Chapter 4

Three seconds after I sent the message, the same employees who’d just been kissing my ass went ballistic.

Karen: “What do you mean, retracted? You promised!”

Mike: “This is a scam! You can't do this to us!”

Jessica: “Classic bait and switch! You went back on your word!”

David: “What the hell, Asher? Are you bipolar?”

Leo: “See? This is what a greedy capitalist pig looks like!”

Before I could even reply, my office door was thrown open.

Leo stormed in, followed by Karen, Mike, Jessica, David, and a few other employees.

"Asher!" Leo spat my name, his finger practically in my face. "This is wage theft! Wage theft!"

I leaned back in my chair, looking at the mob of self-proclaimed "victims."

"This is my office. Knock next time."

"Cut the crap!" Leo whipped out his phone and started a livestream, aiming it at me. "Everyone, look! This is Austin's most infamous two-faced tech bro! He promised his employees a $10,000 team-building budget, and now he's taking it back!"

The viewer count on his TikTok live started jumping.

Comments flooded the screen like a waterfall.

Karen shoved her face toward the camera, her expression crumbling into pure misery. "That $10,000 would change my family's life! My kid is sick! How can he be so cruel?"

Mike’s eyes were red, his voice trembling. "My daughter has medical bills piling up! That money is a lifeline for us! Asher, if you don't give us the money, what happens to my daughter?"

I watched their performance. It was absurd. Ridiculous.

"Everyone," I said calmly. "The team-building fund was a personal gift, not a contractual obligation. I have every right to take it back."

"A personal gift?" Leo sneered. "Stop pretending! This is a company benefit! You made a promise, and you have to deliver!"

"I never promised a cash payout."

"Then why'd you cancel the trip?" Karen demanded. "You said we were going to Turks and Caicos!"

"Because you all voted not to go."

"Then give us the cash!" Mike said, his voice rising. "The money's already set aside!"

Leo yelled into his phone's camera. "Did you all hear that? He just doesn't want to give us the money! I've already looked up his company's registration!"

I narrowed my eyes. "You looked up what?"

"You're running your personal luxury expenses through the company account! Your Tesla, your fancy watches, your mansion! All bought with the value your employees created!"

The live chat exploded.

“THAT'S SICK!”

“REPORT HIM!”

“This kind of boss deserves to go bankrupt!”

"Leo," I said with a cold laugh. "What do you know about corporate finance?"

"I know enough! Don't try to bullshit your way out of this!"

Jessica jumped in. "Asher, if you're tight on cash, just say so. We can understand."

"Yeah," Karen nodded. "Times are tough for everyone. But you can't lie to your employees."

Mike even started offering "compassionate" advice. "How about this? $10,000 is a lot. Just give us $5,000. We're not picky."

I just sat there, looking at these people completely blinded by greed.

The sheer entitlement was staggering.

They thought me canceling a personal gift was "cruel" and a "scam."

And now they were pitying me? Thinking I was broke? The absurdity was almost funny.

Leo kept working the camera. "This is late-stage capitalism at its ugliest! Promising employee benefits and then taking them back! I'm going to show the whole world what a piece of shit boss you really are!"

"Asher Sterling, get ready to be unfollowed and blocked!"

"I'll make sure you can't do business in Austin again!"

"Everyone will know what you're really like!"

Karen and Mike chimed in.

"Exactly! He can't get away with this!"

"He doesn't deserve to be a boss!"

I listened to them rant, my fingers drumming on the desk.

It seemed they really had no idea what the name Sterling meant in the business world.

I took out my phone and sent a text to Sam.

Leo was still performing for his audience. "See! He's guilty! He's playing on his phone to distract himself!"

"That's classic avoidance behavior!"

"Classic narcissist."

The viewer count had just passed 5,000.

The screen was a wall of comments.

“REPORT HIM!”

“EXPOSE HIM!”

“WHAT A SCUMBAG BOSS!”

I put my phone down and looked up at my "outraged" employees.

"Are you finished?"

"We're just getting started!" Leo said, triumphant. "Asher Sterling, you're done for!"

I nodded, picked my phone up again, and in front of everyone, texted Sam.

“Get Sterling Group's chief legal on the line. We've got a libel case.”