Chapter 4

I didn't care about their reaction. I simply closed my laptop.

"If there’s nothing else, meeting adjourned."

I waited two seconds. No one spoke, so I turned to walk out of the room.

But just as my hand touched the doorknob, Georgina's voice shrilled behind me again.

"Jessica, what is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to threaten us by taking away our stipends?"

I turned around, looking at her in genuine confusion. "How on earth did you reach that conclusion?"

She crossed her arms, her tone incredibly self-righteous. "If you aren't trying to threaten us, why are you canceling our $1,500 cash stipends?"

For a second, I didn't grasp the level of audacity she was operating on.

I asked flatly, "Didn't you guys just say you wanted company-provided housing?"

"Yeah, but why do we have to lose our cash stipends just because you're giving us housing?" Georgina barked. "Aren't you a billionaire heiress? How can you be so cheap?!"

Hearing the sheer entitlement in her voice, I almost laughed out loud.

If I didn't get what they were playing at now, I’d be a complete idiot.

I swept my eyes over the rest of the room. Every single one of them had a look of silent agreement on their faces.

Wow. So after all this drama, they wanted both.

They wanted the $1,500 cash and free luxury housing with a private chauffeur.

Did they think money grew on trees?

Since they chose to treat me like a brainless cash cow instead of a boss, I had no intention of spoiling them anymore.

I grew up with parents who never let me suffer a single day of disrespect. Why should I take attitude from my own employees?

I slammed my laptop onto the table, my voice dropping to a freezing temperature.

"You want free housing, private shuttles, and the cash stipends? Are you guys delusional, or do you just think I'm an idiot?"

"Look at the market. Tell me, which company offers better perks than I do?"

"And yet, you’re letting a fresh-out-of-college intern manipulate you like puppets. Pathetic."

Seeing my genuine anger, the rest of the employees finally looked guilty. They shifted in their seats, refusing to meet my eyes.

Clearly, I had been too nice for too long, making them believe I had no spine.

While the others stayed quiet, Georgina kept barking.

"It’s just $1,500! Do you really need to be this dramatic? It’s not like you’re hurting for cash!"

"Or is that billionaire heiress title of yours actually fake?"

I didn't understand where her intense malice came from.

But I didn't care to investigate. Whether she was just young and dumb, or consumed by jealousy, she was absolutely nothing to me.

I didn't need her approval, and I certainly didn't owe her an explanation.

I gave her a long, cold stare before addressing the room.

"Since none of you actually care about reasonable perks, this discussion is over."

"We will keep the current system as it is. And from now on, I will no longer accept any requests for benefits changes."

Then, I locked my eyes onto Georgina, my voice laced with warning.

"And you—instead of wasting your time plotting workplace rebellions, you should start worrying about whether you'll even pass your internship."

"Because if you don't, the company's amazing benefits won't have anything to do with you."

I rarely fired anyone, but she had officially blacklisted herself in my book.

Hearing my underlying threat, Georgina’s face flushed a deep, angry red.

I let out a mental scoff and turned to the rest of the room.

"If anyone is unhappy with the company's current benefits, you are free to hand in your resignation. I won't stop you."

"But if anyone tries to pull another stunt like this under my roof, don't blame me for getting ugly."

This time, when I walked out, nobody dared to say a word.

However, by the end of the workday, not a single person had resigned.

I didn't think much of it and headed straight home.

But that night, when I opened Reddit to check on the thread, I saw that Georgina had updated it again.

This time, the post read:

[Billionaire heiress my ass. She’s just some old rich guy’s kept sugar baby.]

[No wonder she’s so cheap. Guess her sugar daddy isn’t giving her enough allowance!]