You Said Until Death

When I took my diagnosis of heart failure to my boss and asked for time off, he shot me down with two words. "Not approved." I pointed to the diagnosis. "I could drop dead at any moment." He pushed the report back to the edge of his desk. "But you're not dead yet, are you? This project is at a critical stage. Don't even think about slacking off and trying to get out of work." I stared at him for two seconds before nodding. "Fine. You win." The next day, I walked into the conference room right on time with a portable medical oxygen tank. Everything suddenly went black while I was presenting the fourth version of our proposal to the client. I had collapsed face-first onto the conference table. My boss finally froze when he saw that I was on the brink of death. Chapter 1 Not Dead Yet My boss, Gavin Bright, didn't even look up as he pushed the report back to the edge of his desk. "Why do you need time off? You're not dead yet, are you?" Then, he leaned back in his chair as he rolled the pen between his fingers, his tone dripping with superiority. "Seraphina, this project is at a critical stage. Ms. Wayman is coming tomorrow to hear the presentation for the fourth version of our proposal. You're the project lead. Yet, you're telling me you need time off now?" I took a deep breath, a dull ache spreading through my chest. "I've pulled 23 all-nighters in a row. Mr. Bright, my heart is already working at its limit. I'll die if I keep pushing myself like this." My supervisor, Phoebe Alistair, let out a mocking laugh. "Oh, Seraphina, that's a little dramatic, don't you think?" She filed her nails before casually blowing at them. "Everyone in this line of work has pulled all-nighters. You can do the work of three people by yourself. So, why are you suddenly feeling sick when it's time to present to the client? Don't tell me you didn't finish this proposal and you're trying to bail at the last minute." I shot her a cold look. Phoebe was Gavin's handpicked favorite. She had none of the skills to back it up, but when it came to shifting blame and taking credit? God, she was second to none. Every proposal I stayed up all night writing always had her name on it, whether I liked it or not. "I've already sent the proposal to the work group. I double-checked all the numbers, and everything is accurate." I ignored her taunts and fixed my eyes on Gavin. "I just have one question. Will you approve my sick leave?" Gavin's expression darkened as he slammed his hand down on the desk. "Seraphina, are you really giving me lip right now? Let me make one thing clear. This company isn't running a charity. If you don't want to do the job, there are plenty of people who will. "If you drop the ball during tomorrow morning's presentation, I'll dock your entire performance bonus for this month. Of course, you can forget about your year-end bonus." Now that I had a front row seat to his utterly self-righteous tirade, I suddenly found the whole thing absurd. To them, my life was worth less than the progress bar on a single project. I stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Fine. I'll do as you say." I picked up the diagnosis from the desk and walked out of the office. Soon, I heard Phoebe's sycophantic titter coming from behind me. "See that, Mr. Bright? I told you she was faking it. A little pressure and she'll fall right in line." … I walked into the conference room right on time at 9 a.m. The room had been buzzing with discussion, but it fell completely silent the second I pushed the door open. I was dressed in my usual business attire, my face pale as a sheet and my lips completely bloodless. Still, what drew the most attention was the portable medical oxygen tank in my hand, which was about the size of a thermos. Gavin's face went livid. He lowered his voice and hissed through clenched teeth, "Seraphina, have you lost your mind?" Chapter 2 On the Record "What the hell are you trying to prove by showing up like this?" Gavin demanded. I ignored him and walked around him. Then, I set the oxygen tank down hard on the conference table. "Weren't you the one who told me not to drop the ball? Doesn't showing up sick prove how dedicated I am to the company?" I shot back. Just then, Audrey Wayman, the director of the client company, walked in with her team. Audrey paused when she saw me, her brow furrowing slightly at my sickly state. "Ms. Finch, what happened to you?" Gavin reacted quickly, immediately putting on a smile. "I'm so sorry you had to see this, Ms. Wayman. Seraphina has a pretty bad cold, but she takes her work seriously and insists on giving the presentation herself." He kicked me hard under the table and shot me a warning look as soon as he said that, violently signaling me to start talking. I said nothing. Instead, I opened the PowerPoint and picked up the presentation remote. The presentation began, and everything went smoothly for the first 10 minutes. However, I could feel the pounding of my heart becoming more laborious by the second. As time passed, every beat came with a searing, crushing pain. Cold sweat trickled down my forehead and dripped onto the keyboard. "As for the projected conversion rate for this fourth version of the proposal, we based our estimate on—" I didn't finish the sentence as my vision suddenly went black. The voices around me seemed to fade into a vacuum. When my heart seized, I heard someone cry out, "Seraphina!" My legs gave out the very next second as I collapsed with the chair, crashing hard into the conference table. I fell onto the cold floor. Before the darkness took me, I saw Gavin's face, drained of all color and filled with fear. … When I woke up, the first thing that hit my senses was the sharp smell of disinfectant filling my nose. I forced my eyes open and found myself staring up at the stark white ceiling of a hospital room. An IV cannula was taped to the back of my hand, while the heart monitor beside me emitted a steady beeping sound. "Sera, you're awake?" A familiar face leaned over me. It was Tessa Vance, my best friend of 10 years. She was a partner at one of the city's top law firms and usually carried herself with fierce efficiency. But she now had a desperate grip on my hand as she trembled with rage. "The doctor said your heart rate was barely detectable when they brought you in. You would already be in the morgue if they hadn't gotten you here in time." Tessa gritted her teeth as she growled, "Where is that bastard Gavin Bright? I'm going to tear him a new one." I managed a weak smile as I whispered, "Then, you'll end up in jail too. He's not worth it." Just then, the hospital room door was shoved open. A panting Gavin came rushing in with a basket of fruit in his hand. He visibly relaxed when he saw that I was up. Unfortunately, that relief didn't last very long as his face quickly betrayed a mixture of irritation and calculation. "Seraphina, you really outdid yourself. You pulled that stunt right in front of the client." Gavin set the fruit basket down heavily on the bedside table. He didn't even bother asking how I was doing before getting straight to the point. "Do you know what happened because you suddenly passed out? Ms. Wayman was furious and called off the entire project. The company is now at risk of breaching our contract. Do you think you can afford to take responsibility for that?" Tessa's eyes turned cold. She was about to ream into him, but I gently squeezed her hand, signaling her to hold back. She understood immediately. So, she quietly stepped half a pace back, slipped her hand into her pocket, and pressed the record button. I looked at Gavin, my voice hoarse. "Mr. Bright, I asked for sick leave. You were the one who refused to approve it." Gavin shamelessly replied, "I was testing you. How was I supposed to know how serious your condition really was?" Chapter 3 The Price of Silence Then, Gavin's tone softened as he put on an air of benevolent generosity. "Alright. What's done is done. The company isn't completely heartless. Here's what I'll do. I'll give you your full performance bonus for this month, and I'll increase your base salary by 20 percent." As he spoke, he pulled out his phone, opened an email draft he had clearly prepared in advance, and held it out to me. "Right now, you're going to use your work email to send Ms. Wayman an apology. "Just say that you passed out because you deliberately hid the severity of your condition and insisted on coming to work when you shouldn't have. Make it clear that your condition had absolutely nothing to do with the company's management. "Once you send the email, you can rest and recover without worrying about work." I stared at the few lines on the screen and actually started laughing out of sheer anger. I hid my condition? The company had nothing to do with my current state? He was trying to dump all the blame for overworking an employee onto me, the victim, just to preserve his fake image as a compassionate manager. "Mr. Bright, you really have this all figured out." I drawled, refusing to take the phone. Instead, I just stared coldly at him. Gavin frowned and ground his teeth. "Is this not enough? Then, I'll give you another two months of paid sick leave. That's my final offer. Seraphina, don't be so greedy." I parted my lips and enunciated my answer clearly, "I refuse." Gavin's expression darkened instantly. "What did you just say?" I pulled the oxygen tube from my nose, sat upright against the headboard, and met his gaze head-on. "I said I refuse. Not only am I refusing to send that liability-waiver email, but I'm also going to report you to the Labor Department for forcing employees to work overtime. I'll also be taking you to the Labor Arbitration Board for illegal employment practices." Gavin lost his temper. He pointed a finger in my face and started cursing me out, screaming, "You wouldn't dare! Seraphina, did that fever fry your brain? Do you really think filing a complaint will do anything? The company's legal team will eat you alive." Tessa, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. She whipped a business card from her pocket and casually flicked it at Gavin's face. "Perhaps they are. But I promise you that I'm a lot meaner than they are. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Tessa Vance, senior partner at TrueNorth Legal. I'm Ms. Finch's attorney, and you will be talking to me from now on, Mr. Bright. Leave my client alone and let her rest." Gavin stared at the gold-embossed business card lying on the floor, his face turning red with anger. He glared at me as his mask of hypocrisy finally cracked apart to reveal the viciousness underneath. "Fine, Seraphina. You want to do this the hard way, huh? Just you wait. I will make sure you're blacklisted throughout the industry." After he leveled that threat at me, he kicked the hospital room door and stormed out, slamming it shut behind him. The ward fell silent after his angry departure. Tessa let out a cold laugh as she saved the recording and uploaded a copy to the cloud. "An idiot at this level wouldn't even get a second glance from me in court. Sera, how do you want to take him down? Say the word, and I'll make sure he loses everything." I leaned back against my pillow, my eyes flinty. "Not just yet. Gavin cares desperately about his reputation, and he's extremely vindictive. He just threatened me. Knowing him, the first thing he'll do when he gets back to the office is destroy the evidence of my overtime and launch a smear campaign against me to cover his tracks." "He'd better not!" Tessa's brows drew together, utterly vexed. Chapter 4 Turning the Tables I knew that toxic duo Gavin and Phoebe far too well. "Want to bet? Give me your phone. I want to pull whatever I can from the internal system while my company account is still online." Gavin's retaliation came as I raced to back up the underlying data from the system. The hospital ward door was shoved open at 3 p.m. Gavin had returned bearing a thick stack of printed documents. Phoebe followed close behind, looking smug. "Seraphina, I'm giving you one last chance." Gavin slapped the stack down on my hospital bed and looked down at me. "Get discharged right now, finish up the remaining work, and then resign on your own. Otherwise, I'll see you in court." I glanced at the stack. There was a screenshot of a system access log right on top. Phoebe sighed dramatically beside him. "Seraphina, how could you do something like this? Even if you're unhappy with the company, you can't just package up the core source code from our project and send it to a competitor. That is a serious breach of trade secrets. You could go to prison for that." I almost snorted out of rage. That so-called "core source code" was nothing more than an abandoned first draft I had scrapped two weeks ago. Yet, the timestamp on the file showed it had been sent at noon today. I had been unconscious in the emergency room at the time. "You think you can convict me of stealing trade secrets just because you sent an obsolete draft from my account?" I looked at the two clowns standing in front of me. "Gavin, did you hit your head on the way in?" Gavin planted both hands on the edge of my bed, his eyes filled with malice. "Whether it's obsolete or not is for the company to decide. The system logs will show whether it was sent from your account. Seraphina, you're now suspected of espionage. One call to the police, and you'll be spending the night in a cell." It seemed that he thought that he had me cornered as he became even more brazen. "Now get your ass out of that bed and get back to work. Otherwise…" I cut him off, pulling a forced-termination notice from beneath my pillow. Then, I flung it straight at his smug, pudgy face. "Otherwise what? You don't need to fire me. I'm quitting. As for your little espionage accusation, go ahead and call the cops. Let's see who they'll actually arrest." Gavin froze. Clearly, he hadn't expected me to flip the table when I was already backed into a corner. He picked up the notice. When he saw what it said, he actually laughed in fury. "Fine. Fine. Very well. Seraphina, you've got guts." He crumpled the notice into a ball and hurled it to the floor. Then, he pointed at me and hurled every insult he could think of, spitting, "Who the hell do you think you are? You're just a sickly nobody who could drop dead at any moment and who's suspected of corporate espionage. "Do you really think I won't send a warning to everyone in the industry and tell them exactly what you've done? Not a single company in this field will dare hire a useless wreck like you. Your career will be over." He screamed himself hoarse. His face was bright red, but his eyes gleamed with glee. He looked as if he could already see me go down on my knees and beg him for mercy. Just then, a woman's voice came from outside the hospital room. "No one will hire her? I think not."