"I'm sorry, we haven't received any such notification. We only work with the designated point of contact for this project. That would be Ronnie Butler."
The dial tone after the hang-up was piercing.
Like a death knell.
Kenneth stood frozen, phone still pressed to his ear.
I walked in. He looked at me, panic written across his face.
"You heard that?"
I smiled, said nothing, and stepped into a stall.
The moment I walked back into the office, the buzzing chatter died. The room went eerily quiet.
Dozens of contemptuous, gleeful stares pressed into my back like needles.
I sat down at my desk. My inbox had exploded with over a dozen emails, all from recruiting firms. Every single one was a rejection.
The reasons were nearly identical.
Mr. Butler, we regret to inform you that your overall qualifications and professional conduct do not meet our firm's referral standards. Thank you for your understanding.
I stared at those emails in silence, and the hostile looks suddenly made sense.
And I finally understood what Edmund had meant by "don't come crying later." He'd cut off every escape route.
A cold bitterness rose in my chest.
Not for my career.
For this rotten company.
Nine years I'd played it straight. Nine years of integrity. And now I was the one who "didn't meet professional conduct standards."
Meanwhile, the ones who'd poached clients under the company's name climbed the ladder without a scratch.
What a joke.
My phone rang. It was Herbert Delgado.
I didn't move from my seat. Just picked up.
"Mr. Delgado."
"Ronnie, what the hell is going on? Alfred just told me your company swapped out the project lead?"
"Yeah. Got the notice today."
"Whose call was that?"
I paused for a beat.
"The entire design department voted on it."
"That's absurd!"
His tone shifted, sharp and hard. "We're about to sign the contract and they pull you off? They think my forty-million-dollar design fee is some office popularity contest?"
His voice surged loud enough that it punched through the speaker and filled the silent office.
"Have they not read the supplementary agreement? You tell your people that Cloudridge's designated liaison is Ronnie Butler. We work with you and no one else!"
Kenneth shot up from his desk like he'd been spring-loaded and shoved open the door to the director's office.
"Edmund, Delgado from Cloudridge is on the phone. Says the only person he'll deal with is Ronnie."