Fired With Full Honor
1586 Words
I never imagined the big boss would come to see me privately.
Me—a former maid. But I was proud. God, I was proud to be his employee, even if our social statuses were worlds apart. This meeting in this room was about to change everything.
"Andi has already given her the first down payment, Sir," the old man bowed respectfully to the man beside him, then turned to me. "I’m sorry if it wasn’t enough for Ms. Wisa."
"Oh no… no, I’m satisfied," I said fast, trying to swallow the tremor in my voice. Two million dollars was more than I’d ever dreamed of in my entire life. It was proof that my position in this company was no longer just a lowly servant.
However, my family couldn't stand seeing my good fortune. "Who are you? How dare you interfere with our family!" My stepfather, Johan, stepped forward aggressively and grabbed Mr. Amon’s shoulder—the old man who had handled the payment.
"Daddy, don’t touch him!" Eliana screamed from behind. Her face went white as a sheet. Unlike her father, who was blinded by rage, she knew exactly who these people were.
A bodyguard moved with lightning speed. Johan was on the floor before I could blink.
I covered my mouth with both hands, utterly shocked by how fast the violence had escalated right in front of me.
"So he’s your father?" the old man asked Eliana coldly, as if looking at a pathetic insect.
"Eliana!" Grandma gasped in fear, her breath hitching in the suffocating tension.
"Forgive us… please, we’ll leave now!" Eliana dropped her head. She actually bowed. This was the first time I’d ever seen my perfect, arrogant stepsister beg like a pauper. "Sorry for disturbing you, Mr. Amon!"
"Dad, Grandma, let’s go!" She yanked Johan up in a sheer panic.
"But Eliana—" Johan tried to protest, holding his bruised jaw.
"Move. Now!" Eliana snapped viciously. She didn’t even look at me. Didn’t look at my mother. They scrambled away as if their very lives were on the line.
"Darling!" At the doorway, Mother only ran to Johan. Not to me, her own flesh and blood, whom Johan had almost struck.
Love really made people blind and foolish. Witnessing how my mother loved the wrong man made me realize something; that’s why I never gave Nolan my whole heart back then. I was too afraid of becoming that vulnerable.
"Who is he?" Johan whispered in terror from the open door.
"The man with power in this town," Eliana answered, her voice shaking violently.
"Is he… Amon Nicholas Sergio?" Grandma’s voice dropped to a whisper, as if uttering a curse.
"Yes. The Landlord of this city."
So this was Mr. Amon. The ultimate CEO. The name everyone feared. The old man Johan had hit was merely his representative; the true, terrifying billionaire boss was standing in the shadows at the corner of the room.
"Say ‘thank you’," someone ordered me from nearby, their voice firm.
"Yes, Sir! T–thank you!" I bowed fast to the tall man who now stepped into the light. He was handsome in a sharp, dangerous way. I stared too long, completely transfixed.
"Stop looking at me like that," he said flatly, his voice cold and devoid of any emotion.
"Oh… I’m sorry, I’m sorry!" My face burned with sudden embarrassment. So stupid.
"Change into this," a man my age suddenly approached, shoving clothes, shoes, and a designer bag into my arms. "From now on, you follow Mr. Amon everywhere."
Mr. Amon was already walking away with his men, stepping out of the room in a rigid formation. "I hate waiting," he said without turning.
"Alright, I’ll change fast!" I ran to the bathroom, terrified of triggering the dangerous man's temper.
"By the way," the man called after me from outside the bathroom door. "From now on, I’m your assistant."
"W–what?!" My heart pounded. From a maid to having my own assistant? My life had completely flipped overnight.
****
The next day, a sharp sea breeze hit my face. My first day at the beach resort owned by the company. I stared at the white sand, unable to believe it. I’d spent my whole life scrubbing floors just to buy food. Now I was here, wearing clothes that cost more than my old monthly salary.
I was incredibly nervous about this new job, but I tried to breathe. To enjoy the waves. Maybe, I thought optimistically, this was the beautiful start of my new life.
Movement caught my eye at the far end of the beach. A figure came out of the water in the distance. Wet clothes. Something dark and gleaming was in his hands—a dagger. He walked straight into the dense mangrove forest without looking back, appearing completely dazed. It was Mr. Amon! He looked like a man possessed.
"Mr. Amon!" I called out, my maid instincts instantly on high alert.
Hearing my shout, the old bodyguard standing near the gazebo went pale. "Why did you let him out of control!" he hissed furiously at his men.
"He asked a maid for tools and a knife," another man whispered, his face sweating profusely from fear. "He’s in danger. We have to stop him before he hurts himself!"
My blood ran cold. Mr. Amon was suffering from severe trauma and was going to end his life! "Mr. Amon went into the forest!" I shouted to the guards. But the howling wind stole my voice. Without thinking, I turned and started running after him.
"Mr. Amon!" My voice echoed in the eerie silence of the mangroves. Birds flew away from the trees, startled by my screams.
The thick, alive mud sucked at my heels, making my steps heavy. I kicked off my expensive shoes and ran barefoot. Branches scratched my legs, drawing blood, but I didn't care.
I heard something. Then I saw him.
Mr. Amon stood on a high tree branch. His head was tilted back, staring at the sky. His eyes weren’t empty. They were full of hate. Intense, burning hate at the world, and a destructive hate at himself. He was preparing to leap with the blade in his hand.
"Mr. Amon… no!" I screamed and ran faster, desperately trying to reach him.
He looked down and saw me. For one second, his gaze landed on me like I was the enemy who had triggered his trauma. Then he stepped down forcefully. He lost his balance on the slippery branch. A blade fell, slicing his own arm. His arm bled heavily.
He fell to the ground, rising with a look of pure possession. He looked possessed. Broken.
"I found him! Help!" I yelled, crying now, tears streaming down my face. "Someone help Mr. Amon! He's hurt!"
But before I could say more, he lunged at me with terrifying speed. Then he was in front of me. Hands around my throat, cutting off my air. Lifting me off the ground. Slamming me into the cold mud. His blood dripped onto my face from his torn sleeve.
"Stop! What did I do wrong?" I tried to ask, trying to snap him out of his madness, but no sound came out. His free, powerful hand hit my face again and again, brutally. Pain exploded in my head.
"Please… someone…" My vision blurred, and my consciousness began to fade beneath the grip of a wounded monster.
"Hawisa!"
"Save them! Pull Mr. Amon away!"
"Doctor, now!"
Voices came closer. Heavy hands pulled him off me as I lay there, dying.
The last thing I saw before total darkness took me was Mr. Amon’s face above me. Pale. Like his soul was already gone from this world.
****
"Haa… haa!" I woke up choking, hands flying to my neck, gasping for the air that suddenly rushed into my lungs.
"You’re awake!" My new assistant stood by the window of the hospital room.
"I’m… not dead?" My voice was a croak, sounding like a dying crow. Tears fell before I could stop them as the memory of his grip flashed vividly.
"Thank you," he said. Then he walked over and bowed. A deep, respectful bow. "Thank you for stopping Mr. Amon from doing something fatal."
"Why… Why did he want to do that?" My hands shook uncontrollably over the hospital blanket. I demanded an explanation for the madness.
The assistant’s face went blank and formal, hiding all emotion. "Miss Hawisa, the company management has decided. From now on, you’re fired. With full honors."
My heart stopped. Fired? After all this sacrifice?
"We’ll give you severance pay. Enough to start your own business. Consider it a reward and compensation for your injuries."
What? I just saved his life. I risked mine, almost dying at his hands in the middle of a forest. And now I was fired and cast away?
The door opened behind him.
Mr. Amon walked in. Still pale, but his expression had returned to ice. A thick bandage on his wrist was hidden under his long sleeve. His eyes met mine. Cold. Empty. Devoid of any guilt.
I realized then: he wasn't firing me because he hated me. He was firing me because I had seen his darkest, most vulnerable secret—the weakness that no one else in the world was ever supposed to know.
"Pack your things, Miss Hawisa," he said, his voice completely flat. No emotion, no gratitude. "You did your job. Now get out of my life."
- Writer
