A New Hire Booked My Luxury Napa Estate For $150 — So I Had Her Arrested Chapter 03
Before I could finish, Tiffany cut in.
“Okay okay, Elena, we’re all trying to do what’s best for the company. Some things aren’t worth airing out.”
The boss shot me a sideways glance.
“For this retreat, Tiffany’s arrangements are solid. Elena, hand it over to her entirely.”
“Finance is doing an internal audit soon anyway. Go on administrative leave and prepare.”
I froze.
Six years of dedication.
And a new hire’s few sentences were enough to knock me down.
Every previous retreat, I’d pulled strings, picked the best venues, gotten them at cost.
Now they were accusing me of kickbacks and trying to freeload $150 off my property.
They were even talking about an internal audit—clearly they thought I’d been skimming.
I clenched my fists and drew a long breath.
“Fine. Since nothing I say is going to convince you, audit away.”
“Whatever you find, I’ll repay tenfold.”
Mr. Preston smirked coldly. “Suit yourself. Don’t blame me later for being harsh.”
I stepped out of the office. The hallway was buzzing with quiet chatter about the retreat.
Back at my desk, I started organizing years of price lists and vendor-comparison spreadsheets.
I remembered walking into this company as an intern right out of college. Six years, just like that.
I’d stayed because the boss had said, “We treat our people like family—we won’t let our employees down.”
So I’d leveraged my local resources over and over to help the company get better deals. Several of our biggest clients were regulars at the estate.
I’d never taken credit. I just wanted to do my job quietly.
And now—because of one intern—all my contributions had become “bullying the new girl.”
“Elena, the boss asked me to come sync with you on the files.”
Tiffany stood at my desk, still wearing that smug smile.
I didn’t say a word. I sent her the organized folder.
She took it, then leaned down and whispered in my ear:
“Elena, the boss already said there’s going to be an audit.”
“You’ve organized so many events for the company—you must’ve pocketed some kickbacks along the way, right?”
“If you cooperate, I can put in a good word with the boss. Wipe the slate clean.”
I stared at her, stunned.
She actually believed I’d taken kickbacks—and thought she could leverage that over me.
Tiffany returned to her desk. A little while later, she posted a Google Form for retreat signups on Slack, with a note that multiple family members were welcome.
Food, drinks, U-pick, BBQ—the works, all on the company.
The message went up and signups poured in.
Within half an hour, employees plus family members, the headcount cleared 100.
By evening, Tiffany walked up to me with a full page of names and a supply list.
“Elena, here’s the final count—108 people.”
“We’ll need BBQ ingredients, drinks, and recreation supplies. Please have everything ready.”
“Elena, this is a great chance for you to make up for your mistakes. Prepare it well, okay?”
I glanced at her.
“I said—we can’t accommodate.”
Tiffany snorted.
“Enough. Stop being stubborn.”
“If you refuse to host us, I’ll have the boss dig into your kickback history. If this ends up in court, it won’t be pretty.”
—
