“Sit down, Emily.”
“Mr. Bennett, if you’re going to fire me, please just say it.”
He looked at me silently for a moment.
Then he said,
“Fine. As of today, you no longer work for me.”
My heart dropped. Even though I had expected those words, hearing them was completely different.
“Can I ask why?”
“Because I’ve made my decision.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
He folded his hands.
“I can keep you in the company on only one condition.”
I looked at him immediately. At that moment, my mind went to the worst possible place. His voice was calm. Too calm.
“What condition?”
Richard looked directly into my eyes.
“If you want to stay, starting tomorrow, you will no longer work for me for a salary.”
For several seconds, I did not understand what he meant.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“You want me to work for free?”
He did not answer. That silence hurt more than anything. Seven years.
I had stayed at the office late countless times. I had come in even when I was sick.
I had saved meetings, fixed last-minute contract problems, and dealt with difficult clients for him.
And now he was telling me I could stay only if I stopped getting paid?
My eyes filled with tears.
“I thought you were a different kind of man.”
Richard opened his mouth, but I stopped him.
“No. Please. Don’t say anything.”
“Emily…” The continuation read in the comments ‼️👇‼️👇
“I gave you seven years. If you wanted to fire me, you could have just fired me. You didn’t need to give me a condition like this.”
I turned away. He called after me.
“Come to the office tomorrow at ten.”
I did not turn around.
“I won’t.”
I went home crying that day.
I only told my mother that I had lost my job.
My phone rang three times in the middle of the night.
It was Richard.
I did not answer.
At nine the next morning, someone knocked on my door.
It was the company lawyer, Mr. Wilson.
“You need to come to the office.”
“If Mr. Bennett sent you, tell him I’m no longer interested.”
He smiled.
“That is exactly what he told me you would say.”
I stared at him.
“What is going on?”
He simply replied,
