Chapter 2
The call connected almost instantly.
A calm, confident male voice came through, with just a hint of surprise.
"Hello, Julia?"
"Yeah, it's me."
My voice came out flat.
"Mr. Mason, I'm available now."
Daniel chuckled on the other end.
"I've been waiting for this call for almost a year," he said.
That threw me.
"Wait, you actually know who I am?" I asked.
"Of course."
Daniel sounded absolutely certain.
"A year ago, your company's competitor, CoreTech Dynamics, asked me to try and recruit you.
"You turned them down, said you had feelings for your current company and weren't thinking about switching anytime soon.
"Ever since then, your resume's been sitting in my system as an S-level candidate, just waiting for the right moment."
S-level.
That word left me a little stunned.
To Victor, I was an expense to cut.
But to a top headhunter, I was the hottest prospect on their radar.
It was ironic.
"Julia, did something happen on your end?"
Daniel caught on right away.
"Yeah," I replied, my tone flat.
"The company just told me today they decided to let me go."
There was a full five seconds of silence on the other end.
Then I heard Daniel chuckle, unable to hold it back.
His laugh was full of disbelief, and a kind of wild excitement.
He said, "They actually let you go?
"Are they out of their minds?
"Did Mr. Brooks leave his brain at home or something?"
His barrage of questions actually helped melt away some of that icy feeling of betrayal.
At least somebody in this world understood what I was worth.
"They're bringing in somebody new at 17 thousand dollars a month to replace me," I said, laying it out.
I dropped the real bombshell.
Daniel fell silent again.
This time, the silence dragged on even longer.
It lasted so long, I started to wonder if he'd hung up.
"Julia," he finally said, his tone suddenly deadly serious.
"I take back what I said earlier.
"Mr. Brooks isn't crazy.
"He's just stupid and evil.
"He has no clue what he's throwing away.
"He thinks he's just kicking out some old hire on 3,300 dollars a month, but what he's really doing is tossing out the heart of the entire tech department!"
The engine.
That was a hundred times more honest than Victor's line about one person doing the work of a team.
My eyes started to sting, and I felt tears threatening to spill.
But I quickly held them back.
It wasn't worth it.
Even shedding a single tear for those people would be a waste.
"Mr. Mason, I need to update my resume."
I snapped myself out of it and got straight to business.
"No problem."
Daniel's tone turned all business.
"Send me a detailed breakdown of the projects you've led over the past year, especially the architecture optimization for the Skyline Platform.
"And what's your salary expectation?"
I paused for a moment.
I used to think that if I could get bumped to five thousand dollars a month, I'd be satisfied.
Now?
"I'll leave it up to you," I said, throwing it right back at him.
Let him figure it out for me.
Daniel laughed softly on the other end.
"Alright, I like working with smart people.
"Send me the details, and I'll give you a preliminary assessment in half an hour."
"Later."
The call ended.
I fired up my laptop and started compiling all my project files.
My fingers flew across the keyboard, my mind sharp and focused.
All those systems and lines of code I'd built, optimized, and iterated on through countless sleepless nights, they were like my own kids.
Every single detail was burned into my memory.
Project descriptions.
Technical architecture diagrams.
Performance metrics.
Piece by piece, every last detail.
All of it was the fruit of five years of my blood, sweat, and tears.
Fifteen minutes later, I sent a password-protected zip file, over 50MB in size, from my personal email to Daniel's work email.
When I finished, I leaned back in my chair and let out a long, slow breath.
It felt like I'd just finished a farewell ritual.
Saying goodbye to the innocent, blindly loyal version of myself.
My phone screen lit up.
It was a message from Emily.
Emily: [Julia, your resignation paperwork's ready. Come by and sign it.]
I didn't bother replying.
I stood up and took one last look around the office I'd called home for five years.
Then I walked over to the healthy little plant on my desk and picked it up.
This was mine, so I was taking it with me.
As for everything else, I didn't bother with it.
I walked over to Victor's assistant's desk.
He wasn't there.
I gently placed my desk key on his table.
Then, cradling my plant, I walked straight to the elevator without looking back.
Just as I was about to step into the elevator, my phone rang.
It was Daniel.
It had only been ten minutes since I sent the email.
I picked up.
"Julia."
Daniel's voice was practically buzzing with excitement.
"I've gone through your files," he said.
"Let me tell you, you're seriously underselling yourself.
"Seventeen thousand a month? For somebody like you, that isn't an offer.
"That's an insult."