My Ambition 5

Chapter 5 

The second I hit send, headhunter called. 

Submitted PTO request through our system. Denied. 

Had to go straight to Ryan. 

His office door was half-open. Seeing me approach, he waved me in. 

I pushed the door open. 

He was staring at his computer screen, irritated: “What is it?” 

‘I applied for vacation days. You rejected it.” Straight to the point. 

He leaned back, arms crossed: “Projects are critical right now, everyone’s pulling overtime. What vacation?” 

Labor law guarantees my right to use vacation days.” I looked at him, stating facts. 

He rubbed his temples, frustrated: “Jade, this isn’t like you!” 

He frowned: “If the project tanks, are you taking responsibility?” 

looked at him, voice completely level: “Ryan, I need you to respect labor law. 

Also, I haven’t taken a single vacation day in one year and four months.” 

His face turned bright red. 

Jade, you…” 

le stammered for ages without getting a word out. 

turned and left his office. 

lehind me, his suppressed roar: “Jade! You’ll regret this!” 

Back at my desk, phone buzzing nonstop. 

creen lit up with notifications: 

You have been removed from group chat ‘Core Project Team”” 

You have been removed from group chat ‘Company All-Hands”” 

One after another, efficient as a programmed execution. 

Phone in hand, I walked back into Ryan’s office. 

He didn’t look up, like he was expecting me. 

Ryan, what’s this about?” I held my phone up. 

“You’re fired, Jade.” 

He looked up, face showing vindictive satisfaction. 

I nodded: “Fine. Per contract, severance is N+1.” 

He laughed coldly: “Serious misconduct, abandoning your duties-and you want severance? You’re getting nothing!” 

“I applied for legal vacation time. System has records, labor law protects it.” I stated calmly: “Your unilateral contract termination is 

illegal.” 

He shot up, finger practically in my face: “Company projects are in chaos because of you, and you’re citing labor law?” 

I didn’t respond, just went back to my desk. 

Opened my computer and started packaging years of overtime records, project emails, and chat logs with Ryan. Encrypted everything, uploaded to cloud storage. 

Next few days, every resume I sent got radio silence. 

Occasional responses that scheduled interviews got cancelled last-minute with “found a better fit” excuses. 

Even the headhunter I’d arranged to meet called: “Jade, sorry, let’s cancel our meeting.” 

I asked: “Why?” 

Long silence, then: “Word around the industry is that you’re… disloyal. That you’re shopping around trade secrets.” 

Line went dead. 

I gripped my phone, knuckles white. 

Ryan was trying to completely destroy my career prospects. 

just when I thought my world had shrunk down to four walls, my phone buzzed unexpectedly. 

Unknown local number. 

I swiped to answer, voice hoarse: “Hello.” 

After a few seconds, a steady male voice responded: “Ms. Sterling, this is Vincent Wellington.” 

My spine went rigid-thought I might be hallucinating. 

I gripped the phone tighter, stayed silent. 

“I heard about what happened at your former company.” 

I closed my eyes, feeling ice-cold dread. 

“But I trust my judgment.” 

My eyes snapped open. 

Our Strategic Development department needs someone with your resilience and expertise.” 

His voice came through crystal clear, confident: “Ms. Sterling, interested in discussing this in person?” 

In that moment, I saw a beam of light. 

Not charity. Recognition! 

I clutched my phone, trying to keep my voice from shaking: “Yes.”