Chapter 4

Lambert walked in front, Nellie Dotson half a step behind him.

She wore a black skirt suit, her hair pinned back without a strand out of place.

Her face carried the same expression she wore in meetings.

Lips slightly tight, eyes sweeping down over people from above.

Lambert stopped in front of my desk, his gaze drifting once between me and Lloyd.

He didn't speak.

Nellie took half a step forward, her tone flat. "What's going on? All this shouting in the middle of the day?"

Lloyd answered quickly.

"Director Dotson, I was going through the handover with Curt, but he won't cooperate. He refuses to hand over the clients' private contact numbers."

"So it turned into an argument."

Nellie's gaze shifted to me.

"Curt, the transfer order is already signed. You're reporting to logistics today."

"The file handover is required. What grounds do you have for not cooperating?"

I looked at her coldly and said nothing.

Her lips tightened further, the two fine lines at the corners of her eyes cut sharp as knife strokes.

"Curt, I'll ask you one more time. Are you handing over the client files or not?"

"Anything else, fine. But the clients' private numbers? Don't even think about it."

"Good!"

Nellie pulled her phone from her bag and swiped twice across the screen with her thumb.

"Then pack your things and go, right now. I'll notify finance. This gets processed as a serious violation. Not one cent of severance!"

Before she'd finished, Lambert raised a hand to cut her off.

"Nellie, don't rush. Let's talk this through properly."

He turned his face toward me and forced out a kindly smile.

"Curt, come to my office with me first."

"Let's have a good talk."

I didn't move.

"Mr. Lambert, whatever you have to say, say it here. There's no one who counts as an outsider anyway."

The smile froze on his face for half a second, and his hand dropped back to his side.

"Fine. Then I'll say it here." He cleared his throat. "Curt, honestly, this situation today, I really don't want to see it come to this."

"You've been with me for seven years. Your ability, everything you've given, I've kept all of it in mind."

"But you have to understand the company's difficulties too. You know how fierce the competition is out there. Not changing means a dead end."

He tilted his head toward Nellie.

"Nellie came here with advanced management experience. She's not here to hurt anyone."

"Moving you to logistics was something she had no choice about. Who told you to break company discipline first?"

"When a new system goes in, someone has to set the example."

"If everyone acted like you, thinking strong sales skills means you can ignore the rules, then what order would this company have left? What future would there be to talk about?"

The office floor was dead quiet.

A few seconds later, Harrison stood up from beside me. "Curt, Mr. Lambert has already gone this far for you. Just back down and hand over the contact info."

"There's no point digging your heels in."

Luke nodded along too. "That's right, Curt. Logistics is logistics, but big or small, it's still a job."

"The economy's bad right now. There are crowds of people who'd want into this company."

The others joined in one after another, urging me.

Every line came out sounding sincere.

I ignored them, my eyes fixed on the blinking cursor in the blank document on my screen.

Lambert suddenly leaned in half a step and lowered his voice.

"Curt, let me tell you something in confidence."

"Once this blows over, six months at most, I'll definitely bring you back."

"I promise you, your pay and benefits will all be restored. Your commission, your year-end bonus, not a cent short."

As he said it, his palm came down again, landing on my right shoulder.

That pressure was exactly the same as five years ago, when he'd pinned the big red flower on me on the stage at the year-end gala.

I turned my head and looked at the hand resting on my shoulder.

Then I slapped it off, hard.

A sharp crack.

Lambert froze, his hand hanging in the air.

The others froze too.

"Save the empty promises, Mr. Lambert."

I stood up, one word at a time.

"I quit!"