Laid Off to Top His Career Chapter 2

I carried my box out the revolving glass doors. The glaring afternoon sun made my eyes water.

Instead of going home, I hailed a cab and gave the driver the address to the corporate headquarters downtown.

Greg called me again. This time, I answered.

"Harper! Are you seriously just walking away? How can you swallow this?" His voice was shaking with pure outrage.

"I am furious! Richard and that little intern are treating you like absolute dirt!"

I leaned against the cool metal wall of the elevator, my initial shock having completely crystallized into cold clarity.

"Greg, he fired me because I know too much. He wants me gone."

"If I throw a tantrum in the lobby, he will just have security drag me out."

"He planned this perfectly."

Greg was practically growling into the receiver.

"So what? You made this company millions! Now he throws a bucket of dirty water on your head and kicks you to the curb?"

I watched the digital floor numbers climbing higher and higher.

"Of course I am not letting it go, Greg."

"Then what are you going to do? Tell me!"

I hung up the phone.

I opened the PDF of my termination notice that HR had just emailed me.

I took a clean screenshot.

Then, I logged into a hidden corporate email portal on my phone. An administrative account I had never used before.

The recipient was Bennett, the Secretary of the Board of Directors.

I attached the screenshot, along with a massive encrypted zip file containing every single piece of raw data from Project Apex.

I also attached a crystal-clear audio recording of Richard begging me to be his fall guy in his office.

In the body of the email, I typed a single, simple sentence.

"My name is Harper. I am officially activating my Corporate Auditor protocol."

I hit send and powered off my phone.

A year ago, Richard was managing a failing branch. They had bled money for three consecutive quarters.

Headquarters had issued an ultimatum. One more quarter in the red, and the entire branch would be liquidated.

I was the one who stepped up. I led a skeleton crew, worked through the holidays, and secured the Southside Development, landing the biggest contract in the branch's history.

I practically spoon-fed Richard. I taught him how to analyze the market data, how to forecast trends, and how to write the executive presentations he gave to the Board.

Thanks to me, our branch became the crown jewel of the enterprise.

His throne was finally secure.

And suddenly, the architect who built his throne became a threat. I knew all his weak spots, so I had to be eliminated.

My phone buzzed as I turned it back on. Greg was spamming me with screenshots.

"Harper! Look at the company Slack! It is a warzone!"

"Richard just posted a company-wide announcement saying you were fired for gross negligence. He is actively implying you were embezzling funds!"

I did not even bother opening the app.

I knew exactly what was happening. Sophie, lacking any actual brain cells, had probably whispered poison in his ear.

She wanted to be the new right-hand woman, which meant she needed to bury the predecessor six feet under.

They were a match made in heaven. Two absolute fools.

Richard's days of playing king were officially over.

I walked into a pristine office on the top floor and slowly wiped a speck of dust off the mahogany desk.