Chapter 2

"Absolutely. Liam, this company doesn't need an employee who doesn't know how to obey!"

"Understood," I said. I turned around and walked back to my desk. I opened a terminal on my laptop, ran a custom script, and let it execute in the background.

Arthur seemed to have forgotten my background.

He forgot that I didn't just manage sales. I wrote the entire operating system of this company!

An hour later, I finished gathering all my personal documents and went to the HR department for the exit interview.

Arthur happened to be there. I wasn't the only one; two colleagues from the planning department who also refused the pay cut were there too.

They looked shocked when they saw me walk in.

"Liam! What are you doing here?"

I shrugged with a dry smile. "The boss told me to get lost. I had no choice but to oblige."

The two of them shook their heads in disbelief. "Arthur has lost his mind. He's throwing away talent like you?"

I didn't say much. During the offboarding process with HR, I asked casually, "Since the company is terminating me, you'll be paying out my severance package based on my years of service, right?"

Toby, the HR manager, sneered at me. "Are you dreaming? You think we're going to pay you a massive severance? We're only paying out your salary for this month."

"Excuse me?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Are you joking? According to labor laws, I've been with this company for ten years. My monthly salary is $20,000. Twenty months of severance equals at least $400,000. If you pay a single penny less, I will see you in arbitration."

Toby's face turned sour. "Liam, you abandoned your post first, and now you're stabbing us in the back? After everything Arthur has done for you!"

"At your age, good luck finding another job in this market!"

"Arthur has taken care of you for years. He only asked for a 30% cut because you're a veteran, and he promised your year-end bonus would remain untouched. Do you know how many people are losing their jobs out there? Even secure government contracts are getting delayed!"

I let out a cold laugh. "Do you know what the most useless department in this company is? It's yours, Toby. Your entire HR department."

"You do nothing but coast by, you're completely incompetent, and you can't even get the monthly timesheets right. You'll be the next one he fires."

"Tell Arthur I want my full severance. If he doesn't pay, I'll drag him through arbitration."

Toby's face turned purple with rage. He rushed straight into Arthur's office. A second later, a roar echoed through the hallway.

"Liam! You won't get a single dime from me! And I will personally blackball you from this entire industry! You dare defy me? I'll make sure none of you ever find a job again!"

Hearing this, the other two colleagues looked terrified. They had mortgages to pay and kids to feed; they didn't have the courage to stand up to Arthur like this.

But I wasn't afraid. I looked Arthur dead in the eye. "We'll see about that."

He pointed at the exit. "Get the hell out!"

"No need to shout. I'm leaving."

Before stepping out, I had already secured all the evidence I needed. More importantly, I had an ace up my sleeve.

"Arthur, I'll be waiting for the day you come begging on your knees."

He sneered. "If I ever beg you, I'll eat my own shoe!"

"Make sure you keep that promise."

I walked out. As soon as I got home, I sent a mass message to all my clients via Snapchat, informing them that I had been terminated and would no longer be representing Sterling Tech.

I also noted that Sterling Tech would no longer be handling their accounts.

Within minutes, my phone blew up. Clients called me one after another, bewildered by the ridiculous 30% pay cut story.

"Liam, why don't you join us? We can easily offer you a six-figure salary with a signing bonus!"

"Come over to my firm, Liam. You can be the Managing Director. You'll run the entire department."