Chapter 3The Secret CEO's Accidental Promotion

I had to suspect Mr. Sterling was using me as a target. Did he want me dead?

What grudge, what grievance? Why target me?

Did my twelve years of slacking off upset him?

Or was he using the "praise to kill" method? Wanting me to quit voluntarily so he wouldn't have to give me stocks?

I couldn't help but spiral into conspiracy theories.

Otherwise, it made no sense...

Before the Old Guard and the New Blood could voice their doubts again, Mr. Sterling hardened his face and said deeply, "Since none of you accept my decision, for the sake of fairness, I will give you a chance to compete fairly."

Now the factions were quiet. It was my turn to speak for myself.

But just as I opened my mouth to say "I," hands covered my mouth from behind.

I turned in shock and saw Chloe, my former lunch buddy and current CFO: "Don't be scared. Compete with them. Let the boss finish."

Me: "???"

On my other side, Hank, my former chat buddy and current CTO, put his hand on my shoulder: "Exactly. With us here, your wealth is coming."

Me: "!!!"

What are these two talking about?

Seeing my confusion, Chloe whispered in my left ear: "Actually, the boss has been struggling with who to promote to COO."

I looked left at Chloe, asking with my eyes: Boss struggles, what's it to me?

Hank whispered in my right ear: "So when the boss asked for our opinion, Chloe and I strongly recommended you."

I whipped my head right to look at Hank in shock.

I couldn't believe it: "Are you crazy? I'm lazy, greedy, and useless. You dared to recommend me?"

Chloe on the left snorted: "Someone who can write 6,000 words of high-quality content daily while working? You call that lazy?"

Hank on the right scoffed: "Someone who gets a certification for every profession she writes about? You call that useless?"

Me in the middle was going crazy. Just as I was about to explode, David Summer and Wayne Hart stood up and said in unison: "Fine, no problem. We accept this challenge."

Then, they both looked at me, eyes blazing with battlelust.

Me: !!!

They clearly saw me as an imaginary enemy.

I was so busy chatting I didn't hear what the challenge was.

I didn't plan to get involved in this promotion war. I was about to state my position when I saw Mr. Sterling wink at me.

I didn't understand the hint.

While I was dazed, Mr. Sterling announced the meeting over and left at light speed, giving me no chance to decline.

Once the boss left, David and Wayne walked up to me.

David looked at Chloe and Hank standing beside me, smiling a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "You three were close back then. I didn't expect you to still be so close after all these years."

Wayne was more direct. He lifted his chin and said unpleasantly: "If you don't want to end up embarrassed, you'd better withdraw from the Zenith Project competition now. Don't smear the company's image."

After speaking their piece, they left without waiting for a reply.

Now, only Chloe, Hank, and I were left in the huge conference room.

I couldn't maintain my calm facade anymore. I clutched my head and screamed at them: "What the hell did you two do behind my back?"