had enabled fingerprint security on her computer. She was actively guarding against me. I had taken advanced cybersecurity electives in college; bypassing a basic login screen would have been child’s play. But Sarah had seemingly forgotten that when she was a new hire, she was constantly late. She made me create a silicone mold of her fingerprint so I could clock in for her. Even when the company upgraded to facial recognition, that silicone mold stayed hidden in my wallet. I pulled it out and gently pressed it against the scanner. The screen blinked to life. Her desktop messaging app was still running. I clicked straight into her chat history with Liam. Liam: [What do we do? He didn’t sign it. We can’t pin the blame on him now.] [When the auditors check the books, they’re going to trace it back to me!] [I don’t want to go to jail! My life will be over!] Sarah: [Don’t panic. I’m having someone forge the financial reports as we speak.] [When the board reviews the quarterly profits, we’ll pin that missing money entirely on him. We’ll claim it’s the financial loss caused by him blowing the Davis deal.] [When the dust settles, the debt will be entirely his, and the firm won’t be able to touch you.] Liam: [Thank you. You’re amazing.] Sarah: [Why are you thanking your own wife?] Wife? My hand trembled violently around the mouse. Even though I had mentally prepared myself, seeing the ugly truth laid bare in black and white still felt like a physical blow to the chest. I could barely breathe. I scrolled further up their chat history. They had been carrying on this disgusting affair behind my back for over two years. When I was bedridden with a severe flu, Liam braved the blistering summer heat to come to my apartment and cook soup for me. But that exact same night, he and Sarah went to an expensive romantic restaurant for a date, and he took her back to his place afterward. The next morning, she rode to work with him in his car, claiming they had just bumped into each other on the road. The dates, the timestamps, the location pins in their chat logs—they took every warm, genuine memory I cherished and branded it as a sickening performance. While I was drowning in what I thought was true friendship and deep love, they were laughing in bed, calling me an absolute idiot. I opened Sarah’s local files and found the problematic contract they were referring to. It was a deal Liam had rushed into signing a few months ago, desperate to outshine me when the Director position opened up. But the contract was a complete disaster. It was riddled with impossible clauses the company could never fulfill. The client sued for a million dollars in damages. Sarah had quietly embezzled company funds to pay them off. The only reason they wanted me to make a catastrophic error was so they could use the chaos to pin that missing million-dollar hole squarely on my shoulders. I shut down the computer and left the building. I had all the evidence I needed. The next day, I went to work acting like absolutely nothing had happened. Sarah was buried in her spreadsheets, her brow furrowing and relaxing as she worked. Finally, on the last day of the month, she submitted the Q2 financial reports to the board of directors. The moment she hit send, she marched over to my cubicle, her voice trembling with manufactured rage. “Arthur, do you have any idea how much money the firm bled this quarter? Three million dollars!” “And it’s entirely your fault for blowing the Davis contract!” “The board of directors is on their way down here right now. You better figure out how you’re going to explain this to them!” Every eye in the office snapped toward me. Some looked shocked, others whispered amongst themselves, and in the corner, two people were clearly holding back snickers. I didn’t say a word. I simply picked up my mug and took a slow sip of water. Heavy, urgent footsteps echoed behind me. Chairman Vance’s icy voice cut through the tension. “Everyone. Conference room. Now.” Inside the glass-walled room, the board members sat with grim, furious expressions. “A three-million-dollar deficit. Manager Sarah, you owe this board an explanation.” Sarah nodded frantically, pointing an accusing, heartbroken finger at me. “It’s him! Arthur caused all of this!” “To secure the Davis contract, we preemptively purchased all the raw materials. But Arthur purposely blew the deal.” “Those materials have a short shelf life. They expired and had to be written off in just two weeks! That’s what caused this massive, catastrophic loss!” The board members stared at the forged financial reports in front of them and nodded in grim agreement. Chairman Vance lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Arthur, according to these financials, this three-million-dollar loss is a direct result of your negligence regarding the Davis account. As per company policy, you are personally liable for these damages.” “Considering your past performance, if you can secure three million dollars within the next three months, I will consider dropping the criminal charges.” “If you fail, our legal team will see you in court.” “Once the judge hands down a sentence, it will be entirely out of my hands.” I met the Chairman’s gaze with absolute calm. “Chairman Vance, I refuse to pay a single cent.” “Because I haven’t done anything wrong.” The entire board erupted in fury, slamming their hands on the mahogany table. “You did nothing wrong? Then where did this massive deficit come from?” “Chairman Vance, send him to prison! Look at his arrogant attitude! He burns millions of our capital and acts like this?” Liam reached out and tugged at my sleeve, playing the role of the concerned best friend perfectly. “Bro, why are you being so stubborn? Just admit you messed up.” “Nobody is perfect. Just take this as an expensive lesson and move on.” “I know three million is a massive number, but you can always ask Apex for help! You purposely sabotaged the Davis deal so Apex could snatch it. They owe you a massive favor…” Hearing Liam’s words, the board’s fury boiled over into absolute rage. “What?! You tanked the Davis deal for Apex? Arthur, this firm pays your salary!” “Prison! Chairman Vance, he needs to be locked up immediately!” Liam quickly covered his mouth, feigning absolute panic. “Oh God, did I say too much? I didn’t mean to…” “Bro, please, just confess before they actually send you to jail!” His face was a mask of sheer terror, but the corners of his mouth were twitching, desperately fighting back a triumphant smirk. I looked at him with cold amusement. “Are you done performing? Is it my turn to speak now?” Liam froze for a second, then forced tears into his eyes. “What are you talking about, Arthur? I’m genuinely terrified for you…” I raised an eyebrow. “Then you can relax. I’m not going to prison.” Sarah scoffed, her voice dripping with disdain. “Still this arrogant? You nearly bankrupted the firm! Even a lifetime in prison won’t cover what you owe us!” I stood up and faced the furious board members. “Gentlemen, I fully admit that I intentionally refused to sign the Davis contract.” “However, I did it to protect this firm.” The board members slammed the table again. “Protect the firm? You threw away a multi-million dollar account and call that protecting us?” Sarah’s face darkened menacingly. “Arthur, do you hear the garbage coming out of your mouth? A ten-million-dollar contract, and you just decide not to sign it? How does that protect us? Were you trying to protect us from making a profit?” I turned slowly, locking eyes with Sarah. “Manager Sarah, I’d actually like to ask you a question. Why were you badgering me so relentlessly to sign the contract that day?” Sarah frowned. “What do you mean? I wanted to lock in a massive deal for the company!” I laughed. “No, you were terrified I was going to actually read the fine print and find the trap.” Sarah froze. “Wh-what nonsense are you spouting?” I turned back to the board. “The reason I refused the Davis contract is because it was a legal landmine.” “And that landmine was carefully planted by Sarah herself.” A flash of genuine panic crossed Sarah’s eyes before she pointed at me, screeching in defensive rage. “Arthur, you are like a rabid dog biting anyone in sight! What landmine? You lost the deal, so now you’re trying to claim the contract was rigged?” “Fine! If the contract was rigged, where is your proof? Show us the trap! Where is it?” “Oh, wait, let me guess. Because you didn’t sign it, you didn’t bring the original copy back with you, so you have absolutely zero evidence to back up your pathetic lies?” I didn’t say a word. I just stood there, staring at her. The corners of her mouth twitched up into a victorious smirk, and she tilted her head at me mockingly. Meeting her arrogant gaze, I smiled softly. “Evidence? Of course I have evidence.” “In fact… I have a mountain of it.” I pulled a sleek USB drive from my pocket and twirled it between my fingers.
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