Chapter 1

I became furious.

As Vice President, how could Vincent White accuse me and deduct my three-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus without any proper investigation?

I was about to lose my temper when Vincent said coldly, “Joel, the only reason you’ve stayed Principal Engineer at Astra Technologies all this time is because my father trusted you.

“I never expected you to have such poor character.”

I laughed exasperatedly, “So tell me, Mr. White, what exactly is poor about my character? Would it be of poor character to use the restroom?”

Vincent did not answer directly.

Instead, he called me and the other colleagues who were working overtime into the conference room.

He nodded at the intern, Alaina Zeller, and said, “Ally, take it away.”

Alaina glanced at me and said to the colleagues in the room, “I swear that everything I’m about to show you is based on what I’ve seen with my own eyes. You have my word.”

She then pulled up a slide presentation on the large screen.

The first slide displayed large text.

[Formal Complaint Against Principal Engineer Joel Lakely for Multiple Violations of Company Values.]

I scoffed but remained silent.

I had been in Astra Technologies for eight years and started in an entry-level role.

After eight straight years as a top performer, I worked my way up to Principal Engineer.

I was curious to see exactly how I had violated company values.

What followed left me completely stunned.

Alaina had prepared a full sixty-five-slide presentation, listing eight major offenses against me using every possible twisted angle.

These ranged from petty complaints like using the restroom during work hours and forcing colleagues to bring me lunch.

They also included serious allegations like misusing company funds on client dinners and leaking proprietary information at technical conferences.

There were dozens of photos, and to top it off, a few videos where my face could be clearly seen.

Alaina kept emphasizing that “pictures spoke louder than words” as she presented them.

After she had gone through all the slides, she provocatively asked me, “Mr. Lakely, got anything to say for yourself?”

I was speechless.

I genuinely could not understand the thought process that would lead a young girl like her to collect half a year’s worth of data just to report that I spent an average of twenty minutes per day in the restroom.

Before this, I had noticed her following and secretly photographing me.

At that time, I thought she was my little fangirl who had a secret crush on me. I never expected those photos to end up being used here.

Vincent, however, nodded with satisfaction and looked at me mockingly.

“Mr. Lakely, the evidence is all here. If you have nothing to say, I’ll take that as a confession.”

Even an idiot could tell that Vincent and Alaina were in cahoots.

Otherwise, how could Alaina have been looking for dirt on me since the very first day of her internship here?

I asked coldly, “So, Mr. White, what’s my punishment going to be?”

Thinking I was backing down, he smiled smugly and said, “Your entire year-end bonus will be forfeited, and you’ll be suspended while this matter is under review.”

Aside from Alaina, the room was full of senior managers I had worked with for years. They had good relationships with me.

Eventually, one of them could not keep quiet anymore.

The Sales Director, Zac Smith, spoke up on my behalf.

“Mr. White, regardless of the circumstances, Mr. Lakely has been one of our top employees. Could we reconsider this decision?”

Vincent snorted and said, “I’ve been here for site visits three times in the last month. Every single time, Joel was conveniently ‘on a business trip.’

“We’re in the final stretch of this project. As Principal Engineer, he should be staying here to oversee the work. What is he traveling for at a time like this?”

The HR Director, Mandy Miller, quickly tried to explain on my behalf, “I actually approved Mr. Lakely’s trip. He went to negotiate a partnership with DeepSpace Technologies—”

Vincent raised his hand and cut her off abruptly. “Negotiate what? Where’s the deal? I don’t see any result. It’s nothing but a paid vacation dressed up as work.”

I had originally planned to purchase and integrate DeepSpace Technologies’ AI. I was still debugging the interface on that day.

It looked like Vincent no longer needed it.

He noticed my grim expression and that I neither admitted nor objected to his accusations.

He then proceeded to post an announcement directly in the company-wide group chat.

[Effective November 30, 2025, VP Vincent will assume the role of president of Astra Technologies.]

[Principal Engineer Joel Lakely is suspended effective immediately, pending internal review. Alaina will step in as interim Principal Engineer.]