Chapter 1

Only seventy-two hours left until my ten-year anniversary at the company—and my three-million-dollar stock option payout.

But the newly appointed twenty-two-year-old Gen Z Vice President just slapped a "Voluntary Resignation Agreement" right in my face.

"You're a fossil. This company doesn't pay people just to sit around and tap on keyboards."

"Sign this, take this fifty-dollar bill for your troubles, and get the hell out of my building."

Kyle Vance, wearing an Armani tailored suit, sneered at me.

I looked at the crumpled fifty-dollar bill on the desk and burst out laughing.

Fire me?

I'm the only systems architect in this entire company!

I hold the physical security keys to the core database of thirty million active users.

If I unplug the ethernet cable at my desk, the entire company’s network will crash in less than two hours.

He wasn't firing me.

He was pulling the company's life support.

Without a second of hesitation, I grabbed the pen.

"Sure thing, Mr. Vance. You certainly move fast."

"I'll sign it. Just make sure you don't regret this."

I slowly unplugged my encrypted USB drive from the computer tower.

Kyle scoffed.

He pushed the fifty-dollar bill a little closer to me.

"Glad you're smart enough to know when you're beaten."

"At your age, you probably can't even write basic Python, yet you're hogging the Tech Director position."

"I can hire a fresh college grad for a fraction of your salary, and they'll do ten times more work than you."

Standing beside him was his new influencer-looking assistant, Chloe Bennett.

She was wearing a tight pencil skirt and giggled behind her hand.

"You're so right, Kyle. Everything is AI-automated now."

"Old fossils like him should have been replaced ages ago."

I'm only forty-five, but in their eyes, I was basically ready for the nursing home.

"Mr. Vance, that's not how the math works."

I tapped on the resignation agreement.

"I can sign this."

"But I have a ten-year contract from when the company was founded."

"The contract officially expires this Friday, which entitles me to five percent of the original stock options."

"Plus, since I've been here for ten years, standard severance package means eleven months of full pay."

I pulled out my phone and opened the calculator app.

Right in front of the entire open-plan office, I tapped in the numbers.

"Base severance plus the option payout brings the total to three million and thirty thousand dollars."

"So, Mr. Vance, are we doing a direct wire transfer, or will corporate mail me a check?"

The smirk on Kyle's face instantly vanished.

He slammed his hands on the desk and stood up.

"Three million dollars? Are you out of your mind?!"

"Why the hell would the company pay you that much?"

I looked at his angry, twisted face calmly.

"Because I'm Employee Number One."

"Because every single line of code in our core database was written by me."

"Labor laws are very clear on this. Until you pay me every single cent of my severance, I am not leaving."

Chloe panicked next to him, tugging hard on the sleeve of his Armani jacket.

"Kyle, the HR department only budgeted fifty thousand dollars for layoffs this month."

"That won't even cover a fraction of what he's asking for."

Kyle glared at me, his teeth grinding.

"Marcus, you think you can play dirty with me?"

"You want to cruise your way to Friday to cash out? No way in hell!"

He snatched the resignation agreement off the desk and tore it to shreds.

"I'm not firing you anymore."

"Since you're taking home the highest salary in the tech department, you're going to do the grunt work."

"Let's see how long you can last before you beg to quit on your own!"