Chapter 3

Before I could reply, I heard him yelling at his assistant, "Get legal on the line! Cancel every last contract we have with Deco Group! The penalty clause? I don't give a damn. We'll pay it!"

Next came calls from Leo Orwell in the South, another exec from the North, and Chris Blake from overseas.

The calls kept coming, one after another, each with the same unwavering message.

"Frank, wherever you go, we go."

Sitting in a quiet café, I watched my phone light up with messages of loyalty and wore a small smile.

You think firing me was the end?

No. This was just the beginning.

At eight that night, my phone buzzed with an unknown number.

I answered. A crisp female voice came through the speaker.

"Mr. Linwood? This is Emily Summers from Ascend Group."

Ascend Group was Deco Group's biggest rival.

I narrowed my eyes. "What can I do for you?"

A hint of amusement entered her voice. "I heard you became a free agent today. We would like to buy you a coffee."

I laughed. "News travels fast on your side."

"We're not well‑informed," Emily replies gently. "It's that your value is impossible to ignore."

I leaned back in my chair, watching the city lights blur outside the window. "Send me the address."

I was tucked into a corner booth at a Starbucks, watching a video of myself going viral.

Two security guards were marching me out of Deco Tower like a common criminal.

Whoever shot it picked the perfect angle just right to make me look like a stray dog getting kicked out onto the sidewalk.

The comments were already a war zone.

[Holy shit! Have they lost their minds? They just tossed out their cash cow!]

[I heard Frank was responsible for 90% of their revenue by himself.]

[Insider scoop: Michael Grant and his boys are definitely behind this.]

I snorted, killed the video, and looked up. A woman in a beige trench coat was striding toward me, heels clicking a clean rhythm across the marble floor.

"Mr. Linwood?" She slid into the booth across from me, pulling off her sunglasses. "I'm Emily Summers."

I took her in.

Her features were so perfect that she looked like she had been airbrushed for a magazine cover. The watch on her wrist was easily worth seven figures.

I wondered why Ascend Group sent a polished beauty to talk terms with me.

This was getting interesting.

"You move fast," I said, stirring my coffee. "I've been unemployed for less than eight hours."

Emily was about to reply when a roar echoed from the entrance, "Frank! I've been looking all over for you!"

Wesley stormed in with three assistants trailing him.

He slammed a thick file on the table. "Look at this! The termination agreements! Those morons at Deco Group actually think they can just slot some new guy onto my accounts?"

He then pulled out a lighter and, right there in the middle of Starbucks, set a copy of his contract on fire.

The girl at the next table shrieked and spilled her latte.

"Wesley, calm down," I said, though inside, I was loving every second of this.

"Calm down? Hell no!" he bellowed, loud enough for the entire café to hear.

"I just had my lawyers pull the plug on our ten-million-dollar contract! And that snake Michael had the nerve to call me, promising a 'more professional' account manager. Screw him!"

Emily's eyes lit up. I saw her discreetly typing on a tablet under the table.

I caught a glimpse of the screen. [Client Adherence & Loyalty Assessment: S-Class.]

Wesley finally noticed her. "And who is this?"

"Ms. Summers," I said, pausing for effect. "From Ascend Group. She's here to talk about a potential partnership."

"Ascend Group?"

Wesley slapped his thigh. "Perfect! Frank, wherever you go, I go. Tomorrow, I'll have procurement reopen the bids for everything."

Emily beamed.

I knew, right then, that I had already won.

*****

The next morning, the financial news was on fire.

[Deco Group's Stock Down 7% at Opening Bell, Over 1 Billion in Market Value Wiped Out!]

[Multiple Key Partners Announce Full Review of the Agreements with Deco Group!]

[Industry Insider: Core Clients Are Jumping Ship in Droves!]

I was lounging in the five-star hotel suite Ascend Group had put me up in, lazily scrolling through the headlines on my tablet.

My phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.

"Yeah?"

"Frank! You son of a bitch, you play dirty!"

It was Michael, his voice seething through the speaker. "You incited our clients to breach their contracts! I'm suing you for slander!"

I put him on speaker and tossed the phone onto the sofa. "Careful, Mr. Grant. Don't make accusations you can't prove. The clients made their own choices. It has nothing to do with me."

"You just wait! I've already spoken to the press! Tomorrow's headline is going to be 'Disgraced Sales King Investigated for Corporate Espionage'!"

I laughed. "That's funny. Because I have a little recording of my own. From that board meeting where you all decided to illegally alter my bonus calculations. Want to take a listen?"

Michael went dead silent.

Three seconds later, his voice dropped to a desperate whisper. "Frank, let's talk about this. Liam hoped you could come back. Name your price."

"Come back?"

I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down on the entire financial district. "Sure. Have the entire board of directors resign, starting with you, Michael. Then maybe I'll consider it."

He slammed the phone down.

Ten minutes later, I got a text from Emily: [Turn on the business channel.]

I flipped on the TV. Michael was on screen with a greasy smile as he gave an interview.

"Frank was a talented employee, but his professional ethics were questionable. We reserve the right to pursue all legal options..."

The camera switched to the studio. The analyst's expression was grim. "This is a suicidal maneuver by Deco Group. They are hemorrhaging core sales and destroying market trust."

I turned off the TV just as the doorbell rang.

It was Emily, holding a file. "Mr. Summers wants to see you."

The file cover read: [Offer of Employment.] I flipped straight to the back.

The salary line was marked "Negotiable," but the commission rate was written in bold red ink: [200% of Industry Standard.]

"Interesting," I said, closing the file. "Alright. Let's go meet him."

Ascend Group was in a whole different league compared to Deco Group.

The private elevator whisked us to the top floor, the hallways lined with gleaming patents and industry awards.