Now, how pretty the presentation slides looked, whether the desk light was still on after hours, or how enthusiastically the employees joined team-building events—these superficial displays started to matter more to her than the tangible results that her father had once cared about.
I was too absorbed in the pursuit of technology itself to notice the shift at first.
Until the five million bonus incident hit—a thunderclap that finally woke me up.
Darlene didn't want a battlefield-tested technical leader. She wanted a "model employee" who fit her new philosophy of management. And Lester, with his polished words and carefully crafted humility, was exactly that.
After a month of rest, I started browsing job websites, updating my resume, and submitting applications to several leading tech firms.
With my background and skills, I thought finding a new position would be easy. But my applications vanished without a trace.
The few interviews I did get turned cold right after the technical round—vague promises, polite rejections, then silence.
After several setbacks, a former colleague finally told me the truth in private.