Undue Influence

Synopsis

With a blatant disregard for ethics and nothing but dollar signs in her eyes, Sydney Franklin, a ruthless and ambitious debt collector, finds herself thrust into the center of an HR investigation for threatening to ruin the business and reputation of Daniel Davenport, an affluential businessman with strong political ties. In the wake of his death, Nadine, Daniel’s widow, files a wrongful death civil suit against the collection agency citing Sydney’s despicable behavior as the basis for her claim. The legal ramifications spark an HR investigation that Sydney has become the target of. In light of this development, Sydney’s manager, Malcolm, who encourages and condones unethical and contemptible tactics, suspects his own career may be at risk so he denies culpability and implicates Sydney. When Sydney is summoned to a meeting with HR, she’s assured that the cost of her legal defense will be absorbed by her employer barring they can exonerate her. However, should the company find evidence to support Nadine’s assertions, Sydney will lose her job and possibly everything she owns. With the odds being stacked against her, she turns to Lamar, a trusted friend and former co-worker, for help. Lamar tells Sydney that he believes the real reason he was fired is because he threatened to report several of their co-workers, he caught cheating and suspected Malcolm was in on it. Desperate to vindicate herself, Sydney decides to leverage that information despite Lamar’s warning. Hellbent on forging ahead in spite of the risk, Sydney spends several days scheming about how to form an alliance with the same peers Lamar caught cheating. When she finally does, Sydney discovers that for the past three years, her peers have been committing fraud for financial gain at Malcolm's behest. In order to get proof, she must infiltrate the tight knit group and prove her loyalty to Malcolm in order to do so. Sydney betrays a co-worker to gain Malcolm’s trust then manages to persuade him to recruit her by enticing him with a foolproof plan to increase the amount of money he was swindling out of debtors on charged-off debt that ordinarily wouldn’t be legally collectible. As the HR investigation unfolds, Ellis, a close friend of Sydney’s, who had been on a six month leave of absence providing care for his ailing father, returns to work in his newly appointed role as a Senior Quality Assurance analyst. When Sydney learns that Ellis is being assigned to work in the Collections department, feelings of insecurity arise but Sydney’s confident he’ll never discover the unscrupulous acts she committed and concealed. While Sydney was laser focused on incriminating Malcolm, Ellis was mustering up the courage to pursue Sydney romantically in spite of her fears to let her guard down. After reassuring Sydney that the only thing that would change are the type of feelings he has for her, she decides to take a chance on love again. Unbeknownst to Sydney, Jasmine, a vindictive adversary and Ellis’ co-worker, is knee-deep in the corruption that Sydney is plotting to expose. When Jasmine discovers that Ellis, her former lover, is dating Sydney, she foils Sydney’s plan by getting her fired, ultimately dividing Sydney’s loyalties and placing her budding romance with Ellis in jeopardy.