Chapter 7
462words
I was leading the final review of a make-or-break project with my team.
The conference room door burst open.
The Administrative Director and HR Manager stood in the doorway, faces grim.
Two security guards loomed behind them.
"Michael." The director's voice was flat. "Meeting's over. Come with us."
My colleagues stared in stunned silence as I followed them out.
In the hallway,
my parents and Jason stood waiting.
Mom clutched a massive poster with blood-red letters:
"UNGRATEFUL SON DRIVES PARENTS TO SUICIDE - GOD WILL JUDGE!"
Dad thrust flyers into the hands of horrified employees.
Jason held his phone at arm's length, livestreaming while he shouted:
"Look everyone! This corporate hotshot drove his own parents to the brink of suicide!"
Ice flooded my veins.
"Michael." The HR manager's voice dripped with frost.
"Your family situation has disrupted operations and damaged our company's image. Senior management has decided to suspend you immediately pending investigation."
"This is calculated defamation!" I protested. "Director, you know me better than—"
"I don't care!" the director cut me off, disgust flashing in his eyes.
"All I see are your devastated parents! We can't afford this PR nightmare! You're suspended until this mess is resolved!"
Just then,
my phone erupted with notifications.
Messages poured in:
Emma: "They're at my parents' place! Making a scene in the front yard! All the neighbors are watching! Mom's blood pressure is through the roof!"
College buddy: "Dude, you're trending! 'Heartless Son Drives Parents to Suicide' is #1 on Twitter!"
Uncle: "Michael, apologize to your parents NOW! You've disgraced our entire family!"
I looked up,
catching the flicker of satisfaction beneath my parents' theatrical grief.
Noticing Jason's smirk behind his camera phone,
hearing the finality in the HR manager's voice...
In that moment,
despair crushed the air from my lungs.
Suspension meant no income, project failure, career suicide.
The viral shaming meant Emma and I would be branded forever as villains.
Their harassment of Emma's family threatened my last remaining support system.
What options did I have?
Give in?
With millions of strangers judging me and my company cutting ties.
Should I surrender to save my career?
That would only confirm my "guilt,"
and start a never-ending cycle of extortion.
Stand my ground?
In a culture where "honoring thy parents" is sacred, any defiance looks like sin.
My truth would crumble against their masterful performance of grief.
I'd lose everything either way.
This was their checkmate move.
They'd calculated perfectly that in this social media age,
by seizing the moral high ground of family values,
they'd made themselves untouchable.
Just as I felt the weight crushing me completely,
my eyes locked on Jason's livestreaming phone,
and a wild, desperate idea flashed through my mind,
an idea so crazy it just might work.
