Director Harris did not ask me to repeat the number.

That was one thing I liked about him.

“Two hundred million yuan,” he said slowly. “Miss Lin, if you’re serious, I can have a private banking team ready within thirty minutes.”

“I’m serious.”

“Where are you now?”

“Across the street from my old bank.”

There was another pause.

“Old bank?”

I looked back through the glass doors.

From where I stood, I could still see the lobby where I had spent three years smiling at clients, processing paperwork, apologizing for delays that weren’t my fault, and pretending not to notice Rachel watching every move I made.

“They fired me ten minutes ago.”

Director Harris inhaled sharply.

Then, to his credit, he did not ask for gossip.

“I understand,” he said. “I’ll personally handle the transfer.”

“Good.”

I ended the call.

For the first time that afternoon, I felt genuinely relaxed.

I thought I would have to return the next morning.

I was wrong.

Director Harris was faster than I expected.

Twenty-five minutes later, a black sedan stopped outside the bank.

A man in a dark suit stepped out, followed by two members of his private banking team.

Director Harris spotted me immediately.

“Miss Lin.”

He shook my hand with both of his.

His employees looked toward the building behind me.

“This is the bank?”

“Yes.”

“Then shall we?”

I smiled.

“Let’s.”

The moment I walked back through those doors, the atmosphere changed.

Rachel was the first to notice me.

Her eyebrows rose.

Then she saw the three people behind me.

Her expression became amused.

“Well, well.”

She stood from her desk.

“Couldn’t stay away for even half an hour?”

Several coworkers looked up.

I ignored her.

Rachel stepped into my path.

“If you came back to beg Manager Wallace, you’re wasting your time. The termination has already been processed.”

Director Harris glanced at me.

I could see the question in his eyes.

This woman?

I gave him a tiny nod.

His expression immediately cooled.

“I’m not here about my employment,” I said.

Rachel crossed her arms.

“Then why are you here?”

“To close an account.”

She laughed.

Actually laughed.

“Your salary account?”

“No.”

I walked toward the VIP service area.

“My private account.”

Her smile weakened slightly.

Before she could say anything else, one of the employees behind Director Harris spoke.

“Miss Lin, we’ve prepared all the receiving documents. Once your current bank verifies the transfer, the funds can be moved immediately.”

Rachel frowned.

“Funds?”

I kept walking.

That was when Manager Wallace came out of his office.

He must have heard the commotion.

His face darkened the moment he saw me.

“Clara? What are you doing back here?”

“I need a withdrawal and transfer authorization.”

He frowned.

“For what account?”

I gave him the number.

At first, he looked irritated.

Then he typed it into the internal system.

I watched his face change.

It happened beautifully.

Annoyance disappeared first.

Then confusion.

Then disbelief.

His fingers froze above the keyboard.

He stared at the screen.

Once.

Twice.

He leaned closer.

Rachel noticed.

“Manager Wallace?”

He didn’t answer.

“Is there a problem?”

Still nothing.

Finally, he looked at me.

His lips moved before sound came out.

“This account… belongs to you?”

“Yes.”

“But…”

He swallowed.

“Two hundred million?”

The office went silent.

Not quiet.

Silent.

Even the printer seemed offensively loud.

Rachel’s arms dropped to her sides.

“What did you say?”

Wallace turned the monitor slightly away as though hiding the number could somehow undo reality.

But it was too late.

“Two hundred million yuan?” Rachel repeated.

I looked at her.

She had gone pale.

It was almost funny.

Ten minutes earlier, she had mocked my shoes.

Now she was staring at them as if they might secretly be made of diamonds.

Manager Wallace stood so quickly that his chair rolled backward.

“Clara, perhaps we should discuss this privately.”

“There’s nothing to discuss.”

“Of course there is.”

His voice had changed completely.

The stern authority was gone.

Now he sounded almost gentle.

“About what happened earlier… perhaps there was a misunderstanding.”

I nearly smiled.

“A misunderstanding?”

“The headquarters decision may have been made without all the facts.”

“That’s strange.”

I tilted my head.

“Twenty minutes ago, you said there were witnesses and evidence.”

His face twitched.

“Well, yes, but procedures can be reviewed.”

Rachel suddenly stepped forward.

“Manager Wallace, she admitted she accepted the cards.”

I turned to her.

For the first time, panic appeared openly on her face.

Wallace shot her a look so sharp that she stopped talking.

Then he turned back to me.

“Clara, you’ve worked here for three years. We’ve always valued your contribution.”

Director Harris quietly cleared his throat.

“I apologize for interrupting,” he said, “but Miss Lin has requested that we transfer her assets today.”

Wallace stared at him.

“And you are?”

“Daniel Harris. Regional director of Evergreen Commercial Bank.”

That did it.

Wallace’s face lost its remaining color.

He knew exactly who Director Harris was.

More importantly, he knew what losing a two-hundred-million-yuan private account would do to his branch’s quarterly figures.

His forehead began to shine with sweat.

“Miss Lin,” he said quickly, “there’s no need to make an emotional decision.”

I looked at him.

“Emotional?”

“Yes. I understand you’re upset.”

He lowered his voice.

“But moving such a large amount because of a workplace dispute—”

“Stop.”

He stopped.

“I’m not moving my money because you fired me.”

His eyes flickered with hope.

“I’m moving it because today you showed me how this bank treats people when it believes they have no power.”

Nobody spoke.

“You thought I was a poor employee who needed this salary.”

I glanced at Rachel.

“You thought humiliating me had no cost.”

Then I looked back at Wallace.

“That is not a workplace problem.”

I slid my identification across the desk.

“That is a trust problem.”

Director Harris’s expression remained professional, but I saw approval in his eyes.

Wallace did not touch my ID.

“Clara…”

“Process the transfer.”

His jaw tightened.

“I may need authorization from the branch director.”

“Then call him.”

“He’s in a meeting.”

“Interrupt it.”

Wallace stared at me.

I stared back.

Three years ago, I would have lowered my eyes.

Not anymore.

Finally, with trembling fingers, he reached for the phone.

He had barely dialed when another phone began ringing.

Then another.

A supervisor hurried from the back office.

“Manager Wallace!”

“What?”

The woman’s face looked terrified.

“Head office is calling.”

Wallace closed his eyes.

Apparently, a transfer request of that size had already triggered an alert.

He picked up the call.

“Yes, Director Chen.”

A pause.

“Yes, I’m aware.”

Another pause.

His face tightened.

“No, sir, I didn’t know the account belonged to—”

He stopped.

Everyone heard that sentence.

Rachel’s face became even whiter.

Wallace turned away from us.

“Yes. Yes, I understand.”

He listened for nearly a minute.

Then he slowly put the phone down.

I picked up my ID.

“Can we proceed now?”

Wallace looked at me differently.

Not with respect.

Fear.

“Clara,” he whispered, “Director Chen is coming here personally.”

I checked the time.

“I don’t need him.”

“He wants to speak with you.”

“I don’t want to speak with him.”

I turned to Director Harris.

“Prepare everything.”

“Certainly.”

We had taken only a few steps when Rachel suddenly called my name.

“Clara!”

I stopped.

She hurried toward me.

The arrogance was gone.

“Wait.”

I looked at her.

She lowered her voice.

“About the supermarket cards…”

Wallace snapped his head toward her.

“What about them?”

Rachel froze.

That was the moment I knew.

Not suspected.

Knew.

I slowly turned around.

“What were you going to say, Rachel?”

“Nothing.”

She stepped back.

“I just meant—”

“What about the cards?”

Wallace’s voice became hard.

Rachel’s eyes darted toward the surrounding employees.

Too many people were listening now.

Then a young teller near her desk suddenly stood.

Her name was Sophie.

She had barely spoken to me in two years.

But now she looked terrified.

“Manager Wallace…”

Rachel whipped around.

“Shut up.”

Everyone froze.

Sophie’s face changed.

That single command had confirmed more than any confession could.

Wallace stared at Rachel.

Then at Sophie.

“Sophie,” he said slowly, “what do you know?”

Sophie swallowed.

“I saw Rachel open Clara’s drawer last Tuesday.”

Rachel’s face collapsed.

“You liar!”

“I didn’t know what she took,” Sophie continued, voice shaking. “I was scared to say anything before.”

She looked at me.

“But after Clara was fired, I checked the security system.”

Wallace went still.

Sophie took out her phone.

“There’s a backup camera facing the employee desks.”

Rachel lunged forward.

“Give me that!”

Two coworkers immediately stepped between them.

Sophie raised the phone.

On the screen was a paused video.

And even from several meters away, I could recognize Rachel’s red coat.

Her hand was inside my drawer.

The room erupted.

But I said nothing.

I simply looked at Manager Wallace.

Twenty minutes earlier, he had told me there were witnesses.

There was evidence.

Apparently, he had been right.

Just not about me.

Then the glass doors opened.

A gray-haired man in an expensive suit rushed inside, accompanied by two executives.

“Miss Lin!”

Director Chen.

The branch director.

He walked straight toward me, breathing heavily.

“Please don’t authorize that transfer yet.”

I glanced at the clock.

Then at the people who had treated me like dirt when they thought I had nothing.

“Why?”

Director Chen looked at the transfer documents in Director Harris’s hands.

His face tightened.

“Because if two hundred million leaves this branch today…”

He lowered his voice.

“…someone is going to have to answer for it.”

I smiled.

“That sounds like a management problem.”

And I signed the first transfer form. pasted