The day before year-end bonuses were due, Mr. Sterling, the GM, called me in for a chat. He told me my salary was disproportionately high, causing friction among the team and undermining morale. He wanted to cut my salary specifically and reallocate my year-end bonus to Brittany, our new hire who got the job through connections. I readily agreed, then decided to fully check out. The next day, the client suddenly put a hold on their payment. The entire company couldn’t afford a single cent of year-end bonuses. Mr. Sterling desperately called me that night, begging me to help recover the payment. I simply replied: “Me taking on too much of the payment recovery myself? That’s not good for team morale. We should really spread that responsibility around.” “Cassidy, management wants you to lead the way with this salary adjustment. You have the highest salary in your team, and it’s causing a lot of resentment among your colleagues. It’s not good for team cohesion.” Year-end bonuses were supposed to be issued tomorrow, but Rob Jenkins, my direct superior, had just called me in to tell me my salary was being cut. I was completely stunned. I’m the team leader and a core technical expert. Isn’t it normal for me to have the highest salary? “When did the company make salaries public? Aren’t we not supposed to discuss pay? How would other colleagues even know about the difference in our salaries?” I questioned, snapping back to reality. “Well… secrets don’t stay buried forever, do they?” Rob’s eyes darted away. He quickly added, “Your year-end bonus has been ‘balanced’ by leadership. It’s been reallocated to Brittany, the new hire. Younger talent needs more encouragement to grow faster.” “Fine by me, no problem.” I considered it for only three seconds. Rob seemed speechless, clearly surprised by how quickly I agreed. “Great! You’re really seeing the bigger picture. I’ve got high hopes for you!” It was laughable. I’d worked my butt off all year. During crunch times, I was practically living and breathing the project, working around the clock. Now, instead of a reward, I was being punished. Back at my desk, Brittany was sitting in my chair. My data hard drive was plugged into my computer tower, and all my other belongings were gone. “Cassidy, I find my old desk too chilly because of the AC, so I asked Mr. Sterling if I could sit here. You don’t mind switching with me, do you?” “Where are my things?” I asked calmly. “Oh, Cassidy, you’re not mad, are you? If you’re upset, I can totally switch back. Your stuff is all at my old desk, nothing’s missing.” I glanced at my team members around us. Usually, they’d be joking around with me, but now they were all hunched over, pretending to be busy. “No need. You can sit there all you want. You can be the team leader too, for all I care.” I threw out the line and walked over to Brittany’s old desk. “Cassidy, are you serious?” Brittany actually ran with my words. “Mr. Sterling just talked to me too. He said us young people need to be brave and take on more responsibility, to help you out. I was worried you’d be annoyed.” The moment she finished speaking, Mr. Sterling walked over and announced to everyone, “Starting this year, we’ll be implementing a rotating team leader system. Brittany has two years of experience studying overseas. Her technical skills are certainly not an issue, and she has a language advantage. So, from today, she is our new team leader, and she’ll also take over as project lead for the LL account. Cassidy, you’ve been busy all year, so you can take this opportunity to rest a bit.” Everyone was stunned by the news. The office fell silent instantly. Everyone knew Brittany was Mr. Sterling’s niece. She essentially bought a degree overseas, and her English was so bad it sounded like she was butchering the language, let alone understanding any tech. Now, they weren’t even pretending anymore; they were just openly pushing her into the position. “Congrats, Team Leader Brittany! Lead us to new glories!” I started clapping, and soon, scattered applause followed. After Mr. Sterling left, I turned and walked to the stairwell, pulling out my phone to call the client. “Uncle, please don’t send that payment to our company just yet. My boss says too much money could undermine team cohesion.”
My uncle burst out laughing at my words, but then, realizing the situation, he swore, “Your company is bullying you?! I told you long ago to come back to our company and enjoy being the client, but you wouldn’t listen, insisting on doing that grueling, thankless tech work for a vendor. Regretting it now? Come back and help me manage this whole operation.” “I regret it, but it’s not time to leave yet.” Cutting only my salary, suddenly removing me from my team leader position, and giving my entire bonus to Brittany – it all pointed to one truth: they wanted to force me to quit without paying a single cent of severance. In recent years, the real estate market has been tough, dragging the construction industry down with it. The design sector has been struggling more each day. I’ve seen it countless times at design firms over the years: unscrupulous management’s go-to method for layoffs. Instead of paying the standard severance package, they’d cut salaries or only pay minimum wage, while drastically increasing workload to grueling, burnout-inducing hours, essentially forcing you to quit. That way, the company wouldn’t owe you a dime, because *you* couldn’t handle it and left. Our company had forced out many core talents this way. I hadn’t been treated like this before, perhaps because they still needed me for projects, or maybe my turn just hadn’t come yet. Our company was a well-known architectural firm in the industry. But with business shrinking to only post-service for old projects and new business failing to grow, the company began to push its operational pressures down to the production staff. They called it “everyone is a business owner,” and back then, as a team leader, I was burdened with millions in contract pressure. My mom saw how exhausted I was from constantly running around, so she directly arranged for my uncle to entrust our company with the design project for LL Group’s new international five-star hotel chain—our family business. The total design fee alone was ten million. So, the biggest client for my current company was actually my family’s business. According to the contract, this was the first year of our collaboration, so the full payment wasn’t due by year-end. In fact, given unofficial industry practice, payment delays of several years are quite common. But my uncle, worried I wouldn’t get my year-end bonus and would be upset, specifically instructed his finance department to pay our company half of the design fees in advance. I’ve always been low-key, just focusing on design and site visits. They had no idea about my connection to our client. After confirming that the client would make the payment tomorrow, they were so afraid that I, as the project lead, would get the lion’s share of the bonus that they rushed to remove me from my position. Too bad for them. This time, the person they tried to get rid of was the company’s financial lifeblood. Even if they wanted to lay me off, I would have accepted a legal severance package. But using such dirty tactics against an employee who’d worked for eight years? No way was I going to stand for it. I decided to fully check out, and enjoy watching them celebrate their year-end bonuses.
It was almost noon, so I leisurely went to the mall downstairs for lunch, then came back and took a nap in my car. Before, to meet project deadlines, I’d just grab a quick bite in the cafeteria and rush back to work, racing against the clock. Now? Well, it wasn’t my problem anymore. Life without a client breathing down your neck really was different. At precisely 2 PM, I walked into the office right on time. My desk was still in the messy state Brittany had left it, piled high with stuff, the computer tower not even plugged in. I glanced at it, grabbed some tissues, and headed to the restroom. “Cassidy… Cassidy, send me the revised optimization design drawings for the hotel’s executive floor. The client’s project manager is hounding us.” Brittany spotted me like a lifesaver, rushing over in her high heels. “We can talk about whatever later, I need to use the restroom first.” I brushed her off and headed straight to the bathroom. I put my phone on do not disturb, played a couple of rounds of a game, then caught up on a show for a bit. My legs were getting a little numb, so I stood up, planning to scroll through some TikToks. Suddenly, I heard Brittany screaming like a banshee from the doorway, “Cassidy, did you fall into the toilet? I called you a dozen times and you didn’t answer! The client is hounding us, didn’t you hear?” I waited for her to finish her tirade before slowly emerging. “Oh, my phone accidentally got put on do not disturb. I’ve had a bit of an upset stomach today.” She often used the excuse of an upset stomach when she was slacking off. I was just learning from the best. Brittany was frantic, too agitated to be angry. She dragged me directly to my desk. “Stop messing around, just start drawing the plans!” “I can’t. My computer isn’t even set up yet. How can I draw?” “Go use my computer! Dustin, help her set up her computer!” “No, I’m not used to other people’s computers.” “…” Brittany was speechless. Realizing I was doing this on purpose, she completely lost her temper. “If you don’t want to draw, then don’t! Dustin, you optimize this drawing! I refuse to believe this company can’t function without her!” Dustin mumbled, saying his previous proposals had been rejected multiple times. Brittany asked around, and everyone confirmed that Marcus Lee, the project manager, was a professional, picky, and not easily fooled. No one but me could satisfy him. Brittany had only been in our department for a short time and didn’t really understand the situation. “It’s just a design optimization, it’s much simpler than applying for art school abroad,” Brittany said, pushing Dustin aside and sitting at the computer herself. “I’ll do it myself.” “Yeah, with a ‘returnee’ talent like Team Leader Brittany personally on the case, the client is sure to be amazed,” I said, pulling out my phone and opening a puzzle game. Brittany scoffed, then opened the CAD software. Five minutes later, she asked Dustin, “Which button do I click to copy a graphic?” I’d just taken a sip of tea and nearly choked. She cleared her throat, clearly flustered. “We used Apple systems overseas. I’m just not used to this outdated system.” Fine, whatever makes you happy. Hopefully, you can convince the client to switch to the same computer system as you. Brittany fumbled around for ages, clearly struggling. She eventually pulled Dustin over and sat beside him, verbally directing while Dustin operated the mouse. The two of them struggled all afternoon and still couldn’t get it right. Brittany had already called Marcus Lee several times, sweetly apologizing. At 5:29 PM, I stood by the time clock. The moment it hit 5:30, I scanned my face and vanished from the office. I hadn’t even driven out of the parking lot when Mr. Sterling’s call came in.
“Cassidy! Everyone else is busy revising drawings, where are you? The client has been hounding us all afternoon, are you deaf or blind? Get back here and work overtime immediately! The drawings must be submitted by midnight tonight!” Mr. Sterling roared into the phone. “Huh? The client didn’t call me,” I replied calmly. “Besides, with Team Leader Brittany personally on the case, the client will surely be handled with ease. I won’t cause any more trouble, I’m just heading home.” “She just started, she’s not as familiar with the client’s preferences as you are. Get back here now, this is a direct order! Do you even want your year-end bonus?!” “Year-end bonus? Didn’t mine all get given to Brittany? She can help me with the overtime too then.” “Fine, you can forget about getting a single penny!” Mr. Sterling fumed, hanging up. I casually switched my phone to do not disturb and went to dinner with my best friend, Chloe. Life without overtime was truly wonderful. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a proper get-together with friends, all because of work. This past year, I’d been leaving the office at 9 or 10 PM almost every day, and all-nighters were a common occurrence. Upper management at the company thought our poor performance was due to insufficient workload. But the drastic decrease in business wasn’t the employees’ fault. The operations department wasn’t expanding the market, yet they blamed the production department for not having enough work? Pure corporate genius. The next day at 9 AM, I clocked in on time, planning to slowly eat my breakfast delivery after. Absolutely no personal errands during work hours. Walking into the office, I found my entire team asleep at their desks. As soon as Dustin saw me, he rushed over like he’d found his savior. “Cassidy, you’re finally here! We couldn’t reach you at all last night. We’ve been revising like crazy, and the client just won’t approve anything! Mr. Sterling made us all work overtime and wouldn’t let us go home.” I looked at them, remembering the countless nights we’d fought side-by-side to conquer various projects. Yet yesterday, when I was removed from my position, not a single person stood up for me or even offered a word of comfort. It’s hard to find a job these days, and everyone has their difficulties. I understood, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t bothered. “Team Leader Brittany is a high-level returnee talent. With her, I’m sure everything will be fine,” I said dismissively. “Of course, with me on the case, it’s a sure thing. Otherwise, why would I be the team leader, and those with less ability just do grunt work?” Brittany strode in, looking spirited, a stark contrast to her frazzled state from yesterday’s revisions. She didn’t even look like she’d pulled an all-nighter. Up close, she looked refreshed, even a little flirty, better than her usual self. Mr. Sterling followed close behind, a triumphant look on his face. “Cassidy, I told you young people have stronger abilities and broader ideas. Did you think the client wouldn’t approve the drawings without you? Surprise! Brittany handled the client overnight.” I was a little surprised. Last night, Marcus Lee, the project manager, called me late, asking why our company had suddenly changed project leads. I told him the truth, and he said if it affected the project, he would hold our company legally responsible. Marcus had always been very responsible; it was impossible he’d be so easygoing and just change his mind. Unexpectedly, Mr. Sterling continued to instruct, “You all continue working today. Brittany already talked to the client yesterday, and they agreed the drawings can be submitted by midnight tonight. Cassidy, I’ve had someone set up your computer. No more excuses not to revise the drawings, right?” Oh, so “handling the client” just meant getting one more day to submit the drawings. “Alright, I’ll definitely work diligently on it during my work hours,” I readily agreed. “Good, that’s the right attitude. As long as the client is satisfied, once the payment clears this afternoon, I’ll even ask finance to give you a few hundred extra for your year-end bonus.” Mr. Sterling and Brittany, seeing my “submission,” laughed and walked away. As Brittany left, she gave Dustin a look, clearly telling him to keep an eye on me.
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