After Winning a Billion-Dollar Deal, My Fiancée's Assistant Fired Me

The company wanted to partner with a big-shot tycoon, and word was that whoever could close the deal would be promoted to vice president.

To make my fiance see me in a new light and stop looking down on me, I closed the deal.

Everyone in the company assumed I'd get the vice president position, yet my name showed up on the layoff list.

As the assistant read out the names on the layoff list, he mocked me with a sarcastic tone.

"Neil Dickerson, what a shame. I really thought you'd get a promotion and a raise. Who'd have guessed you'd be the first person upstairs wanted to cut."

The meeting room was dead silent. Everyone looked at me with pity and surprise, waiting to see what I would do next.

But I just leaned back in my chair without a ripple, my voice calm and light as a breeze.

"I just landed a deal worth over a hundred million for this company. Fine, no promotionbut you want to lay me off too? Who made that rule?"

The assistant laughed and threw the layoff notice down in front of me. "Me!"

...

"You?"

I looked up at the assistant, his face full of arrogance. Right now he was sitting in my fiance's CEO's chair.

Using a chicken feather as an arrow of command, so to speak.

"That's right, it's me!"

He answered freely, not a trace of fear in his eyes.

The air conditioning in the conference room really wasn't turned up that high, and yet everyone present couldn't help but shiver.

The atmosphere turned suddenly cold and stiff, and no one dared to speak up at that moment.

All because Sean Delgado was my fiance's most cherished adopted brother. Whenever she wasn't around, every decision in the company was his to make.

And there it wasjealous that I'd landed the deal, unwilling to see me get a promotion or a raise, he'd come up with a layoff scheme to deal with me.

But even if he wanted to deal with me, he'd need something convincing!

"So what's the reason for the layoffs?"

Sean smiled, picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip, then curled his lips and spoke. "The reason I'm doing layoffs is that the company's performance has slipped lately, and some people are lazy freeloaders who collect a paycheck and do nothing."

"After I looked into their backgrounds, I found out those parasites all got in through the back door. They never passed an interview."

"What a company fears most is nepotism in its ranks. They're bound to use it to run wild in the company, seize other people's positions, and get truly capable people fired."

"So I'm helping Ms. Harding clean housefor the sake of the company, the shareholders, and the capable people. Is there anything wrong with that?"

I couldn't help letting out a soft laugh. "And what does any of this have to do with me?"

He wasn't wrong! Lookplenty of people below were already backing him.

"Because you got in through connections too!"

"I checked on you several times, and the result was always the same: you never passed an interview, you got in straight through the back door."

"Ms. Harding once mentioned to me that if your family hadn't once helped her grandfather, she'd never in a million years have gotten engaged to you, or let you come work at the company."

"Isn't that just forcing Ms. Harding to settle for you!"

The moment he finished speaking, the conference room finally broke into murmurs.

"I think Assistant Delgado is right."

"It's exactly because too many parasites got in that the company's performance dropped, while genuinely capable people out there can't find work."

"I support Assistant Delgado."

"I support it too!"

In an instant, the meeting room buzzed with heated talk, everyone lining up to support Sean Delgado.

Sean's lips curled in a faint smile. Inside he was clearly thrilled, yet he still put on a troubled, reluctant expression.

"Everyone, calm down and hear me out."

All the heated talk fell silent at once.

Sean was pleased with how obedient they were. Then he looked at me and said outright, "The one in a bit of a bind right now is Neil Dickerson."

"Since we're purging nepotism, we have to purge him along with the rest to satisfy everyone."

"I actually didn't want to put his name on the layoff list, because I thought he was very capable."

"But then I heard somethingthat deal wasn't originally negotiated by him. It was someone else."

"Only in the end, Neil Dickerson deliberately got that person out of the way so he could slip in and take advantage."

"Everyone wants to get promoted and make money, but you can't use dirty tricks like that!"

"Wouldn't you all agree?"

The moment those words were out, everyone else spoke up without any restraint.

"Neil, this is so low of you!"

"How do you have the nerve to steal a deal someone else fought to the death to close?"

"Exactly! It's scum like you that ruin the whole atmosphere around here."

"That's why I unconditionally support Assistant Delgado in clearing out the company's parasites and driving out the ones who got in through connections."

"I support him too. I never expected Assistant Delgado to be such a fair and upright person."

"I admire him!!"

Sean grew more and more pleased with everyone's praise of him.

He looked at me, his face full of mockery.

"Neil, you see, it really wasn't my intention to fire youthe whole company unanimously decided to let you go."

"So you can't blame me. If you have to blame someone, you can only blame yourself."

Unhurried, I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze.

"You just said I stole a colleague's credit when I closed the deal?"

"Then may I ask, whose credit did I steal?"

From start to finish, I was the only one who went and negotiated the partnership, all the way through to bringing it together and getting the contract signed.

I really wanted to know who exactly was saying I'd stolen the credit.

Sean didn't rush to argue back. Instead, he let out a sneer.

"Then go ask him yourself!"

The words had barely left his mouth when the conference room door opened.

The doorway instantly buzzed with noise, as if a crowd of gawking employees had gathered there.

I didn't turn to look. I just waited for that person to come out.

The next second, a familiar set of footsteps reached my ears.

"You stole my credit!!"

Everyone turned toward the doorway as one.

I still didn't turn my head. I only clenched my fist without thinking.

When the person got closer, another wave of shocked gasps swept the conference room.

"Holy crap, his best buddy!"

"The credit Neil stole was actually his good buddy Dylan's."

"That's really rotten of him. A complete scoundrel."

"Like the saying goes, guard against fire, theft, and your best frienddoesn't the same go for buddies?"

Dylan had already walked up beside me. He looked down at me, his eyes full of hatred.

The anger on his face didn't look faked. It was as if he really had been wronged and gotten nothing in return.

It made everyone in the room willing to believe himthat someone must have stolen his credit.

I finally moved. I raised my head and looked up at him.

Dylan and I locked eyes, and what I saw wasn't how wronged he was, but the jealous resentment of a man who couldn't stand that I was doing well.

"Give me one reason for the backstab."

Dylan suddenly flew into a rage. "What backstab? Don't make me out to be some villain."

"You're the one who took the credit that was rightfully mine. I've put up with it as long as I can, and I'm not putting up with you anymore."

"Luckily, Assistant Delgado is a good man who can tell right from wrong. He hates it when people in the company pull these underhanded tricks, so he helps those of us who've been wronged get justice."

The moment he said that, everyone turned on me with vicious words.

"Neil, scum like you should get out of here right now."

"People like you are what ruin the company's reputation."

"Get out! Make room for someone useful."

I looked away, outwardly as calm and unshaken as ever, but deep down a needle pricked at me.

Because the person stabbing me in the back was no strangerhe was a friend I'd known since college.

He was pretty much my only friend, which was why I'd treasured our friendship so much.

But I never imagined that a friend from those younger years would one day be corrupted by the cesspool too.

In his greedy world now, so-called friendship wasn't worth mentioning at all.

"Neil, even your best buddy is saying it. Do you have anything else to explain?"

Sean tapped the table, as if he were the man in charge, sitting in judgment over me, a lowly employee.

I smiled easily and lifted my eyes to stare at him.

"Since you all say I stole someone else's credit, then call the partner and ask themon whose account did they agree to work with the Hardings?"

The moment I finished speaking, Sean's smile died and his face turned dark.

"Dickerson, don't tell me you're trying to say the partner agreed to work with the Hardings on your account?"

"How big do you think your face is, to spout such nonsense!"

"This deal only came together because of Ms. Harding, and because of Dylan's ability."

"If you're so set on twisting things, then I'll just call the partner and we'll find out."

I picked up my phone right then to make the call, but I was cut off by a voice full of fury that brooked no argument.

"Neil, you've disappointed me deeply."

Ms. Harding was back.

A familiar perfume drifted into my nose, and it made me deeply unhappy.

Because Sean wore this same perfume toothe two of them smelled exactly alike.

I turned to look at Cicely as she walked slowly over. There were hickeys hidden beneath her neckline, and even with foundation covering them, they were still visible.

The instant Sean saw her return, he hurried to his feet to greet her and reached out to hold her arm far too intimately.

"Ms. Harding, you're back!"

From the moment she walked in until now, Cicely hadn't once let her eyes land on me, her fianc.

Her gaze had been fixed on Sean the whole time, as if he were her entire world.

And it wasn't only me who noticed these detailseven the veteran employees could see it, couldn't they?

"Ms. Harding, please, sit!"

Cicely didn't sit in the CEO's chair. She had Sean sit there instead.

"You sit."

"I'll just sit beside you."

This kind of boundary-crossing indulgence only made Sean more emboldened.

After exchanging glances for a moment, everyone was certain of one thing: at this company, you had to listen to Sean and go along with him if you wanted a way to survive.

Once the two of them were seated, Cicely finally turned to look at me coldly, but said nothing.

Sean sighed. "Ms. Harding, Neil is your fianc. I don't have the standing to deal with him."

"He won't answer to me either. Even after I laid out all that evidence against him, he said I was nothing, that I had no business firing him."

"So I'll leave this to you to handle. Otherwise, people outside will say a lowly assistant like me is throwing his weight around just because he has your favor."

After saying that, he stood again, not daring to sit back down.

And Cicely's face instantly went cold.

She shot me a vicious glare, her gaze never leaving me, yet her words were for Sean.

"Who said you don't have the right to deal with garbage? I made it perfectly clear that whenever I'm not at the company, every matter, big or small, is left to you."

"And you haven't disappointed meyou've cleaned out the useless people who got in through connections for me."

"This not only spares me the bad name, it also rids the company of its parasites. With abilities as outstanding as yours, of course I trust you."

"So, whatever you do now is fine."