Chapter 1: The Missing Bonus

I scrolled through my bank app three times, willing the numbers to change. $400. My chest tightened. There had to be a mistake.

Normally, my salary plus the bonus would hit around $1,600. But this time, it was just my base pay. Rent, bills, the gifts I’d promised my parents—all of it flashed through my mind. Fifteen grand, gone. My mind raced. I felt like the floor had dropped out from under me.

No time to think, I rushed to HR. The office smelled faintly of old K-cup coffee and citrus cleaner. Karen, our HR manager, adjusted her glasses, not even looking up from her keyboard. The faded 'Employee of the Month' plaque behind her seemed to mock me.

“Your salary’s correct,” she said flatly, her tone as cold as the break room fridge.

I stared, stunned. “Karen, you know my monthly pay is never less than $1,200. I brought in a ton of clients this year—the bonus alone should be $15,000. Can you double-check?”

Karen shrugged, eyes flicking back to her monitor. “Look, Matt, the company’s been having some... operational issues. Everybody’s performance bonus is gone. Nothing I can do.”

“Gone? Seriously? You’re telling me something this big happens and nobody says a word?”

Karen’s keyboard clacked as she pretended to type, but I could see the reflection of her Candy Crush game in her glasses. Since admin and HR had merged, she probably felt I was blaming her personally.

For the sake of my $15,000, I swallowed my pride and tried again. “Sorry, Karen, I lost my cool. If the company’s struggling, I get it. I won’t ask about the monthly bonus, but the annual $15,000...?”

She rolled her eyes, barely hiding her annoyance, and clicked around on her screen. “That was given to Eric Miller.”

“What? Eric? Why?”

My heart stopped. The holiday string lights above her cubicle looked sad and out of place. The unfairness was so sharp, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. All I could do was stand there, my mind reeling.