Chapter 2

The hundred-dollar bill felt like a hot coal on the polished wood of the desk. I didn't touch it.

My voice was shaking, but I forced the words out. "That' s not what we agreed on. At minimum wage, for two months of work, you owe me around two thousand five hundred dollars."

Gabrielle laughed, a short, ugly sound. "Are you serious? You think your little videos are worth that much? You're delusional."

"I have bills to pay," I said, my voice getting stronger. "My mom is counting on me."

"That sounds like a you problem, not a me problem," Gabrielle said, turning her back to me.

Mr. Chadwick stood up, his large frame towering over the desk. His face was red with anger. "I think you misheard me. I told you to get lost. Don't make me repeat myself."

I looked from his face to Gabrielle's smug expression. They weren't just refusing to pay me; they were enjoying it. They saw me as nothing.

"I' m not leaving without my wages," I said, planting my feet.

"Fine," Gabrielle snapped. She walked to the office door and opened it, yelling into the kitchen. "Miguel! Carlos! Can you come here for a second?"

Two of the kitchen staff, men I had worked alongside all summer, appeared in the doorway. They looked from me to Gabrielle, their faces filled with confusion and fear.

"Escort her out," Gabrielle commanded, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at me. "She' s trespassing."

Miguel looked at me, his eyes apologetic. "Miss Elyse... please."

He had a family. Carlos had just had a new baby. They couldn' t afford to lose their jobs over me.

The fight drained out of me. I looked at the Chadwicks one last time, their faces hard and triumphant. I turned and walked out, past the pitying looks of the kitchen staff, and back into the suffocating Texas heat.

I didn't have a plan yet. But as I walked away from the restaurant, the humiliation burning in my chest began to harden into something else. Something cold and clear.