Chapter 2My Former Boss Called Me to Work Overtime After I'd Quit

I was done. Completely.

"Ryan, I understand," I said calmly. "But I resigned before the holidays, and all the proper procedures were completed."

"Come on, Evan, why are you being so stubborn? Just listen to me..."

"Ryan."

I cut him off.

"I've been with the company for seven years. I've never missed a day of work, never taken a day off, and never once refused overtime. I believe I've done right by this company. If there's anything that still needs to be handed over, I'll cooperate. Other than that, there's no need to call me again."

"Evan Young!"

His voice turned shrill with anger. "What kind of attitude is that? I'm trying to talk this through with you in good faith, and you're not even appreciative of it!"

I hung up.

I wasn't about to let my former company ruin my mood on my first day at the client company.

Less than five minutes later, my phone rang again.

This time, it was a voice call from Kevin Lewis, the subordinate who had taken the Outstanding Employee award from me last year.

I declined it.

Half a minute later, messages started popping up one after another.

"Evan, why aren't you answering?"

"Ms. Hayes is furious. At least text her back."

"You're usually the most reliable one here. Why are you being so unreasonable this time? Don't make things difficult for Ms. Hayes."

I looked at the messages without feeling much of anything.

Kevin Lewis had been with the company for three years.

I was the one who had trained him when he was still an intern.

I taught him how to deal with clients and how to step in quickly when something went wrong on a project.

And in return, he stole the credit for my work and the year-end bonus that came with it.

My phone buzzed again.

This time, he sent a long message. Apparently, my silence was getting to him.

"Evan, I know you're upset about the year-end bonus, but you can't blame the company for that.

"Business was tough last year. Everyone had a hard time. Ms. Hayes actually thinks highly of you. If you walk away over a little money, how do you think that's going to look? Besides, the company spent all these years training you. Can you really just leave like this with a clear conscience?"

A clear conscience.

I stared at those words and almost laughed out loud.

I typed back, "Who secretly copied my client files while I was out sick? Who took my ideas, repackaged them, and presented them as his own at team meetings? And who bought drinks for the entire department right before the year-end evaluations and somehow managed to leave me out?

"You're the last person who gets to lecture me about having a conscience."

Less than three minutes after I sent it, another message came through, this one dripping with patronizing disappointment.

"Evan, what's the point of saying all this? You're only hurting yourself by making a mountain out of a molehill. Where do you think you can go after leaving the company? There are people with graduate degrees who can't even find jobs right now. You're thirty, single, and only have a bachelor's degree. Everything worth putting on your resume came from opportunities this company gave you.

"Ryan already said that if you still refuse to come back, Ms. Hayes is ready to put out a statement about you. After that, who do you think will still hire you?"

I scoffed inwardly.

So now they were threatening me.

My phone buzzed again.

"Evan? Say something! We're all waiting."

I opened the chat and replied with a single smiley face.

Then I blocked him, got out of bed, and went to wash up.

Today, I was going to start working at Newfield Group, my former company's client on the $1.2 million project.

The executive in charge was Marcus Cole. We'd gotten to know each other through the project, and he was refreshingly straightforward.

When my company stabbed me in the back before the holidays, Marcus had sent me a message.

"Evan, we desperately need people like you at our company. You're wasting your talent over there. Name your price. If you're interested, contact me anytime."

After washing my face, I looked at my reflection in the mirror.