The new cfo gave every manager a $35k raise except me—so i stopped picking up the $22m client’s calls; 72 hours later, boss panicked!…

by

Chapter 2

THEME:
FONT SIZE: 18px

He pushed the pen forward another two inches. The gold clip caught the morning sun.

"Sign the addendum, Emmett. Put the Osborne offer away. Call Jocelyn Fairbanks. Smooth this over. Tell her there was an internal software migration over the weekend that caused a routing bottleneck on the priority queue. She trusts you. She’ll believe you."

I looked down at the pen.

For fourteen years, I had believed that if you simply did the work—if you stayed late, if you answered the two-in-the-morning calls from Frankfurt, if you shielded the company from the messiness of airline strikes and snowstorms—the system would protect you. I had believed that excellence had its own quiet gravity that corporate politics couldn't dislodge.

Gable had shattered that illusion in less than ninety seconds two weeks ago.

And now, with twenty-two million dollars in client revenue staring down the barrel of a termination clause, he wanted me to sell my credibility to save his skin.

"No," I said.

Gable blinked, as if he hadn't heard correctly. "Excuse me?"

"I won't call Jocelyn and lie to her," I said. "And I'm not signing that addendum."

Gable’s eyes narrowed. The panic in his eyes receded, replaced by the sharp, defensive arrogance of an executive accustomed to getting his way through leverage.

"Emmett, be realistic," he said, his tone chilling. "You've been at Landmark for fourteen years. Your entire professional network is anchored here. Osborne is an aggressive, high-turnover shop. You walk out that door, and you're stepping into an unknown culture at forty-eight years old. Furthermore, you have a non-compete."

I almost smiled. "Do I?"

"Every manager signed the restrictive covenant update when the merger closed in 2022," Gable said, tapping the desk with a manicured finger. "Non-solicitation of clients, non-compete within a two-hundred-mile radius for twelve months. If you think you're going to Osborne and taking Harrington with you, our legal department will file for an emergency injunction before you make it down the elevator. We will tie you up in Cook County Chancery Court for eighteen months. You won't be able to work in this industry anywhere in North America."

I reached into the folder under my arm, drew out a single sheet of paper, and slid it directly over the thirty-five-thousand-dollar raise memo.

"You should have read my personnel file before you called this meeting, Damian," I said softly.

Gable looked down at the page.

← PREV | NEXT →
Table of Contents
The new cfo gave every manager a $35k raise except me—so i stopped picking up the $22m client’s calls; 72 hours later, boss panicked!…
TABLE OF CONTENTS 11
01 Chapter 1 02 Chapter 2 03 Chapter 3 04 Chapter 4 05 Chapter 5 06 Chapter 6 07 Chapter 7 08 Chapter 8 09 Chapter 9 10 Chapter 10 11 Chapter 11

Related posts

The first thing Nolan Pierce noticed was not his pregnant ex-wife. It was the silence… Doctors gave my six year old twins ten days to live, and for the first time in my life, every dollar, every weapon, every favor, and every ounce of power attached to my name meant absolutely nothing. 002 My husband left me after 15 years for a younger woman and said, “Michelle, I love her so much. I just want to be happy.” I calmly signed the divorce papers and replied, “Then go be happy.” He thought I had accepted defeat. My Son and His Wife Took Their Son on a $20K Cruise, Leaving Their Daughter Home — By Noon, I Was Standing at Their Table Norms Over Nature: Boyfriend’s Sudden Turnaround on Body Hair Sparks Serious Trust Crisis He Crowned Her Sister Before Midnight, and by Dawn His Wife Had Signed Three Papers That Could Sink His Empire MY HUSBAND’S PREGNANT MISTRESS WANTED MY PLACE IN THE FAMILY. BUT ONE SENTENCE MADE ALL SIX OF THEM BEG FOR FORGIVENESS. My Husband Brought His Mistress Home for the Weekend Pet Owner Questions If Reporting Hostile Vet Receptionist Is Going Too Far At 2:47 in the morning, a nurse looked at me and said the sentence no mother is ever prepared to hear. “Lily’s blood pressure is dropping.” My seven-year-old daughter was lying unconscious behind the glass of a pediatric ICU, wires disappearing beneath her hospital gown while doctors fought bacterial meningitis and dangerous swelling around her brain. And her father was somewhere in the Bahamas, ignoring my calls. The Scars He Thought Were Forgotten Led Me Back to the One Truth Our Marriage Could Never Survive Engagement Broken: Man Passes Out at Music Festival, Fiancée Prioritizes Concert Over His Health Retroactive Jealousy: Why We Obsess Over a Partner’s Past and How to Stop The Plaque Called It Ownership. He Learned Too Late That Revenge Wears Silk Dad lifted his glass on Father’s Day in front of 35 guests. “Here’s to the marriage mistake I never wanted.” My mom grinned while my brother and sister applauded. I stopped eating and said, “You’ll wish you hadn’t said that.” They laughed even harder. My brother mocked, “Listen to the failure making threats.” I said nothing. Seven days later, my brother texted, “Sis, this isn’t funny.” Then Dad sent one message: “Please undo what you did.” 68 missed calls. My mafia boss husband called to say he was spending the night drinking with old classmates. How a Group Travel Visa Disaster Exposed a Six-Year Friendship Fraud My husband slept with me on our fifth wedding anniversary, then started fastening his cuff links to go see another woman. At exactly 8:41 p.m., Jonah looked at me and said, “That should hold you for a while. I promised Sabine I’d be there by nine.” I already knew who Sabine was, and I’d spent months letting him convince me I was imagining the signs. But that one cruel sentence finally killed every excuse I had left for him—and before he could walk out the door, I said, “I want a divorce.” Let Me Stay, I’ll Raise Your Kids,”””” She Begged—No One Expected Her to Save His Ranch in a Blizzard… “You should take these back,” my brother said, holding out the Christmas gifts I had brought for his My Mafia Boss husband abandoned me while I was giving birth because his mistress was delivering his son one floor away.