All Chapters of They Steal My Cut, I Sign Their Fate: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"I've already revised the project's acceptance report and removed James' name from it," someone said.I was just about to get myself a cup of coffee from the break room when those words stopped me in my tracks.Shane Moonton had said those words, which was funny because he'd cried like a baby when he begged me to get him onto the team. At the time, he had been so desperate to be at my beck and call."You did good by doing that! He might be the nominal leader of this project, but what has he actually done for the team these past three months? All he knows is to sign papers and sit in meetings. We're the ones who broke our backs with all that coding!"And that was Lila Rowle adding in her two cents. Her technical skills were average, but she could be relied on to follow instructions. That was why I'd made an exception to add her to the project's roster."I might as well have been working for nothing for the past year if we let him walk away with 40% of the bonus. Anyway, management

Chapter 2

I looked at the already-printed resignation letter and felt the last shred of camaraderie I had for them disappear.They'd truly come prepared."And if I refuse to sign?" I asked blandly."Refuse?" Shane sneered as he closed in on me. "James, don't make us do this the hard way. We've already changed the password to the core project's system. If you refuse to leave, then you can enjoy having absolutely nothing to talk about during the acceptance meeting tomorrow!"When the client loses it, you'll be the one taking the fall as the team leader once the company starts looking for someone to blame!"It was a threat. Plain and simple.They were using the access I'd granted them to stab me in the back."James, if you sign, I promise I won't make things too hard for you. After all, we're colleagues." Shane suddenly changed his tune as he said kindly, "Don't worry. I've already got a backup plan waiting for you."He took out a job listing from his pocket."My uncle's a supervisor in th

Chapter 3

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Shane snapped in humiliation, shoving me hard in the chest.Unfortunately for him, I was a year-rounder at the gym and was no feeble doormat. So, I barely budged, while he ended up stumbling back."Fuck! Clearly, we've been too nice to you! You think you can just walk away after this? Dream on! You'd better compensate us for the equipment you damaged before you go. "I'm talking about that high-performance server we used for last week's demo. The motherboard's fried! You must've fried it because you didn't know what you were doing." Shane then pointed at an old computer case gathering dust in the corner and barked, "Between the disassembly and repair costs, you owe the company 500 dollars!"That machine was labeled as scrap long ago, and I'd been using it to prop up my monitor. I responded dryly, "That's a decommissioned piece of scrap from the warehouse.""Save it! It was on your workstation, so you're responsible for it!" Kevin ch

Chapter 4

The next morning, the project acceptance meeting was held as scheduled at the company's largest conference room.Although I'd been "sacked," I was still the project's team leader on paper. Therefore, my name remained on the client's guest list.So, I deliberately wore my bespoke dark suit and arrived at the company entrance right on time. Alas, I was stopped just as I got to the front desk.Kevin was wearing an ill-fitting cheap suit and had his hair slicked back with gel. He was ordering Lila around, making her run around carrying materials.When he saw me, he let out an exaggerated cry of surprise, "Hey now, if it isn't James the Jobless! What's this? Did you come back here to steal something even after you got yourself fired?" The receptionist looked at me, clearly in a dilemma as she said, "James, Ms. Wallace instructed us not to allow you entry. She said she's deactivated your access card.""You hear that? You're not welcome here!" Kevin crossed his arms over his chest an

Chapter 5

A large group of people swept into the room. The woman leading them possessed an overwhelming presence. She was none other than the CEO of the company, Renata Kingsley. The entire room instantly fell silent as everyone rose to their feet, their faces painted with flattering smiles. Hortensia even went as far as to jog over, saying ingratiatingly, "Ms. Kingsley, you're here! Please have a seat."Kevin and the others hastily straightened their clothes and puffed out their chests, trying their best to play the part of elite employees as they looked at Renata eagerly. Renata didn't even spare them a glance as she headed straight for the main seat.However, her footsteps stuttered slightly when she passed by me. Kevin noticed it immediately. He wasted no time leaping forward and reprimanding me hotly, "James, are you blind? How could you not stand up and greet Ms. Kingsley? How dare you sit there so arrogantly! Do you not have any sense of proper conduct?"His loud outburst suc

Chapter 6

The way Renata addressed me as "Mr. Connor" struck the conference room like a thunderclap.They were so blindsided that a deathly silence fell upon the room.The flattering smile on Hortensia's face stiffened. The malicious and gleeful looks Kevin, Shane, and Lila were sporting froze into ridiculous masks of disbelief. Their eyes were as wide as saucers, and their jaws were slack. They were acting as though they'd just witnessed the most inconceivable thing in the world. "M-Ms. Kingsley…" Hortensia stammered. "C-Could you have mistaken him for someone else? That's James Connor. He's no director. He's just the person who initiated the project…" she trailed off weakly.Renata shot her a cold look. "I mistook him for someone else? Ms. Wallace, you're clearly going senile! Headquarters specifically assigned Director James Connor to evaluate this branch company's project operations. "This S-tier project, starting from its initial approval to its execution, has been entirely under

Chapter 7

"Ms. Kingsley, we…" Kevin fell to his knees with a loud thud. There were some who'd rather die than live on their knees. However, he was now willing to abandon his pride without a second thought just to keep his job. "We're sorry! Ms. Kingsley, Mr. Connor, we really are sorry!" He grabbed Renata's pant leg in desperation as he sobbed his heart out. "We lost our heads! We weren't thinking straight!"Shane and Lila finally got on with the program as they, too, fell to their knees and pleaded for forgiveness."Mr. Connor, please! Please have mercy on us! Please give us another chance!""We'll never do it again!""We have mouths to feed! We can't afford to lose this job!"It was the same old routine. They were feeding me the same lines they'd shoved down my throat three months ago when they begged me for a spot in the project. "Get them away from me." Renata furrowed her brows in disgust.The guards immediately rushed forward and dragged the trio to their feet. "You've fin

Chapter 8

The police arrived very quickly.Hortensia, Kevin, Shane, and Lila were all led away in cuffs with their tails between their legs. When they passed by, Shane suddenly started to struggle as he yelled at me hoarsely, "James, you vicious bastard! Even if we were wrong, we don't deserve to go to prison for it! You set us up! You'll get what's coming to you! Just you wait!"I couldn't even be bothered to spare him a glance. The best way to deal with a rabid mutt was to ignore him. Soon, the conference room fell silent once more. Renata walked toward me and said apologetically, "Mr. Connor, I'm sorry you had to suffer through all this. We orchestrated all of this in order to lure Ms. Wallace out. Not telling you the entire plan in advance was an oversight on my part."I shook my head. "It's alright, Ms. Kingsley. To be fair, I never imagined that things would escalate this badly either. Still, the evidence was destroyed. What do we do now?"That was my biggest concern right now.

Chapter 9

Soon after, the company announced the disciplinary actions it would be taking against Hortensia, Kevin, Shane, and Lila. Hortensia, whose corruption involved a massive sum of money, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Naturally, all of her illegal assets were frozen and confiscated. Kevin, Shane, and Lila weren't found to be guilty of severe criminal offenses. However, they were still found guilty of making false accusations, workplace bullying, and obstruction of justice via destroying evidence. As a result, they were promptly fired and blacklisted throughout the industry. That meant that none of them would be finding themselves a job in this field ever again.Their punishment didn't stop there, as the company's legal department filed a civil lawsuit against them. The company sought compensation for the severe damage they'd caused to its reputation, as well as the potential financial losses resulting from them delaying the project. All in all, the total damages came to two

Chapter 10

Kevin's fate was even worse than Shane's.Kevin had always prided himself on being clever and capable, seeing himself as a rising star in the industry. So, he couldn't accept his fall from grace after he got fired and eventually turned to drinking himself into a stupor every single day. I heard that he spent his days drunkenly wandering around outside various office buildings. Whenever he ran into someone in a suit, he would grab them and blabber on about how his talents had gone unrecognized and that he was framed. People treated him like he was a lunatic, avoiding him like the plague. He also kept spamming me with calls and texts. In the beginning, he had sent me several hate-mails filled with threats. As time passed, his texts turned into desperate pleas for forgiveness. "James, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm willing to do anything as long as you'd forgive me. I can be your driver. I can even polish your shoes if that's what you want. All I ask is for you to let me off t

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