He Thought I’d Compromise Chapter 06
On my last day, I wrapped up every project.
I invited a few close coworkers out for dinner. A young woman who had just joined our department that year cried while she ate.
“I’m going to miss you so much. Everyone says that if I work under you, Stella, I’ll improve so much in less than two years. I haven’t even learned anything yet, and you’re already cruelly abandoning me.”
“Everyone here is excellent. They’ll mentor you well too.”
As for why I was leaving, the people in my department respected boundaries and did not pry.
But there were exceptions from time to time.
The office break room was divided into small enclosed sections. I was in the one on the left when I heard people gossiping.
“What do you think she’s leaving for? She would’ve been promoted again next year, but she’s leaving right at this moment. Of course there’s a special reason.”
I took a quiet sip of my coffee and listened.
The two of them lowered their voices as they talked.
“I heard, and of course I’m only saying I heard, that she didn’t get promoted on her own at all. She had someone backing her.”
“I knew it. She got to a director-level position that young, and I actually thought she was that capable. Turns out she slept her way up.”
“The tables have turned. The man at the top found someone new, and sticking around would just look pathetic.”
Over the years, Bennett and I had never mixed our private relationship with work.
In fact, because of that special relationship with him, my promotion path had been harder than other people’s.
Other people could choose the best projects in the best regions. I had to go out of my way to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest and deliberately take the projects nobody wanted.
No one had the right to talk about me that way.
I set down my coffee and was about to push the door open when the door of the next nook was shoved open first. Then I heard a familiar voice.
“Since when does putting ‘I heard’ in front of a rumor give you permission to say it like it’s a fact?”
“Her promotion materials are fully transparent. If you have questions about any part of the process, the promotion review committee on the sixty-third floor will be happy to hear you out. Otherwise, I have reason to believe you’re questioning Kingsley’s promotion system.”
“The workplace is brutal, especially for women. No one climbs the ladder easily. You think sleeping your way up is enough to get promoted? Let me tell you something. If you bring no value, you could give yourself away for free for a hundred years and still not land a role.”
“Didn’t you want to know how Stella reached that position so young? Allen, I once asked you to make a client tracking sheet. Do you know what twenty-three-year-old Stella would have given me if I had asked her to do it?”
“She would not have given me just data. She would have given me client value. That is the answer.”
She turned to the person who had started talking first, her words sharp. “You look beautiful today. You’re wearing Valentino shoes and Dior earrings. I saw your new bag this morning too. It’s a Chanel from last season, but I’m guessing it still cost you a month’s salary. From head to toe, you look expensive today. But the things you said made you sound cheap.”
The two of them looked ashamed. “Marin, we won’t say things like that again.”
I had never thought about saying goodbye to Marin. I thought our relationship did not need that.
Besides, my leaving was good for her.
I pushed the door open and walked out. As she looked at me in slight surprise, I smiled sincerely and said, “Thank you for standing up for me.”
She lifted her chin and glanced at me. “Don’t flatter yourself. Everyone knows you and I are competitors. If they insult you, they insult me too. So I wasn’t speaking up for you. I was doing it for myself.”
I was still smiling. “Yeah. I know.”
She rolled her eyes and turned away. Halfway out, she looked back. “Since I’m already doing you a favor, I’ll give you one more piece of advice.”
“I’m listening.”
“Men are like clothes. No matter how expensive they are, they’re worthless if they don’t feel right on you. You won’t die without a man. But without a job or money, you can end up starving on the street.”
After saying that, she turned away proudly, like a swan.