The Rejected Man's Rise

CHAPTER 04

“Get out of my chair,” Caleb said without hesitation.

Mike paused in a bit of disbelief. “Huh?”

Did Caleb, an easy pushover, dare refuse him?

He looked at Sherry, smiling furiously.

Sherry also looked at Caleb as if he made a big mistake, but he didn’t even blink.

“Are you going to get up, or do y0u want me to talk to Madam CEO?” Caleb asked.

“Pfft,” Mike almost burst into a smile. “You think our CEO would waste her precious time on you? Did she even talk to you once in the time she’s been here?” He got up at once. “But I’ll humor you and leave this spot for now. However, you will come begging to me soon and do everything I tell you to do.”

Saying that he walked away with hands in pockets.

“Who’s going to move these items?” Caleb said coldly.

Mike forced out a smile. “This guy…” The vein in his neck throbbed. He glanced at a couple of coworkers.

They quickly moved the items back to his desk and brought Caleb’s belongings back to his desk.

Caleb sat down and just did his work.

Sherry kept glancing at him every now and then.

He could feel it, but he didn’t even glance at her.

“You are going to regret picking a fight with him,” Sherry said.

Caleb’s forefinger stopped clicking the mouse. He slightly shifted his head and looked at her. She dressed up especially well today, but she did not appear as pretty in his eyes anymore.

“Why do you care?” Caleb asked.

Her eyes widened a little. “A-Are you really going to behave like this because I rejected your confession?”

Caleb inhaled a bit deeply and said, “Yeah.”

“You’re being childish.”

“I was. But not anymore.”

“Hmph,” she snorted and stopped talking after that.

Moments later, the HR manager directly approached Caleb’s desk with a file and threw it in his face.

“Your drafts are trash. They did not satisfy the clients,” he roared. “If you can’t create good designs, why don’t you go out into the field and lift cement bags? Why are you sitting in an AC room and wasting the company’s money?”

Caleb frowned as embarrassment crept up onto his face.

Mike was snickering from his desk.

So, he was the one who was behind this.

Caleb did not expect Mike to even make the HR manager behave like this. He felt like he underestimated Mike’s influence.

“Just look at you. You are overweight. Your face has no glow, and so do your designs,” the HR manager continued to accuse him, his spit flying and falling all over. Even Sherry who was in the next cubicle was moving away. “Your creativity is coming from your belly, not from your brain. That’s why your designs are being rejected! If this happens again, then prepare to face consequences.”

Caleb had enough.

“I did not receive any negative feedback from the customers,” Caleb angrily retorted. “Some clients even specifically praised my designs on social media. So what nonsense are you spouting, sir?”

“Hmph!” The manager arrogantly responded, saying, “You are daydreaming if you think social media likes have an impact on the company’s growth. Whatever I say is the rule. If I tell you to crawl, you must crawl,” he particularly glanced in Mike’s direction as though he wanted to convey to Caleb what the real issue was, “and if I tell you to leave, then you must leave.”

At that moment, a group of people walked into the company, with the company chairman, Edward Grand, cautiously following behind them.

The HR manager quietened like a puppy before them.

Sherry and Caleb and others also just focused on their work, or at least tried to.

After the chairman and the group went into the guest room, whispers sprang to life in the office.

Mike came over to Sherry’s desk.

“Do you know who they are?” she asked him.

“Of course,” Mike boasted a little bit. “They are the investment team from Phantom Dream Investments. If their negotiations are successful, our company will receive a $1 million investment and expand its core team. That means… you could get into the core team.”

Sherry felt butterflies in her stomach.

“Of course,” Mike glanced at Caleb. “Getting into the core team will remain a dream for some losers.”

Sherry tried her best to not chuckle.

In the five years Caleb was here, he was not able to get promoted to the core team. It wasn’t because of his lack of talent but due to politics and also due to a past mistake.

Sherry also did not receive a promotion because she refused to suck up to the HR manager because he was bald and ugly. This was one of the reasons Caleb liked her because she didn’t sell her body like some other girls did.

Now, thanks to Mike, Sherry could finally get into the core team she had always dreamed of.

Her salary would also climb from being 50K to 80K or even more.

Sherry innocently asked Mike, “At best, only one member will be added into the core team. Do you think I’ll have a chance?”

“I will give you my spot, Sherry,” Mike replied, startling her.

“Huh? Then what about you?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Mike smugly smirked, “My uncle is the one who brought the Phantom Dream Investment company to us. If this deal goes through, I’ll become the head of the interior design department. I’ll be above the core team and every other team in the company.”

Everyone began flattering him immediately, and Sherry was at the front.

The only person who still remained at his seat was Caleb.

And he did not look happy at all.

How could someone like Mike who had little to no work experience become the head of the department?

If that were to happen, Caleb’s life in this company would become living hell.