My girlfriend put me on the layoff list to win over her sidepiece.

I became the laughingstock of the company, being cheated on and kicked out.

But they seemed to forget one crucial thing. I was the one who secured all the major contracts.

Once I was gone, she struggled, defaulted on agreements, and eventually went bankrupt.

Meanwhile, I made a comeback as the heir to a massive fortune, bought her once-prized company for peanuts, and watched her beg for a second chance.

I found her pathetic and didn't bother with her pleas.

——

Last night's client was tough. To clinch the deal, I drank so much that I ended up with alcohol poisoning.

I didn't want to worry Serena Linwood or disrupt her sleep, so I went to the hospital alone after closing the deal.

When I woke up in the hospital, my stomach still churned. My phone kept buzzing on the nightstand.

[Nolan, you're on the layoff list. Please come to the office to complete your departure procedures.]

It was a text from HR at eleven, and the layoff list was sent to my email box earlier this morning.

The company group chat was blowing up.

Many of the employees I had personally hired were messaging me, confused and asking what was going on.

It was a good question. I wanted to know too.

How did I, one of the company's founders, end up on the layoff list?

We always had to do year-end layoffs to keep the company lean as every company had some employees who did the bare minimum for their paycheck.

Serena and I started this advertising company five years ago, and we were still a small operation with just a few dozen people.

Of course, we made some hiring mistakes along the way. Some folks who were initially hardworking eventually got lazy.

Their productivity dropped, and they started coming in late, leaving early, and spending work hours on TV shows and games.

As a small company, we couldn't afford to carry dead weight. Our best strategy was to let go of the slackers at the end of the year and hire fresh talent at the start of the next.

Since business was slow in the early months, we gave everyone a month-long holiday with minimal pay.

This way, the year-end layoffs were the most efficient way to cut costs.

Serena and I had a detailed discussion and put together a preliminary layoff list, planning to announce it the day before the year-end party.

I suggested letting the employees on the list stay for the party out of consideration for our time working together.

The party was when we handed out bonuses and held a prize draw, and to keep things transparent and motivational, the bonuses were given out publicly.

As I scrolled through the company chat, it became clear that Serena had completely deviated from our plan.

Several names on the list had been replaced. She kept a few of the project manager Griffin Whitaker's newly hired cronies while getting rid of some of my most reliable employees who had been with me for three years and were essential to our operations.

To make things worse, the employees being laid off were told to finish their exit procedures by this morning, only getting half a day's pay and no year-end bonuses.

Aside from the legally required severance, there was no extra compensation.

The more I understood the situation, the worse the pain in my stomach and chest became.

I was livid.

"Serena, what on earth are you doing?" I thought furiously.

I tried calling her, but she didn't pick up.

Left with no other choice, I checked out of the hospital early and took a cab to the office.

The moment I walked through the door, I could feel the tension.

Colleagues who usually greeted me now avoided eye contact and steered clear.

Even when I tried to greet them, they acted as if I were invisible, treating me like some sort of outcast.

When I reached Serena's office and pushed the door open, the sight that met my eyes made my blood boil.

"What the hell are you doing?"

I bellowed, storming into the office and landing a punch square on Griffin's face.

There they were, half-dressed and locked in a passionate embrace in the office.

If I had come a few minutes later, they might have been completely undressed.

The sight of the fresh red marks on their necks stung my eyes deeply.

"Serena, how could you do this?" I fumed inside.

Griffin, caught off guard, stumbled backward, crashing into the bookshelf and knocking things to the floor.

He wiped the blood from his lip and glared at me with pure hatred.

"Nolan, you're dead for this. How dare you hit me?"

Serena rushed to his side, caressing his bruised face, and turned to me with a look of pure venom. "Nolan, have you lost your mind? Apologize to Griffin!"

Just yesterday, her eyes were filled with love when she looked at me.

Now, it was like I was a stranger, not a trace of affection left.

My heart ached, and my voice came out harsher than I intended. "Serena, you're my girlfriend. How can you do this in the office and ask me why I'm angry?"

In the past, I could never bring myself to raise my voice at her, not even when she almost bankrupted us by blowing our first big profit.

She had always been my priority.

I expected her to show some remorse, but instead, her expression turned even colder. "Didn't I call you last night to break up?

"You didn't argue and even agreed.

"We're done, Nolan. What Griffin and I do now is none of your business!"

"Break up? When did she even tell me that?" I thought, utterly baffled.

Noticing my confusion, Serena pulled out her phone and played a recording.

"Nolan, we need to break up."

"Hmm... okay."

The voices on the recording were clearly mine and hers, and the timing matched.

My mind raced. I'd been drinking heavily with a client and barely heard the call, just mumbling a response before hanging up.

I wanted to argue, but seeing their smug faces, I swallowed my words.

I could put up with Serena's overspending and her princess attitude, but betrayal was something I couldn't accept.

I couldn't tolerate any dirt in my life.

Even if I once cared deeply, I would cut out the rot without hesitation.

"Alright, we're over. But what's with the layoffs?

"Serena, we started this company together. What gives you the right to fire me?"

She laughed scornfully, grabbed a contract from her desk, and waved it in front of me, looking triumphant.

"This is our three-year advertising deal with River Group. It's worth millions!

"Nolan, this is the big contract you fought tooth and nail for three years to land, even ending up in the hospital from drinking, and you still couldn't close it!"

I looked at the contract. It had River Group's signature and seal.

For them, a ten-million deal was a drop in the bucket. How could such a small company like ours catch their eye?

"How did you land this deal?"

Serena snuggled up to Griffin, her smile broadening. "Of course, Griffin signed it!"

"Didn't you know? Griffin is now the heir of River Group!"

At this moment, I felt like my heart had hit rock bottom.

It turned out that Griffin was the estranged heir of River Group.

So, these two must have been together for a while.

The breakup wasn't a sudden decision but a cold calculation by Serena.

"So what if he's an heir? How does that justify firing me?"

Serena smirked and looked at me with disdain, as if I were nothing more than a pesky bug.

"With Griffin around, you're just in the way. Isn't that reason enough?

"Don't worry about your severance. We'll follow the laws, and you'll get exactly what you're owed. Now, get out of here and take your money with you!"

I clenched my fists, anger flaring up.

When we started the company, I'd put everything in her name, like legal ownership, registered capital, and even my shares.

I was certain we'd be together forever.

We were a family, so it seemed pointless to split things so clearly.

I never imagined that my unconditional love for her would lead to this kind of betrayal.

My past kindness felt like a knife twisting in my back.

"Serena, you can fire me, but what about the benefits promised to laid-off employees? Why are you withholding them?

"Year-end bonuses are what everyone's entitled to. How could you be so greedy?

"And what about Alex, Ryan, and the others? They've been diligent from day one and are among the best workers here. What's your reason for firing them?"

I couldn't bear to see the company I built with my own hands falling apart under Serena's management.

The people who were laid off had carried most of the company's workload and were crucial to its operation.

Without them, keeping the company running smoothly would be nearly impossible.

Since the company hit its stride, Serena had been mostly hands-off, just signing documents and playing the role of a figurehead.

She couldn't tell who was valuable and who wasn't.

"They were always so quiet and useless. I got fed up and decided to let them go. What's the problem?

"This is my company. I can fire whoever I want. It's not like we can't handle it!" Serena said dismissively, as if those people were beneath her.

Griffin, grinning with satisfaction, put his arm around her.

"You're worried about the people you hired when you're in this mess yourself?

"So much for loyalty. If you're so concerned, Serena, why not fire a few more? Let's clear out everyone you brought in, so we don't have any future issues.

"Actually, I have a few friends who are looking for work. I'll bring them in, and the company will run just fine!"

They seemed pleased with themselves as they called the HR manager. After rattling off a list of names, HR quickly sent out a revised layoff list to everyone.

I was fuming.

Watching two clueless people mess up a company I built was infuriating.

I packed up my things and went through the exit process.

The sympathetic looks from my colleagues were almost worse than the situation itself.

Griffin's team was particularly nasty. One of them even threw coffee at me.

"Oh, sorry about that. Seems like the coffee had a mind of its own and decided to stick to you."

His mocking tone pushed me over the edge.

I set down the wet box I was holding, walked up to him, and, with a grim look, upended the mop bucket over his head.