Fired Me, Begged Me

Fired Me, Begged Me

The day before the year-end bonus was to be distributed, my boss called me in for a talk. He said my salary was too high and causing discontent among the team, making it bad for unity. He proposed cutting my salary and giving my bonus to a newly hired "insider." I agreed without hesitation and decided to play along. The next day, the client delayed the payment, and no one in the company received their bonus. The boss begged me to help recover the funds, but I replied: “It’s not good for unity if I bear all the responsibility for the payments. Let’s share the burden with everyone.”

“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.”