I said nothing as I stared at the photo that Kyle handed to me.
My face was ghostly pale inside the photo, with a ridiculous red flower pinned to my chest and a handwritten appointment letter that had been placed in front of me.
I looked like a boy playing pretend.
My lips trembled uncontrollably. This was his humiliation of me.
After that, Kyle then handed me the certificate with a smile. "Take your appointment letter, Mr. Manager."
The entire conference room went silent, as if they were waiting to see what my choice would be.
If I took that piece of paper, it meant I had completely given up myself to Kyle.
Was I really going to take it?
Indeed, I took it.
I reached out, took the appointment letter, and tore it into pieces. Then, I let the fragments scatter in the air.
The conference room erupted.
Kyle was so angry that he pointed at me with his hand trembling. "Dean, are you saying you don't plan to work here anymore? Remember, that sister of yours is still lying in a hospital bed, waiting for you to earn money for her medication!"
"Yeah, I don't plan to work here anymore. You're so smart, Mr. Brown," I said with a sneer.
Kyle's expression stiffened. Those were the same words Bob had used to flatter him. However, he quickly pulled himself together. "Then you'd better think carefully. A man in his thirties who leaves this place won't be wanted anywhere in the labor market."
"You don't need to worry about that, Mr. Brown. Someone as talented as my mentor would never get stuck in the labor market for long." A clear male voice rang out. It was Sam, and he had stood up for me.
When Mr. Brown saw that even an intern was talking back to him, his expression turned vicious. "I'm firing both of you! Get out!"
"You can't, Boss..." Someone called out.
No one expected that the first person to object to it would be Kyle's most loyal lackey, the head of logistics. He looked like he was going to cry. "You can't, Boss! He has the contact information for all our biggest clients. If you fire him, the company is finished!"
Once he said that, several other departmental heads started to panic, too.
The head of production gulped hard. "The product department hasn't developed anything on its own all these years. Dean was the one who found all those products through outside channels. Without him, we won't be able to update anything."
The head of sales looked even more desperate. "My side is even worse. All the signed contracts list Dean as the sole person in charge. Once he leaves, those contracts will count as breaches. Everything we've done in the past year will become a waste of time!"
Looking at the agitated crowd below the stage, Kyle started to break into a cold sweat. "Since so many department heads support you, I won't fire you. As for your raise, we can continue to discuss it, right?"
I sneered. "I took it slow, and it resulted in me working at this company for seven years while my salary kept dropping. I'm only making one thousand dollars now, and you still deduct fines from it."
The employees began whispering as they stirred under the stage when they heard that.
"How much are you making?"
"Three thousand dollars. It barely lasts me through the month!"
"I started earlier than you. Why is your salary so much higher than mine?"
Everyone looked at Kyle at the same time, waiting for an explanation. His face immediately went pale, then he pointed at me and snapped. " Are you trying to destroy this company? Without this job, how are you going to pay for your sister's treatment?!"
"You don't need to worry about that." I took a gilded card from my pocket and cut him off. "I've already accepted an offer from Summit Group. Starting tomorrow, we'll be opponents."