They Called Me the Freaking Rulebot

I was in the office bathroom stall when I heard them trash-talking me. The intern I'd trained for three months whined, "She's a heartless witch—like a robot with zero brain cells." I was about to swing the door open when another voice jumped in, laughing. "Documents incomplete." "Receipts don't match." "No signature? Denied." "Seriously, we've all memorized the freaking rulebot's script!" Once they were gone, I headed back to my desk. The intern stormed in and slammed a fat stack of reimbursement forms in front of me. "Don't go on another power trip and block everyone's claims." I skimmed the obviously fake receipts. Normally, I'd tear into her. But this time, I just smiled. "My head's killing me. Can't read the fine print." Chapter 1 "What?" Bella froze, then shrieked, "Are you for real right now? Just admit you don't wanna approve them! You're clearly faking that headache!" I took a breath. Didn't bother answering. Back then, I might've broken it down for her— Reimbursement receipts had to be legit. Finance is the final checkpoint. If something's off, we're the ones in the hot seat. Not that it ever got through to her. She'd snapped at me before with that same eye-roll energy: "Rules don’t run the world—people do. Why are you so pressed?" I'd kept it professional, taught her how to review reimbursements the right way—over and over. But after what I heard in the bathroom, yeah... I went cold. If she didn't care, then why should I? I grabbed my thermos and turned to leave. Bella scowled and grabbed my arm. "What, running off now? Feeling guilty?" I didn't say a word. She raised her voice. "You think it's just me? Everyone's fed up with you blocking their reimbursements. What, skimming the cash for yourself or something?" I froze—stunned at how insane that accusation was. Just last week, she asked for a full-time position. I even wrote her a solid recommendation. Didn't think she'd flip on me before it was even approved. I yanked my wrist free and looked her dead in the eye. "Bella. Let's be clear. The company has a reimbursement process. I'm just doing my job." "Doing your job?" she scoffed. "You sound like a broken record. Are you even human?" Then she shifted gears, barking orders like she ran the place. "I don't care. You're signing off on everyone's claims today, no excuses. People might be too scared to say it, but I'm not. Rina, quit the stuck-up act. Stop acting like a freaking bot." That got the peanut gallery going. "Bella, you're savage!" "Finally someone's putting Rina in her place." With all that backup, Bella's smirk turned full-blown smug. "See how hated you are? Try learning from me. Maybe actually understand your coworkers instead of making them jump through hoops." Honestly, I almost laughed. The whole thing was absurd. Right on top of the pile? A fake receipt that said 'Business Trip Taxi'—for ten grand. What, did someone Uber cross-country? I set it aside and grabbed the next one. $5,200 e-wallet transfer. Note: [To my wifey.] Chapter 2 Bella piped up from the side. "That one's from Mr. Lawson in Sales. He even printed it in color. So thoughtful, right?" I said nothing and kept flipping. One page was just a massive QR code. Beside it, someone had scrawled: [Dear finance ladies, scan this yourselves.] I set the whole stack down and looked straight at her. The truth hovered right there— 'We're in the middle of an IPO. None of this is even remotely approvable.' But I let it go. Just gave her a faint smile. "My head's killing me. Gonna grab some meds. Since you care so much about the team, you can handle the approvals." *** I ignored Bella's protests and walked out. It was nearly lunchtime anyway. For once, I didn't stick around to catch up on work—I just left. Barely made it through my meal before the higher-ups started blowing up my phone. In the work group chat, my department head—Winnie Dunn—blasted me directly: [@Rina Ralph, get to my office. Now.] I didn't rush. Waited till the last possible minute before heading back in. Aside from Winnie, a few other department heads were already there—like they were gearing up for a full-on public trial. When I walked in all calm, Winnie smacked her hand on the table. "Rina, I've gotten multiple complaints about you today. What do you have to say for yourself?" I sat down slow, didn't say a word yet. Didn't get the chance anyway—Bella jumped in fast. "Ms. Dunn, just look at her attitude. She doesn't respect you at all!" Winnie's voice spiked, practically yelling. "Rina, show some respect! Stop acting like you own the place just 'cause you've been here longer!" I just smiled, quiet. Back when the company had, like, twelve people, I was already the finance supervisor. Now, with thousands on the payroll? Still the same title. Carrying risk almost like I was the legal rep, but getting paid like a janitor. I figured as the company grew, I'd move up—or at least see a raise. Instead, they dropped Winnie in as the new finance head. The boss's wife. Didn't have much choice but to suck it up. Day one, she handed me a reimbursement form—for a brand-new LV handbag. Like it was no big deal. "What's with that look?" she said. "The company belongs to my husband. He told me to manage the money, so I'm using OUR money to buy a bag. Totally reasonable." I forced a smile. "It's a large amount. We need a receipt." She was doing her lipstick in the mirror and blinked at me like I was speaking another language. "What's a receipt? Can't you figure it out yourself?" Then she waved me off. "You're the expert, right? Why are you bugging me with this? You're useless!" With a superior like Winnie, there was no way I could even pretend to respect her. Of course, Winnie's ambush had the full cheer squad—every department head. Peter Lawson from Sales jumped in, all smug and fired up. "Rina, I've been meaning to talk to you. Times have changed, but you're still stuck in the Stone Age with those rules. You're always making things hard for my team. Did you hit your head or something?" I shot him a cold look. "A hard time? Mr. Lawson, you mean when your team signed a $10K contract but tried to claim $40K in entertainment? "Spent $60K on gifts for a client's execs, then asked for a $20K bonus—which I rejected? "Or when you wanted me to issue $200K in fake invoices and I said no?" "You—" Peter jabbed a finger at me, face went beet red. Guy was two seconds from blowing a gasket. "You finance people live off the money we bring in! I'm the top seller! You're just support—who the hell gave you the right to talk back?" Chapter 3 Didn't bother arguing. Just glanced at my phone. Still no reply to the message I sent this morning. Everyone was suddenly a critic, taking turns throwing shade. "Logistics is sick of her. She wants itemized receipts like we're stealing or something." "Procurement can't move without her picking through every contract." "HR's got beef too—" White noise. I typed a follow-up to the CEO, still off on his business trip: [Mr. Gainey, can you approve my resignation today?] *** The screen finally lit up. Mr. Gainey replied: [Unbelievable! We're mid-IPO. You can't just bail. Whatever's going on, I'll fix it when I'm back. Don't stir up drama right now.] And just like that, any last shred of doubt? Gone. All I felt was ice. I'd already figured him out. Mr. Gainey didn't give a damn about finance department. If he did, he wouldn't have blown off every suggestion I made to tighten up reimbursements. Or trashed my idea to give the business teams even a basic crash course in finance. The office drama was still in full swing when I looked up from my phone. Winnie caught it and lost it, voice climbing like a fire alarm. "Rina, are you even paying attention? What is this attitude?!" I locked my screen and looked up, deadpan. "Ms. Dunn. Everyone. Are you done?" Silence. Not even a cough. I stood, walked over to Winnie's desk, and grabbed the pile of reimbursement forms Bella had slammed down earlier. Gave it a little wave. "So, since I'm apparently the villain holding this company back—fine." I turned to Bella and dropped the stack right into her hands. My voice didn't even flinch. "Bella's all about team harmony, right? I'm officially handing it all over. Ms. Dunn, that cool with you?" Winnie blinked like I'd slapped her. Definitely didn't see that coming. But Peter jumped in like he'd been waiting for this moment. "Great idea. Let Bella handle it. She's young, flexible!" "Yeah, finally some fresh blood!" another one chimed in. Winnie caught the shift in the room and pounced. Anything to push me out. "Bella, you're in charge of Rina's duties now. Do it right. Don't screw this up." Bella lit up like she just won prom queen. Girl was practically vibrating. She hit me with a smug look and thumped her chest. "Don't worry, Ms. Dunn! And everyone else—relax! I'll handle everything. No delays!" I smiled, just a little. "I'll send an email to make the handover official. After that, it's all yours." Still on her little power high, she waved me off. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. No need to nag!" I didn't bother replying. Just turned back to my desk and quietly started packing up my stuff. *** The rest of the afternoon felt weird. I kept my head down—sorted files, wiped my computer. Quiet. Clean. Meanwhile, Bella was living her dream, buried in forms and loving every second. She was basically a human stamp at that point. No reviews, no double-checks, just "approved, approved, approved." The department heads swarmed her with fake praise and fatter claims, and she lapped it all up like free samples. Halfway through, an old coworker messaged me: [Rina, you're seriously done? Those claims are a trainwreck...] Chapter 4 I replied: [Head hurts. Can't read the reimbursement forms.] By a little after 4, the company group chat was blowing up with Bella fan club energy. [Bella's so efficient!] [Finally, no more that old rule-spewing robot. Some folks really needed to make room.] And of course, Bella couldn't help herself. Drenched in compliments, she got bold. She tagged me in the main chat: [@Rina, no offense, but I think you were just overcomplicating reimbursements. Things have been way smoother since I stepped in.] I didn't reply. Bella clearly hated being ignored, so she started sending me daily updates on her "progress." Like I needed a play-by-play of her approval spree. She was greenlighting every single prepayment request now—some with extra fluff. I saw one where she handed Sales Team 2 a $100K "team-building" budget for the second half of the year. I didn't say a thing. That team had been bleeding red for two straight quarters. Mr. Gainey was already whispering about layoffs. Meanwhile, Winnie made her own little catwalk past my desk every day—new outfit, new designer bag, same smug face. Whenever our eyes met, she'd tilt her chin and drop another jab. "Some people get way too emotional about handling other people's money. At the end of the day, she's just a guard dog. And when a dog misbehaves? You replace it." Bella was right on her heels, practically synced up. "Ms. Dunn, is that crocodile leather? Just say the word—I'll file the reimbursement ASAP." Then someone from another department walked up. "Rina, the account's short by a dollar. Should we organize a check?" I pressed my fingers to my temple. "My eyes are killing me. I seriously can't deal with this." Bella jumped in before I could finish. "What's there to check? It's a dollar. I'll cover it. Crisis averted." Next, someone else popped over. "Rina, the tax deadline's coming up. What's the plan?" Bella rolled her eyes. "File what? Rina's been clueless about taxes forever. I'll just wine and dine the rep a little—save us a fortune." I stared at them like I was watching a slow-mo shipwreck. But this time? I wasn't going down with it. Month-end closing came fast. I double-checked everything—backups done, responsibilities handed off—then logged into HR and cashed out my unused vacation days. A second later, Winnie's reply popped up: [Vacation approved. You're an eyesore anyway. The sooner you're gone, the better!] Predictable. I shut down my computer, feeling weirdly satisfied, and started getting ready to leave. But just as I stood, my phone buzzed. Mr. Gainey's voice came through sharp and shaky. "Rina, what the hell is happening? Where's the money? The account's been drained—dozens of transfers just cleared. We're missing almost $800,000! Where is it?!" I didn't flinch. "Mr. Gainey, Bella's managing the company account now. She was assigned by Ms. Dunn—with support from your department heads. What she approved and how? Not my responsibility." Right then, I heard fast footsteps outside. A coworker burst in, white as a sheet. "The tax bureau's here! The system flagged some warnings—they're launching a full audit!"