"Where did you go? We were looking everywhere for you!" several of my colleagues gathered around me and exclaimed in an exaggerated manner.

Subsequently, Sam patted my shoulder.

"I need to tell you something, Zane. Just remain calm and hear me out, okay?" he said with feigned sadness.

I glanced at the smirk on his face and pretended to look puzzled.

While he observed my reaction, he cleared his throat and declared, "I think you're on the layoff list this year."

Then, everyone proceeded to blame the decision on our company.

"I can't believe it! How could you be included on the layoff list? What are the higher-ups thinking?"

"She's right! You should be the last person they fire. What a stupid decision."

"Our supervisor is an idiot!"

A couple of them voiced their complaints almost simultaneously.

They were incredibly good at putting on an act. If I hadn't already discovered the truth, I would've assumed that they were actually sticking up for me.

To my dismay, the very people who were pretending to comfort me were actually the ones who got me fired. Now, their phony behavior only disgusted me.

"It's okay, Zane."

A seemingly earnest voice rang out from behind me. Upon turning around, I discovered that the voice belonged to Michael Lynch.

Michael was practically my apprentice; he'd been shadowing me since his first day on the job. Our company had a fast-paced work environment, and initially, he struggled to keep up. So, I sacrificed almost all of my personal time in order to guide him through the business processes.

I helped Michael look for housing options when he had trouble renting a home. When he hit a rough patch in his love life, I kept him company over drinks and cheered him up. He was like a brother to me, and I'd regarded him as someone I could trust.

Even if the entire department had voted to lay me off, I'd naively assumed that Michael would never cast his vote against me. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken.

After everything, I found out that Michael was the first of my eleven department colleagues to cast his vote. In fact, he didn't even hesitate in doing so.

He casually patted me on my shoulder and flashed me a demeaning look.

"It's just a job," he said nonchalantly. "The watchdog at my uncle's factory was poisoned two days ago. So, he currently needs someone to help him guard the place."

He continued with a condescending smile, "What do you think? If you're interested, I'll get you that job immediately."

Picking up on what he was implying, another one of my colleagues, Ben, couldn't help but chime in.

"I can't believe you're asking him to be a watchdog," Ben teased. "Have you forgotten that he used to be your mentor? That aside…"

After a moment of silence, he burst into laughter and continued, "Remember not to skimp on his salary. Otherwise, he's going to be worse off than an actual dog."

With a proud expression on his face, Michael replied, "Of course. I'll see to it that Zane receives at least 800 dollars a month. That should be more than enough to cover his basic needs."

I scoffed inwardly. I couldn't believe how obnoxious Michael was being.

When I didn't react like Michael had thought I would, he grew slightly upset.

"You should be grateful, Zane Carter! The economy is terrible right now. Do you know how difficult it is to find a job?

"Countless fresh graduates are unemployed right now. You should be thankful that I got you a job at all!"

When I remained expressionless, he changed his tone and pretended to be thoughtful and considerate.

"Tell you what—I won't do you this favor for free. You just came up with a brand new algorithm, didn't you?

"How about you give me that algorithm in exchange for a dollar and a job? Doesn't that sound like a great deal?" he asked.

I stared at him in shock. I was furious. I'd worked on this algorithm myself for a considerable amount of time. I couldn't believe he had the nerve to ask for it so blatantly.

I had invited him to work with me from the very beginning. However, every time I approached him, he'd claim that he was busy with work or that he was feeling unwell.

Michael had never contributed anything at all. And yet, he was now trying to get involved when the algorithm was almost complete. He was just trying to take credit and benefit from my work before I quit my job.

When I didn't respond to him, he snapped irritably, "Why are you still hesitating? I'm doing this for your best interests!"

He continued, "Stop being so impudent. Don't come running to me for help when you're unemployed and living on the streets. By then, it'll be too late!"

I glanced at him emotionlessly.

"A dollar?" I spat coldly. "I was once offered a million dollars for this algorithm. If you want to buy it from me, you should at least be offering me this much."

Subsequently, I held up five fingers.

Michael scoffed and said arrogantly, "Half a million dollars? Have you lost your mind? Are you still hungover? What makes you think I want that useless algorithm of yours anyway?"

When they saw how agitated he was becoming, my other colleagues hastily said, "Just ignore him, Michael. He's such an ungrateful man. He'll probably come to his senses when he's homeless and starving."

I scoffed inwardly as I watched them make fun of me.

"Let's see who gets to have the last laugh," I thought to myself.

…

The following morning, I headed straight to the human resources department and processed my resignation. Then, I went to my table to clean up my belongings.

By the time I got back to the office, my colleagues were enthusiastically talking about how they were going to spend the commission.

"I've been eyeing this limited-edition Louis Vuitton purse for the longest time. Once I receive the commission, I'm heading to the store to buy it immediately!" one said.

"I'm going to go on a vacation with my girlfriend. She's been talking about wanting to go on a trip for the longest time. I'm finally able to make that happen."

"What about you, Mike?"

Everyone turned to look at Michael.

"I've already gotten what I want," replied Michael.

As it turned out, Michael wanted me gone so he could get a promotion and take my place.

When he saw me entering the room, he raised his voice and continued, "Working for this wretched company is so exhausting. I'm so jealous of the people who get to leave this nasty job."

When the rest of the group caught sight of me, they instantly realized what Michael was trying to do.

"Maybe you should make an instruction manual for the rest of us, Zane. How does one get themselves laid off? It sounds like such a difficult feat…" someone else mocked.

Subsequently, they all began to laugh even louder.

I sighed inwardly and gently shook my head. Initially, I'd wanted to head over and give them a casual reminder. However, judging by how things were at the moment, I didn't think I needed to do so anymore.

Just as I was about to walk away, someone started yelling after me.

"Hey! Hey—you! I'm talking to you here. Are you deaf?"

I turned around and saw Veronica Goldberg.

Veronica, who was relatively close to Michael, walked toward me with a frown. Then, she impatiently flung a piece of paper at me and spat, "Here's the bill from last night. Do remember to pay your share. Your total is three thousand dollars."

Three thousand dollars?

I scanned the receipt and frowned. "From what I remember, the total cost of drinks, dinner, and the venue rental last night couldn't have been more than nine thousand dollars.

"Our department consists of twelve people, including me, so the bill should've been about seven hundred and fifty dollars per person. Why am I suddenly being asked to pay three thousand dollars then?"

Was the receipt even legitimate?

Upon hearing my comments, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. With an arrogant expression, she retorted, "The bill has always been split this way. Your pay is a lot higher than ours. So, doesn't it make sense for you to pay a bigger share?"

What?

This was the first time I'd ever heard of team-building costs being split according to each employee's salary. On top of that, Veronica looked so entitled that I almost thought that I was being unreasonable.

Had I been paying a bigger share of our team-building expenses this entire time?

"You're not arguing with me over such a small amount of money, are you?" she asked with a look of disdain.

Of course I was. Did I look like a fool to her?

After eyeing me up and down, she suddenly pretended to look shocked. She dramatically put a hand over her mouth and said, "I'm so sorry! I forgot that you're out of a job. I suppose three thousand dollars is a hefty sum for someone who is unemployed…"

She intentionally dragged out her words in order to mock me.

Everyone in the office burst into laughter.

Michael, who'd been watching everything unfold from the sidelines, finally stepped forward. Pretending to be considerate, he waved Veronica off and said, "That's enough. Stop making things difficult for him."

Once he made his way toward me, he put on the same condescending expression and proceeded to stare at me with a mocking gaze.

"For old times' sake, I'll look past what happened yesterday. If you get on your knees and bark like a dog right now, I'll help you pay your share of the bill immediately. What do you say?"

Everyone in the office was staring at me. They were all waiting for me to humiliate myself.