MoboNovel Lite
Chapter 0
The day before bonuses were supposed to drop, my boss, Robert, called me into his office. He hit me with the news that my salary was “too high,” my coworkers were salty about it, and it was “hurting team vibes.” He wanted to slash my pay and hand my bonus over to some newbie with connections. I just nodded and said, “Sure thing,” then decided to chill and take it easy from there.
The next day, the client ghosted on their payment, and the whole company got stuck without bonuses. Robert came crawling back, begging me to step in and sort it out. I just shrugged and said, “If I handle all the collections, it’s gonna mess with team morale. Let’s spread the responsibility around, yeah?”
Chapter 1
“Jo, management wants you to take the lead on accepting a pay cut this time. Your team’s salaries are the highest, and your colleagues have been complaining. It’s not great for team morale.”
Tomorrow was supposed to be bonus day, but Robert, the CEO, called me in for a chat about cutting my salary. I was floored. As the team leader and technical lead, isn’t it normal for me to have the highest pay?
“Since when do we share salary details? I thought that was private. How would my colleagues even know the difference?” I asked, keeping my cool.
“Well, you know… secrets don’t stay hidden forever,” Robert stammered, adding, “Your bonus has been reallocated to Lucy, the new hire. Young people need more encouragement.”
“Okay, no problem,” I replied after a brief pause.
Robert looked stunned, clearly not expecting me to agree so easily. “Good! You’re showing real leadership. I have high hopes for you!”
It was ridiculous. I’d worked my tail off all year, pulling all-nighters during crunch time, practically living at the office. And now, not only was I getting no bonus, but I was being punished.
Back at my desk, Lucy Miller was sitting in my chair, my hard drive plugged into her computer. All my other stuff was gone.
“Ms. Jo, I get cold easily, and the AC at my old desk wasn’t strong enough. I asked Robert if I could sit here. Do you mind switching?”
“Where are my things?” I asked calmly.
“Oh, Ms. Jo, are you mad? If you are, I’ll switch back. Your stuff is all over at my old desk; nothing’s missing.”
I glanced at my teammates. Normally, they’d be joking around with me, but now everyone was looking down, pretending to be busy.
“No need, stay put. You can be the team leader now, too,” I said, leaving it at that and sitting at Lucy’s old desk.
“Ms. Jo, are you serious?” Lucy asked, adding, “Mr. Smith just spoke to me, saying young people should be brave and take on more responsibility to help share the burden. I was worried you’d be upset.”
As if on cue, Mr. Smith appeared and announced, “Starting this year, we’re rotating team leaders. Lucy has two years of overseas experience and excellent technical skills. From today on, she’s the new team leader and will take over the HH project. Jo, you’ve been busy all year. This is a chance to rest.”
Everyone was shocked. The office fell silent. Everyone knew Lucy was Mr. Smith’s niece. She’d studied abroad, spent a fortune, and got a degree. But her technical skills were nonexistent. Now, they weren’t even trying to hide it.
“Congratulations, Team Leader Miller! Lead us to victory!” I started clapping, and the rest of the team reluctantly joined in.
After Mr. Smith left, I headed to the stairwell and called the client: “Hey, hold off on that payment. The boss says too much money is bad for team morale.”
Chapter 2
My words made Mr. Clark burst out laughing. After a moment, he said, “Your company is bullying you?! I told you ages ago to come back to the family biz and chill on the client side. But no, you had to grind it out as a contractor. Now you’re having regrets? Hurry back and help me clean up this mess.”
“Regrets? Yeah, maybe. But it’s not time to bail yet.”
Cutting my salary out of nowhere, demoting me on the spot, and handing my entire bonus to Lucy Miller? That screamed one thing: they wanted me to quit without paying a cent.
The real estate market had been dragging, and the construction industry was feeling the heat. Architects were having a rough time.
Over the years, I’d seen all kinds of shady layoff moves from design firms. Instead of coughing up severance, they’d slash salaries, pile on the work, and push people to quit. That way, the company saved cash, claiming employees left on their own.
Our company had pulled this stunt on plenty of key players. I’d dodged it so far, probably because they still needed me on projects—or maybe my turn just hadn’t come yet.
Our firm, a supposedly reputable architectural company, was barely hanging on. With business drying up and new projects scarce, management cranked up the pressure on the production team, calling it “shared responsibility.” As team leader, I was on the hook for millions in contracts.
My aunt, seeing me burnt out, had her brother—the CEO of our family’s international five-star hotel chain, HH—hand our company the design contract for their new hotel. The total fee? A cool $10 million.
So yeah, my family’s business was my company’s biggest client.
The contract had staggered payments, which was standard in the industry. But my aunt, worried about my bonus, made sure half the fee was paid upfront.
I kept it on the down-low, focusing on design and site visits. No one at work had a clue about my connection to the client.
The second management confirmed the payment was coming the next day, they rushed to demote me, terrified of a big bonus payout.
They were basically cutting off their own lifeline. I would’ve taken a layoff and severance without a fuss. But after eight years of loyalty, their sneaky moves were just too much.
I decided to coast for a bit and watch them celebrate their bonuses. Let’s see how long that lasts.