Chapter 9
1103words
Derrick narrowed his eyes at me and saw that I looked exhausted. He just scoffed and turned to leave with the flash drive in his hand.
However, while he left with his arm still wrapped around Winter's waist, I caught sight of Winter and Felix exchanging glances with each other.
Derrick never saw the exchange from his angle, but I did. The look wasn't the sultry or playful kind. It looked more like they were in on something and exchanging information with each other. It somehow made me think that they had a closer relationship with each other than we all thought.
However, Winter was the chairman's daughter, and Felix had come from a poor background. Maybe I was just imagining things.
…
That afternoon, Mr. Dawson informed the trainee team to attend a meeting. I could tell that the rest of the trainees had known about it beforehand, but nobody had bothered to tell me anything.
"Mr. Rosewood! This is just a small performance review. We'd never dream of interrupting your day by inviting you— Mr. Jackson? You're here too?"
After entering the conference room, I realized in great shock that Edgar Rosewood, the company chairman, and Louie Jackson, a major company stakeholder, were also present, along with other managers and stakeholders.
I then noticed that my fellow trainees, including Derrick, were also shocked by their presence, judging by the looks on their faces.
Initially, I wanted to sit in the very far back corner, but Felix suddenly appeared and held my hand, leading me to the front and sitting down next to me.
The meeting began. Derrick straightened out his suit and confidently went to the front to present his deck.
It was then that I realized Derrick was using my and Felix's presentation deck, the one I'd given to him that morning in the flash drive. Everything remained unchanged except for the name displayed on the first slide.
Our names had been deleted, replaced with Derrick's.
"What…"
I shook angrily in my seat. Meanwhile, Felix started gripping my hand tighter. It was obvious that he was furious too.
"Dear chairman, managers, and stakeholders, the following presentation is about the plans I'm proposing for the upcoming project. Of course, I had some help from the rest of my team too.
"Everyone did their part in assisting me on this. Otherwise, I would never have been able to prepare everything in such a short amount of time."
Derrick's presentation was flawless, and he didn't forget to attribute everything to his own efforts. He put in a few good words for the rest of the trainee team too, and all the trainees broke into loud applause when they were mentioned.
Mr. Dawson grinned as he eagerly introduced Derrick to the rest of Management and the stakeholders. "As you can see, Derrick here is a brilliant leader. The previous few batches of trainees can't even measure up to him…"
At that, I felt a cold sense of dread wash over me.
"He plagiarized," I yelled. "He plagiarized our work!"
I didn't know where I got the courage from. Maybe it was because I hadn't wanted Felix's contributions to be in vain. So, without even thinking of the consequences, I jumped to my feet and interrupted Mr. Dawson.
At once, everyone's eyes were on me.
Derrick's face fell while he was still standing at the podium. He looked like he was holding back his anger as he shot me a warning look. It was as if he was warning me that he would utterly destroy me if I dared to say another word against him.
"H-He's lying! He did none of the work!" I said. Felix was still holding on to my hand, but I continued fighting for justice. "Felix and I were the ones who actually did everything!"
Mr. Dawson's face hardened when he heard my accusations. He put on a righteous look and said, "What are you talking about, Nathan Meyers? I watched Derrick type out every single word on that deck! I can vouch for him!"
Wait, what?
Mr. Dawson was a middle-aged man. I rarely spoke to him at work, but I knew that he maintained a very good relationship with Derrick. Still, I never expected that he would lie for his sake!
The rest of the trainees began chiming in.
"Nathan, we all know that you hate Derrick with a passion, but you should at least know that there's a time and place for everything!"
"The managers and stakeholders are all present! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I can prove that Derrick was the one who completed the entire presentation with some help from us! This deck belongs to all of us!"
"I can prove that too!"
They all looked at me in shock and disapproval, as if they couldn't believe the nonsense spouting from my mouth. If I hadn't been the victim, I'd probably have taken their side as well.
I was attacked so blatantly that my face had gone white and ashen. I kept trying to defend myself, but it was all in vain.
Meanwhile, Mr. Rosewood, who was seated at the very front, had a furious look on his face. It seemed like he was very angry about the entire situation.
One of the other managers took notice of his dark expression and shot up to his feet to reprimand me.
"That's enough, Nathan Meyers! We never should've allowed you into the company. It had been a mistake. You've only caused nothing but trouble from the very first day of work.
"You should have known that the company doesn't just take your work into account, but your character and personality as well.
"That's it. Pack your things and leave."
After he was done lecturing me, he sat back down in his seat and tried to appease Mr. Rosewood. "We're sorry, Mr. Rosewood, for the blunder. We will make sure to be even stricter with all trainees from today onward!"
But Mr. Rosewood didn't reply. Instead, he turned toward Derrick, who looked lost as he stood at the podium.
"There's a high chance that this proposal of yours could be used," He said in a gentle yet steady voice that didn't betray any of his emotions. "However, there's one mistake in your calculations. Did you notice the error?"
The proposal could be used?
In other words, did that mean that Mr. Rosewood believed that Derrick was the one who'd done the proposal and that he was going to accept it?
