I promoted Daniel to Business Manager, replacing Ryan.

The moment Ryan found out, he stormed straight into my office.

"Mr. Hale, what gives you the right to give my position to Daniel? Just because I said a few extra things? Weren’t you the one who said we are encouraged to have open table discussions?"

I looked at him coldly. "That was before. If you want to stay, then stay. If you don’t, get out."

There was no need for mercy with people like him.

"What right do you have to fire me?" he roared.

"Because I’m the boss."

As soon as the words fell, he slammed his fist down on the desk and ran out. That very day, he submitted his resignation.

Early the next morning, I was exposed online.

Emily rushed over and sent me the post. I opened it and saw the title staring back at me:

"All About What It’s Like to Meet a Freak Boss—Misery!"

In the video, Ryan not only attacked everything I had done, but he deliberately smeared my reputation, exaggerating and distorting the truth.

"Who understands this pain? I worked at a company for nearly five years, breaking my back for them. In the end, the company made tens of millions in profit, and the $850,000 bonus they promised us just vanished. And on top of that, that idiot boss used every dirty trick to squeeze us out.

"I was forced into a dead end and had no choice but to resign."

On screen, Ryan cried with snot and tears streaming down his face, pouring out his so-called suffering. It instantly stirred sympathy from other working-class viewers.

Comments flooded in.

"This streamer has it so rough. What kind of company is that? Name it so we can avoid it."

"Fellow worker here. Totally relatable. These evil capitalists, what do they take us for? Slaves?"

"Don’t worry, streamer. Companies like that will collapse soon enough."

……

Within a short time, tens of thousands of comments poured into the post. It went viral.

Because of Ryan’s exposure, Halecrest Solutions was immediately hit by public backlash. The stock price plunged. Our reputation took a heavy blow.

Meanwhile, Ryan was thriving. He happily started livestreaming full-time, officially becoming a streamer. The video brought him a massive wave of followers, and he quickly moved on to selling products.

"Mr. Hale, we’ve tried contacting Ryan. He’s not answering any calls," Emily said. "He said you have to call him personally."

My patience was already wearing thin. I directly instructed Emily to file a lawsuit against him.

Not long after, Ryan received the court summons. He immediately went live again, crying dramatically at the camera.

"Fam, maybe everyone should stop talking about my former boss and company in the comments. Otherwise, they’ll send lawyers after me. I’m so scared. Come arrest me already."

As he spoke, his expression shifted into something utterly infuriating. He wore a smug, taunting grin.

The live chat exploded.

"That’s how you deal with him. Let him know what it’s like to make workers suffer."

"Exactly. Do they really think we working-class people are easy to bully?"

"Streamer, don’t be afraid. You already quit. What can he do to you now?"

As the videos continued to explode in popularity, and with Ryan fanning the flames every single day, Halecrest Solutions was pushed straight into the eye of the storm.

The internet was filled with posts attacking Halecrest Solutions. Some people even squatted outside the office building, hurling insults at us in person.

I called Ryan.

After quite a while, the call finally connected. His lazy voice drawled, "Hello."

The fake flattery from before was completely gone.

"Delete the posts. Take down the trending topics. Come forward and clarify the truth. Otherwise, you will regret it."

Ryan laughed dismissively on the other end. "Regret it? Mr. Hale, I’m a big internet celebrity now. If I want to destroy your company, it’s just a few sentences away. Shouldn’t you be the one regretting this?

"How about this? You come find me, kneel down, and bow to apologize. Then I’ll go back. Oh, and I want three times my original salary. After all, I’m a big influencer now."

"Unbelievable!"

I immediately instructed Emily to notify the PR team and release a clarification post.

However, the moment the post went live, it was instantly overrun by Ryan’s brainless fans.

"No performance evaluations? Flexible working hours? Who are you trying to fool? This is obviously a blood-sucking company."

"Exactly. Do they think we’re all idiots? Capitalists will always be capitalists."

Shortly after that, Emily came in to tell me that the post had been reported.

Worse still, a crowd of so-called "justice-seeking" netizens and reporters had already surrounded the area downstairs.

I brought several employees with me, intending to go down and explain things in person.

The moment we stepped outside, we were immediately enveloped by the crowd.

Curses came flying from all directions.

"Black-hearted boss! Making money off your employees’ blood and sweat! Don’t you feel guilty at all?"

"Exactly. The company makes tens of millions in profit every year, yet you even withhold a few hundred thousand in bonuses from employees. You’re not even human."

"Compensation! Compensate the employees right now!"

Reporters carrying cameras and microphones rushed toward me. A microphone was shoved straight into my face.

"Mr. Hale, is it true that your former employee exposed you online for arbitrarily deducting wages and deliberately squeezing employees out just to avoid paying bonuses?"

"Mr. Hale, netizens say that in order to avoid paying wages, you intentionally demoted employees and subjected them to personal humiliation. Is that true?"

"Mr. Hale—"

"That is absolutely not true!" I shouted, and the crowd instantly fell silent.

"Before this year, our company paid bonuses every single year. We distributed 85% of our annual profits as employee bonuses. That has been our policy since the company was founded.

"And our company has never made tens of millions in profit. This year’s profit was one million. I planned to distribute $850,000."

Before I could finish, the crowd began to stir restlessly.

"So what if you planned to do that? You still didn’t pay it. Stop pretending to be kind."

"Exactly. Anyone can talk big."

"Randomly deducting wages? A company like this would pay bonuses? Only a fool would believe that."

"I didn’t," I said firmly. "If you don’t believe me, you can ask my employees."

As the words left my mouth, I turned to look behind me.

Only then did I realize that Ryan had arrived at some point. The other employees were already standing together with him.

The reporters immediately went over to interview them.

"Is what your boss said true?"

Without hesitation, they shook their heads, playing the victim.

"I’ve already had nearly half my salary deducted this month for all kinds of reasons."

"Same here."

Ryan stepped forward, wearing the face of a righteous crusader. "The reason we stood up is simply to fight for a better working environment for people like us," he said. "Not one where employees are arbitrarily docked pay, afraid to speak up, and trapped by endless, trivial rules."

"That’s right! That’s how it should be!"

A wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.

It was as if I were some unforgivable villain, and they were the righteous ones.

I laughed. "I admit it. I did not distribute the $850,000."

"There, see? I told you so!"

"And he’s still pretending."

"But—" I paused, sweeping my gaze across the crowd. "There was a reason for that. If you don’t believe me, then listen to this."

I pulled out the surveillance footage I had retrieved two days earlier and pressed play.

Voices filled the air.

In an instant, the people who had been wearing looks of disdain froze in place.