Chapter 2

The entire sales department froze in utter shock.

The rest of the colleagues at the gala exchanged bewildered glances.

"Did he lose his mind from anger?"

"Sean, don't let your emotions ruin your career!"

Rachel, caught completely off guard by my sudden surrender, looked momentarily rattled.

Most major operational decisions had been mine.

Every single revenue channel had been established by me.

Without my proven track record, this company would never have gotten off the ground, let alone reached an IPO.

"Sean, what kind of game are you playing?"

Rachel's voice carried a sharp edge of embarrassed fury.

My heart, however, remained dead calm.

If this were before, I would have rushed to soothe her temper, bending over backward to satisfy her every whim.

From this moment on, nothing she did could ever make my pulse skip a beat.

Kevin gripped the badge tightly.

He stepped up beside Rachel, casting a gloating, mocking look my way.

"Sean, what's the meaning of this?"

"Missing the gala opening is no reason to throw such a massive tantrum!"

"Take this back."

"Even if you didn't bring in real brilliance, your effort still counts for something."

Kevin spoke with righteous magnanimity.

Yet his hands moved slower than a snail; he had zero intention of actually giving the badge back.

My gaze grew razor-sharp as I watched them both. Kevin's little scheme was transparent as glass.

Playing the humble, gracious underdog was just his way of triggering Rachel's protective instincts.

Pity for him—I didn't care anymore.

I fixed my eyes on Rachel's face, waiting to see what she would say.

Seeing my complete indifference, Rachel snapped.

She grabbed Kevin's hand tightly.

"Kevin, you keep that director title!"

"With your talent, cracking open those sales pipelines will be effortless."

"Sean just went out drinking and schmoozing after hours."

"He basically slacked off all day. Did he really start believing he was indispensable?"

Kevin beamed with triumph.

He placed his other hand over Rachel's.

"Don't worry, Rachel. I won't let you down."

"Starting today, our company will reach unprecedented heights."

With that, Kevin shot me a look dripping with smug superiority.

Rachel nodded firmly, convinced.

"That's for the best. With Sean in that seat, he was dragging his feet."

"That's why our growth stalled for so long."

"Kevin, I believe in you!"

As Rachel spoke, her eyes practically sparkled with infatuation. To her, this was what real executive talent looked like.

Turning back to me, her expression instantly froze into a sneer.

"Sean, considering you've been with the company for a while, I won't fire you outright."

"You can stay as Kevin's assistant and support him!"

"Take this chance to learn how a real foreign-trained MBA handles corporate sales."

A cold, mocking smile spread across my face.

How laughable. I had lifted this company to heights it had no right to occupy.

And their grand plan was to cast me aside and hand the keys to an absolute fraud?

Did this clown have any idea how to negotiate with the cunning, ruthless sharks running Fortune 500 boardrooms?

Did he understand buyer psychology in high-stakes B2B distribution?

Did he know what our raw material suppliers actually cared about?

The second I walked away, both the enterprise clients and the suppliers would cut ties instantly.

This overleveraged house of cards would collapse into dust.

And as the CEO, Rachel would be saddled with catastrophic personal debt.

"Sean, looks like you'll be running errands for me from now on," Kevin said, his eyes practically rolling up to the ceiling in arrogance. "There's still a lot I can teach you."

Rachel's voice turned even colder:

"Now, hand over your corporate phone with all the executive contacts to Kevin!"

Kevin stared greedily at me.

He reached out his hand, his fingers twitching with anticipation, eager to seize the massive Rolodex of corporate power that had taken me years to build.

From this moment on, he planned to use Rachel's firm as a springboard to dominate the city's business circles.

"Sean, what are you waiting for?"

Seeing me stand still, Rachel barked again.

I spoke casually, "You want my corporate phone?"

"Sure. Bring your face over here and get it."