Chapter 1
I help Vivian Ross's company make a lot of money by shooting food exploration videos.
Just before her company was preparing to raise funds for IPO, I chose to resign.
Vivian angrily accused me, "Lucas Anderson, what do you mean by resigning at this time? Do you know how much loss this will cause to the company?"
My so-called good brother Marcus Bennett said to me with displeasure: "You are the pillar of our company. Why do you suddenly stab the company at this time?"
"Vivian is your girlfriend, and I am your best brother. If you have any grievances, just tell us. Why do you want to resign? We can discuss anything!"
I said calmly, "Have you ever seen a breadwinner who only earns $500 a month?"
After I resigned, Vivian and Marcus slandered me online and even sent me a lawyer's letter, asking me to compensate the company for $30 million in losses.
I resigned from Gourmet Insight Group.
For this, Vivian and Marcus were furious, scolding me for being ungrateful and calling me an ungrateful person.
In the office, Vivian smashed her beloved Porcelain Teacup.
Marcus bought this Porcelain Teacup from an auction and gave it to Vivian on her last birthday. It is said to be worth a lot of money, and Vivian has always regarded it as a treasure.
As I stared at the broken pieces of Porcelain Teacup on the floor, Vivian yelled at me, "Lucas, are you out of your mind?"
"What do you mean by suddenly resigning at this time?"
"Our company is about to raise funds and go public. The shareholders of the company are all waiting for this day. Why do you choose to stab us in the back at this time? What are you thinking?"
Marcus also frowned and said to me with an unhappy face: "Brother, if you want to resign, there must be a reason, right?"
"If you leave at this time, do you know how much loss it will cause to our company?"
"Even if you are unhappy working in the company, you have to wait until our company goes public before you talk about leaving. If you choose to leave now, isn't that a betrayal to me and Vivian?"
I calmly handed in my resignation letter and said calmly, "My three-year contract has ended. It's not against the law if I don't renew my contract with the company!"
Vivian tore up my resignation letter and yelled, "I don't agree with your resignation!"
"If you dare to resign, we will break up. It's up to you!"
Marcus also said to me in a deep voice: "Vivian is your girlfriend, and I am your best brother. Is there anything that cannot be discussed between us?"
"Lucas, you are the backbone of our company. If you leave, what will happen to the company?"
I smiled, but it was a cold smile.
I looked at them and said self-deprecatingly, "I am the pillar of the company? I really don't deserve it!"
"Have you ever seen a breadwinner who only earns $500 a month?"
As soon as I said this, Vivian and Marcus' faces suddenly became a little embarrassed.
Vivian glared at me and said, "Are you going to resign just because of this little thing?"
"Lucas, do you have me in your heart?"
"I told you before that I would give you Profit Shares after the company goes public. Why are you so stingy and haggling? Are you still a man?"
Marcus also hypocritically comforted me and said: "Our company is at a critical period recently. As one of the founders of the company, you have to take the lead and set an example."
"After the company goes public, Vivian and I will give you some of our company stocks. Don't get mad at us over that little salary."
Chapter 2
I almost laughed out of anger at their shameless and nonsensical words.
I can say that most of the credit for the company's development from its founding to its current size goes to me, while Vivian and Marcus did not contribute much.
Because of a contract that year, no matter how much profit the company made in the past three years, I could only get a salary of $500 per month.
I have also mentioned the issue of salary increase to Vivian and Marcus, but they always gave me vague answers.
Vivian spends lavishly on expensive bags and cosmetics, and Marcus eats delicacies from land and sea all day long. They live a life of luxury, but they treat me as their ATM.
When it comes to Company Stocks, their actions are even more disgusting.
When the company was first established, Vivian said that she would marry me sooner or later, and the company stocks in her hands would be mine, and asked me not to participate in the distribution of the company's company stocks.
Marcus also repeatedly promised that he would never treat me unfairly after the company developed.
I trusted them too much back then, and ended up signing that three-year contract.
Now, three years have passed in a flash, and I have seen through their character clearly. Naturally, I will not be bewitched or used by them again.
Vivian took out a contract extension from her desk and said to me coldly, "Sign it!"
"Your salary will be raised to three thousand dollars in the future."
"After the company raises funds and goes public, I will give you 5% of the Profit Shares. Are you satisfied now?"
When she said this, Vivian was still very angry, as if I had taken great advantage of her.
Marcus also pretended to persuade me and said, "Lucas, stop making trouble and sign it quickly!"
"You and Vivian are going to get married soon, and you will be a family from now on. Why do you still care about these things?"
I shook my head and said to them coldly: "I won't sign it!"
"I will not marry Vivian either. Do you really think I don't know about the things you have done behind my back all these years?"
After hearing what I said, Vivian and Marcus' faces suddenly changed.
Vivian and Marcus are both my college classmates.
When I was in college, I liked to shoot some food appreciation videos.
During my senior year, a food appreciation video I shot went viral, and I got a small taste of what it was like to be an Internet celebrity.
At that time, I had just started dating Vivian.
Marcus and Vivian approached me to discuss starting a company using the internet traffic from my food appreciation photos.
I didn't agree at first.
After all, filming food identification is my hobby, and I don’t want to become an online food anchor.
Finally, I couldn't resist Vivian and Marcus's pestering and agreed to start a business with them.
At the beginning, I continued to shoot food appreciation videos every now and then as usual, and the number of views was quite good.
However, Vivian and Marcus were not satisfied.
They asked me to shoot as many videos as possible, and it would be best if I could update the videos on the account every day.
Vivian even pretended to beg me and said, "Honey, all my family assets have been invested in the company. We have to cash it out quickly, otherwise I will be left with nothing!"
Marcus also said to me bitterly: "Brother, I sold my old and shabby house because I trust you. You must not let me down!"
At that time, I loved Vivian deeply and regarded Marcus as my only brother.
Chapter 3
So, even though I was reluctant, at their pleading, I still tried my best to take pictures of food appreciation, striving to increase the traffic of my account quickly so that the company could make a profit faster.
In addition, because I trust Vivian and Marcus, I also agreed to let them manage my shooting account.
When the food appreciation videos I shot became more and more popular, many advertisers came to me, waving money and wanting me to advertise in my food appreciation videos.
All the advertising revenue went to Vivian and Marcus, and I got nothing.
For three years, I have not received any other benefits from this company except for a monthly salary of $500.
Last time, when Vivian had her birthday, I wanted to have a good talk with her.
As a result, she didn't go home on her birthday night and Marcus couldn't contact her.
That night, I saw the photos on Marcus’ Moments. They were photos of Vivian and Marcus checking into a hotel.
In the photo, on the bedside table in the hotel room is the birthday gift that Marcus gave to Vivian, which is the Porcelain Teacup.
Marcus was probably drunk when he posted on WeChat Moments and forgot to block me. Although he deleted the photo quickly, I had already seen it.
The moment I saw that photo, I thought I would be furious, but actually I was very calm.
During these three years, I noticed the affair between Vivian and Marcus, but I didn't confront them directly. After all, I signed a three-year contract with them.
It would be very troublesome for me to break the contract, so I have been enduring it.
My love for Vivian and my brotherly love for Marcus have been completely trampled upon by them in these three years.
So, when the three-year term was up, I chose to resign without hesitation.
Vivian and Marcus still wanted to argue, but I was too lazy to argue with them.
The moment I turned around and left the office, Vivian and Marcus revealed their true colors.
Vivian yelled, "Lucas, if there was no company that spent money to run you and packaged you as a gourmet, how could you have become the popular online food anchor you are today?"
"If you are ungrateful, don't blame us."
"Your account belongs to the company, and you can no longer use a new account to do food appreciation, otherwise we will definitely sue you and put you in jail for the rest of your life."
Marcus also said to me gloomily: "The company has spent too much money on your training over the years. If you want to leave, we won't stop you."
"But you have to compensate us for our losses."
"Once we take you to court, you'll have to pay us at least tens of millions of dollars. You'd better think carefully!"
My response was simple. I didn't look back, but just gave them a middle finger and said my final goodbye.
The moment I walked out of the door of Gourmet Insight Group, there was a girl following me.
Her name is Sophia Taylor, and she is my junior.
She started working in the company last year and I was the one filming her.
I said to her somewhat helplessly, "Vivian and Marcus both made it clear that you were going to be the operations director, so why did you quit?"
Sophia curled her lips and snorted, "I joined this company just for you, senior."
"Now that you have resigned and left, I will definitely not stay here any longer!"
"Others may not know your contribution to this company, but I know it very well."