I Was Fired, but Her Empire Turned to Ashes

The company holds a management meeting. My wife's secretary, Lisa Carter, is checking IDs at the conference room entrance.

She greets everyone who enters with a warm smile. But when it is my turn, she lets out a scornful laugh.

I frown and pull out my Cybersecurity Department Manager's ID, but she doesn't even glance at it.

"Mr. Torres, Ms. Shaw took pity on you and made you a manager. Do you really think you're somebody important?"

I ignore her and dial the CEO's direct line instead.

"Someone's saying my position is just charity from you. Is it true?"

"It's just a small matter. Don't worry about it. I'm busy, so I'll hang up now."

Wendy Shaw's tone was cold and distant, though I could tell she was rushing over here.

Her secretary, Lisa Carter, had obviously heard that line too. She rolled her eyes at me before finally letting me through.

I thought the initial unfair treatment had passed. But as soon as I entered the conference room, everyone inside avoided me like the plague.

Wherever I sat, someone would move to another seat within seconds. I raised an eyebrow but didn't take it to heart.

I had never been on good terms with them anyway. I was used to being talked about behind my back at the company, but I didn't care.

"Thank you, all, for attending this management meeting. Since Ms. Shaw hasn't arrived yet, I'll give a brief opening on her behalf."

Lisa, who'd blocked me earlier, began chairing the meeting. She started with the usual operational adjustments, position changes, and other matters.

I found it painfully dull and glanced at my phone a few times.

"Since the company's revenue this quarter has fallen by 3% compared to last quarter, the board believes cost-cutting is necessary."

When she said this, I noticed everyone was looking at me with barely concealed satisfaction, and I had no idea why.

Lisa turned to look at me. "Julian Torres, the Cybersecurity Department will be shut down. It hasn't brought in any profit for the company all these years, and you're the only person in it. Keeping a department in name only that contributes nothing is pointless, and it reflects badly on the company."

I finally understood why everyone was treating me so strangely today. The absurdity of it made me question her. "Are you serious? You're really shutting down my department?"

She let out a snort, as if I couldn't understand plain language.

A few colleagues took the opportunity to gang up on me.

"Come on, Julian. Isn't that clear enough?"

"If you can't accept it, maybe you should reflect on yourself. You've been playing on your phone since the meeting started."

"Disrespecting Ms. Carter is equivalent to disrespecting Ms. Shaw. You do know that, right?"

Hearing that, I was genuinely speechless.

"I was checking my phone to monitor the firewall in real time, making sure no virus could hit the company's core systems while I'm away. How on earth