Workplace Affairs Stories Novels & Stories

The first thing I do after getting off the plane is to text my wife, Ella Spencer, that I'm safe and sound. Since I'm too eager to send the text, I end up sending the text to my work group chat. Before I can delete the message, the new HR employee, Dexter Brooks, suddenly calls me on the phone. "You're fired." I question him immediately, "All I did was text the wrong group chat! How does that warrant a dismissal?" Dexter shouts at me immediately, "How dare you send such lovey-dovey messages on the company's group chat! I will not tolerate this behavior in my company!" His statement catches me off guard. "Your company?" Dexter's arrogance kicks up a few notches. "What, are you saying that this is your company? Ms. Spencer is my wife! Her company is naturally mine!" After a moment's silence, I send another text to the work group chat. "Ella Spencer, you must be feeling quite smug now, huh? Not only did you claim that the company is yours, but you also switched your own husband out for someone else."

On my birthday, my mother-in-law had barely been wheeled out of surgery when she was rushed straight into the ER again. Then, a newly posted video from an intern went viral. In it, the intern held a scalpel and sliced open my mother-in-law's abdomen, while the surgeon who was supposed to be leading the operation, my husband, was nowhere in sight. 'People say an intern has no business being in the operating room? That's all right. My man, the department head, indulges me.' My husband's coworkers reacted warmly, saying the two of them made quite a pair. I forwarded the video to the hospital director without hesitation. … Before long, my husband called. His breathing came hard and uneven, his voice breaking between words. "I forgot your birthday. Big deal. Did you really have to run to the director and accuse me of breaking hospital rules? I'm done with you and your ridiculous tantrums. Even if my mom takes your side this time, I'm still divorcing you." He hung up before I could say a word. What he didn't know was that his mother would never take my side again. Because the patient who hemorrhaged and died after being operated on by that intern was his mother.

At the company holiday party raffle, I'd barely stepped on stage when my superior, Victor Grant, shoved a crumpled slip into my hand. "Special prize for our top sales guy. Go on, open it. Let's show everyone." All eyes were on me as I unfolded it. Scrawled across the paper: [VIP janitor status unlocked—every toilet in the company, three days.] The room lost it—laughter everywhere. Victor crossed his arms, grinning. "Fair, right? Everyone knows you climbed the ranks hooking up with rich cougars. Gotta avoid hard feelings for the others, yeah? While the rest of us take a break, you can get busy. You're not gonna back out, are you?" The crowd cracked up. My girlfriend—and CEO—Rachel Sullivan stood off to the side, watching. Didn't say a word. Everyone waited for me to explode. Instead, I just nodded. Next day, over 300 refund requests hit. Cash flow flatlined. Victor and Rachel begged me to talk the buyers down. I shrugged. "Nah. Don't wanna save the company and make my performance too good. That'd just cause more ' hard feelings,' right?"

To ensure the launch of the company's new game, I worked overtime for a week straight. I practically lived at the company. But on the day of the celebration, I received a punishment notice from the new VP. "A certain someone has been working overtime until past midnight for over a week. This is a waste of the company's electricity. This notification is to inform him that he needs to pay this month's electricity bill for the company." The superior whom I worked with ever since this company was founded suddenly became arrogant as well. "A certain someone really needs to know their place. You're already 35. It's not like the company can't run without you. You're the one who relies on this company now." I laughed angrily. Had he forgotten what I did for a living? I submitted my resignation on that very same day. I'd like to see who would be the desperate party in the end. They could forget about ever being listed if this was how they treated their loyal employees.

After I help my boyfriend register his company and successfully land his first deal, he finally decides to make our relationship public. But his junior from college, who's always had this weird hostility toward me for no reason, beats me to it by sliding into the seat next to him. She leans against my boyfriend's chest, her voice smug and satisfied. "Didn't you say you'd wait until the company officially launched? So why the rush now?" My boyfriend says nothing. Instead, he hands her a share certificate and announces to the entire room that she's the company's largest shareholder. The room explodes. Everyone starts whistling and cheering them on. The junior takes the opportunity to kick me while I'm down, throwing insults my way. My boyfriend doesn't just fail to stop her. He actually joins in with his own snide remarks. "Sure, you helped me set up the company and brought in our first client, but she's the one who can actually take us somewhere." I don't get angry. I graciously acknowledge the junior's new position. I want to see how far they would get without me, their biggest asset and most valuable connection.

I'm a member of a top-secret research unit. As per my superior's request, I am to deliver a file to Celeste Judd, my older sister. The moment I step into my sister's office, an intern, Ethan Irwin, quickly moves to stand in my way. "Are you the new assistant?" He eyes me up and down, finally noticing the document envelope in my hand. Then, he chortles loudly. "It's your first day on the job, and yet you're already trying to suck up to Ms. Judd! Why don't you take a look in the mirror and see how pathetic you are?" Only then do I realize that Ethan has mistaken me as a love rival. But the thing is, Celeste has never told me that she has a boyfriend. I'm about to explain the truth to Ethan when I feel his fist colliding with my face. "I'm the only assistant Ms. Judd needs! You can forget about being her boyfriend!" Ethan yanks me by the hair as he dumps scalding hot water onto my face. "To think that you're already planning on becoming a sugar baby and seducing rich women at such a young age! I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents!" I can only curl into a small ball on the floor. Stubbornly, I use my body to protect the document envelope. My actions infuriate Ethan to no end. He snatches the file away before ripping it into pieces in front of the entire company. He even says fawningly to Celeste, "Ms. Judd, your new assistant sure is a bold one for trying to seduce you! But don't worry, for I've already taught him a lesson!"

I've spent one month burning the midnight oil just to prepare the base draft of the multibillion-dollar business deal that I've just secured. That's when Lucy Yamlet, my director, produces a few blurry photos that were secretly taken before accusing me of having an illicit relationship with a higher-up of the client company. "I'm not targeting you on purpose, Selena. Right now, the entire industry is swarming with rumors of you using your body to secure this business deal. Your actions have brought our company shame! "In order to preserve the company's reputation, you must withdraw from this deal. It'll be best for everyone if you transfer the liaison authority and the core documentation to Liliana so that she can communicate with the CEO of Galaxy Corporation instead." My boss just keeps drinking tea and pretends to not hear Lucy's scathing words. My team members all play on their phones quietly as well. Upon noticing my lack of response, Lucy continues, "Now, now, don't go around harboring resentment against me, Selena. I'm worried that you might embarrass yourself at the meeting with the client later on while having to endure the stress of hearing those rumors. Everyone in our industry will definitely gossip about you, you know." Only then do I look up at Lucy. "Thank you for your concern, Ms. Yamlet, but I'm not afraid of embarrassing myself." After all, the so-called higher-up of Galaxy Corporation who had an "illicit" relationship with me is the actual CEO, Theodore Luther. He and I have registered our marriage as of yesterday.

A hacker has stolen the encryption keys and hacked through the data firewall at the bank my fiancee, Nancy Cost, and I work at. Chester Gardner, the intern Nancy has hired, insists on using a program he made to track down the hacker. But in doing so, the bank's clients lost 200 billion dollars' worth of assets. I do everything in my power to put the system on emergency maintenance so that I can retrieve the lost assets. Chester ends up getting punished by the bank. He also gets blacklisted by the entire industry. Nancy tries to plead for him, only to be stopped by me. "Pleading for Chester is equivalent to committing career suicide! You won't be able to stay in the finance industry if you do that!" Unable to withstand the torment any longer, Chester chooses to jump off the building. Before he dies, he sends Nancy an accusatory text for not defending him. But Nancy doesn't care about the text at all. Instead, she showers me with more care and love. We end up getting married. I do everything I can to elevate Nancy to the position of a finance powerhouse as her core technical support. But the day she attains her status is the day she frames me for hacking into the bank's system and stealing hundreds of millions' worth of assets. As a result, I get thrown behind bars and tortured till I die. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Chester presents the self-made program to track down the lost assets. This time, I choose to sit by and watch. What they don't know is that the richest man in Cantfield, Felix Watch, is the one who has lost his assets. Those who made him lose money in the past are all rotting in hell now.

I won the first prize at the Christmas party, which came with a bonus of $3,000. My boss generously doubled the rewards, and I eventually got $6,000. But my best friend and my boss started egging me on to treat everyone. In fact, they were just getting me to cover the company’s Christmas party. If I did not agree, my best friend wanted to cut off ties with me, and my boss wanted to fire me. Due to the pressure, I had to foot the bill, and I even ended up paying an extra $50,000 out of my own pocket. After I paid the bill, they abandoned me, who was drunk, and I just froze to death on the side of the road. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back to the day when the Christmas party was held.

The authorities called me in, and the hospital slapped me with a formal reprimand. All because an intern posted a security shot outside the OR at two in the morning and accused me of using young doctors as unpaid labor. I'd set up a flexible scheduling system so doctors could juggle family life and night shifts. After getting buried in nonstop hate, I made a statement right there. "I hear the criticism. Changes start now." The next day, I pulled every intern off the clinical floor and told them to focus on coursework. The notice went out, and the interns completely lost it.