Chapter 3

Carl backed Brittany up. "Mr. Jordis, you make plenty of money. 500 dollars a month is nothing to you. You didn't need to bring that up in front of everyone. It's humiliating."

I could shrug off whatever Brittany said, but Carl's comment actually got under my skin.

My smile vanished instantly.

"Right, 200 dollars isn't much, because the company already built that money into your base salary. Did none of you realize your pay runs higher than the industry average? That 200 dollars is on top of that. You can't have it both ways."

A few people dropped their heads and went quiet, but others spoke up in support. "Mr. Jordis, think about it, we've all been grinding away together for years. What's wrong with grabbing a meal and a few drinks to bond a little?"

The ones speaking up were the same people who'd just landed a fat bonus working with Nico on a big project before the holiday.

200 dollars really was pocket change to them.

I smiled and told my assistant, "Post a notice to the group chat. Full staff meeting tomorrow to discuss team-building."

Brittany immediately threw up a victory pose.

"See, I told you I'd win. The rest of you are all too scared to speak up to the boss, so you just swallow it."

Everyone around her jumped in to praise how impressive she was.

After I saw everyone out, Nico turned to face me, his expression dark.

"I'm seriously disappointed in you."

I stood and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Some things can't be rushed."

By that afternoon, I got a call from Nico's father.

"Have you seen what's going on online? The subsidiary's about to go public, and you're letting Pyatt Group get dragged through this? We just closed an overseas deal we were about to hand to your branch, and now the whole board is pushing me to have you removed.

"Asher, if you can't get this under control quickly, I won't be able to hold the board off much longer."

After I hung up, I immediately pulled up Brittany's account on my phone.

She'd posted a new video, secretly filmed footage from when she and the others had come to negotiate with me, but the clip had been edited to make them look like the righteous ones and me look like a spineless pushover who folded to whatever anyone wanted.

She'd added, "I should've brought this up before the holiday. Such a waste of all those days off. If only we could've done some team-building and really connected with each other.

"And the fact that he caved that fast just proves he knew he was in the wrong. This branch really couldn't have a more incompetent boss."

Down in the comments, Carl was the loudest cheerleader. "Brittany's the best. Brittany's our hero. Brittany's a pioneer standing up for workers everywhere!"

The rest of the employees who'd tagged along piled on with likes and comments of their own.

Somehow, the whole thing ended up trending.

The hashtag "Pyatt Group's Reckless Hiring Sparks PR Disaster Ahead of Subsidiary's IPO" wouldn't stop dominating feeds.

I wasn't worried, though. I even had my assistant boost the post to keep it trending.

…

The next morning at nine, I called everyone into the conference room and had the PR team set up equipment to livestream the whole thing.

Down below, employees crowded around Brittany, chattering excitedly.

"So where should we do the team-building? How about that Michelin-starred place first? I've only ever seen it on TV, never actually been."

Carl gazed at Brittany, looking bashful.

"I've always wanted to share a meal with you, but my salary's too low; I could never afford anywhere nice. Now I finally get to share a meal that you like with you."