Chapter 2

To my surprise, Jared was also in Eleanor's office.

Before I could even react, she immediately started in on me. "What was wrong with you yesterday? Didn't I tell you to check on Dad? Do you have any idea… Thank goodness I sent Ned."

I hadn't closed the door. Ned Wilson happened to walk past and overheard her. He looked like he had just swallowed something awful before shuffling away.

He was Eleanor's assistant. She always sent him to handle her personal errands without paying him overtime.

I had warned her repeatedly not to take advantage of him, and only then did she reluctantly give him a small raise.

I closed the door and gave a dry laugh. "I called you and told you what was going on, but you were busy having a private little date with Jared and ended up blocking me."

Jared's face fell. "Mr. Young, I know it was wrong of me to interrupt your day with Eleanor yesterday, but nothing happened between us. You can't slander me like that."

Eleanor didn't look any better. "Watch what you say, Cory. I already told you yesterday that I only left to be a good friend to Jared. Stop making everything sound so filthy."

"And you brought your good friend here to the office?" I countered.

She fell silent for a moment before arguing, "He said he wanted to find something to do, so I brought him here. Starting today, he'll take your position. You'll work as his deputy."

I stared at her. "What?"

Her tone was matter-of-fact. "He needs some work experience. Don't worry. Other than your title changing, everything else about your benefits stays the same."

Jared chimed in stubbornly. "I won't be staying at this company for long, so you don't have to worry, Mr. Young."

I was amused. "Who's going to do the work, then?"

There was quite a difference between the responsibilities of a director and a deputy director.

"Jared has been abroad all this time, so he's not used to the workplace here," Eleanor answered guiltily. "So, you'll be helping him out."

Jared faked a carefree expression. "You know what? Forget it. I suppose I was asking for too much anyway. I'll figure something else out."

"Wait!"

Eleanor grabbed his arm, then turned to me. "Can you not do this, Cory? Don't even get me started on how you dropped the ball yesterday."

"Alright, enough with the little act," I said, smiling faintly. "I'll quit."

…

Word of my resignation spread through the company pretty quickly. One after another, the people on my team messaged me in our group chat, asking if I wanted to take them with me.

I was surprised. I hadn't realized Eleanor was so unpopular, though at the same time, I couldn't say I was completely shocked.

Things had been fine when we were just starting, but as the company grew, Eleanor gradually stopped treating the employees with respect.

She was always cutting corners when it came to benefits. The most she gave them was promises of future rewards that never seemed to come.

After I told her about it one too many times, she started getting annoyed with me. She began preaching her whole "boss' mindset" to me.

I didn't want to burn every bridge, and I planned to take some time off before looking for another job, so I politely turned down my team's offer.

Every one of them was highly capable. If they left and looked elsewhere, they could easily find jobs that were better than this one.

…

A few days later, I unexpectedly got a call from a headhunter. He told me that Carter Group was offering me twice my current salary, along with several other generous benefits, and wanted me to join them.

He also said that if I could bring my team with me, the salary package could be negotiated even further.

After hanging up, I was puzzled.

Carter Group was a major corporate powerhouse in the country. Eleanor's company had done well, but next to Carter Group, there was no comparison.

Why would they send a headhunter after my entire team and me?

At first, I thought it had to be a scam, but the information the headhunter sent me checked out. It really was them.

No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't figure out what connection I had to them. Still, an opportunity like this didn't come around every day, so I replied that I was willing to meet and discuss it.

Just then, Eleanor asked me to go to her office. When I walked in, she was sitting there with a dark expression.

"What do you want?"

"Why won't you cooperate with Jared?"

"Cooperate with him how? Making him tea, fetching coffee, making copies, and delivering documents? Is that my job?"

"He… doesn't know how things work yet. You don't have to be so hostile about it. You could teach him."