Cutting Off the Lifeline

After the finance clerk repeated the figure, Poppy pointed straight at me and said coldly, "You've been late—that's a violation of the company rules—so your salary for this month is forfeited."

I let out a laugh. "How do you calculate a 200 deduction for each late arrival? Did you even finish elementary school?"

Poppy looked at me without the slightest hint of guilt. "My new rule—be late three times and your entire month's pay is gone. Now get out!"

"And what right do you have to make rules?"

"I'll have a share in this company in the future," she asserted shamelessly, her arms crossed. "You got a problem with that?"

I couldn't be bothered to argue with her anymore. "Wait for my lawsuit then." With that, I turned and walked away without looking back.

I grabbed my things, drove home, and had just settled in when a text from Poppy popped up in the company group chat I hadn't had a chance to leave yet. 'From now on, any message I send in WhatsApp or Slack must be replied to. Anyone who doesn't respond will end up like the person I fired today.'

Just as I thought—she really had fired me because I didn't join in praising her. The boss must have been cursed in a past life to end up with a girlfriend like her.

Replies flooded the chat. Annoyed, I exited all the groups at once. My phone instantly became much quieter. Still, since Poppy had refused to let me take my final month's salary, I wasn't about to let her off that easily.

All of the company's major clients were in my WhatsApp contacts. I sent them a mass message, simply informing them that I had resigned and would no longer be handling business for the company.

Most of these clients had been brought in by me personally and worked with the company largely out of trust in me. If I left, there was a good chance they would follow.

Sure enough, within minutes, former clients began messaging me nonstop, asking which company I was joining and saying they were willing to transfer their contracts. I explained the situation to each of them, telling them I hadn't taken a new job yet but would contact them as soon as I did.

There were so many WhatsApp messages that I kept replying until night fell. Exhausted, I eventually fell asleep.

…

When I woke up the next morning, a message from a coworker was waiting for me. 'Chief, a lot of partners are saying they want to terminate cooperation and won't renew contracts anymore. Was that you?'

It seemed the plan had worked. I chuckled softly and replied. 'I didn't do anything. I just told them the truth—that I've already left the company.'

'Gotta hand it to you, Chief. After Poppy heard about it this morning, she blew up at several sales reps, grilling them about why they couldn't keep the clients. A bunch of people are already talking about quitting—they say they're done putting up with her.'

It looked like plenty of people in the company had been fed up with Poppy for a long time. I was curious to see how she planned to clean up this mess.

On my end, I was preparing to contact a lawyer and file a lawsuit to recover my salary. I didn't actually need the money—but I certainly wasn't going to let her have it easy.

But much to my surprise, Poppy called a few days later. I froze for a second before answering. "What is it?"

The moment I picked up, a torrent of curses came crashing through the line. "Theo Silverwood, are you even human? Where did all the company's client contact numbers go? They said you have them all. Give them back to me right now! Those are company assets—I'll sue you, you hear me?"

I paused, then immediately understood. Poppy was panicking.

"You're disgusting. Hand over the client contacts right now! If you don't, I'll make sure you regret it—believe me!"