Somehow, Dean's reputation in Gold's Street underwent a strange transformation these few days.At first, David's blacklisting plan proceeded quite smoothly. Who would've thought that someone from the headquarters would call the regional branch just to chastise David all of a sudden?"Why did you approve Dean Hoffman's resignation?"David was shocked. "W-What do you mean by that?"The representative from the headquarters proceeded to lecture David for a long time. Soon, cold sweat began sliding down his face.Dean had published an academic essay about his quantitative model in a particularly famous magazine, which attracted the attention of many investing firms.Dean's model was equipped with an advanced version of self-learning capabilities. Its stability was quite high, and it was capable of performing abstract simulations. As such, this model was able to react faster than any other existing models on the market. Hence, it had a bright future in the investment industry.David
Hadn't Dean surpassed David now?Well, no, he hadn't surpassed David.He had surpassed David's boss' boss.In other words, Dean's job-hopping had landed him somewhere David couldn't reach even with a trampoline.However, David was very experienced, so he was able to regroup his thoughts quickly. He knew he wouldn't be able to make it up to Dean anymore, so his immediate priority now was figuring out how to explain things to the Bloomberg Group headquarters.The headquarters was demanding an explanation.David may not be very skilled, but he still had a significant influence when it came to office politics. He immediately used the ultimate Manager Trump Card—Scapegoating an Unlucky Subordinate. Without a second thought, he shifted the blame to Sylvia, claiming that she had tried to steal Dean's client. Not only that, he also stated that she had made up rumors to slander Dean, causing the latter to storm out.Just like that, Sylvia was kicked from her hard-earned position as inv
Dean's tableware was still in the cabinet, and his clothes were still in the closet… He hadn't taken much with him to Merunica besides a few sets of clothes and his laptop. In fact, he didn't even bring his half of their matching mugs with him.He had used that brown mug for many years. It was the first gift Corbyn had ever given him.Corbyn had made that mug by hand at a handicraft studio. Its shape wasn't perfect; if anything, it looked pretty rough. When he gave it to Dean, he was even a little worried that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to take it out. To his surprise, Dean had graciously accepted his gift and even ended up using it for years.Corbyn never imagined that Dean wouldn't take it with him. Not only had Dean not brought Corbyn's gift with him, he hadn't brought Corbyn along either.He and the cup had been left behind, all alone.Because they were oceans apart, time zones became an issue. If Corbyn wanted to talk to Dean on the phone or via video call, he had
Now, Corbyn was starting to feel a little threatened. "Did Liesel ask you to post this?" he asked.Dean thought back to his first day. "Yes."On Dean's first day in the office, Liesel had suggested they took a photo. She had also been the one to choose the photo. Afterward, she had asked everyone in the picture to post it and write a caption about meeting the new colleague. Although Dean could be standoffish, he wasn't totally asocial, so he did as she asked.The more Corbyn thought about it, the more suspicious he grew of Liesel. "Is Liesel a financial analyst?" "No, she's from HR," Dean replied.Corbyn frowned and asked for more details about their interactions.The more he heard, the stranger things seemed. Liesel wasn't anything like Anson, who had been so unrelenting that he was just asking to be charged with sexual harassment. Instead, she made sure to keep things appropriate. Just like the group photo—it seemed annoying on the surface, but there was actually nothing t
Just like Corbyn had asked, Dean revealed his sexual orientation to Liesel without any warning. Liesel would be lying if she said she wasn't shocked when she heard that explosive truth. It took her a few days to fully process this information.However, she clearly had superior processing capabilities. She quickly came to terms with it and thought to herself, "If a gay man can charm a straight guy into becoming gay, why can't a beauty like me turn a gay man straight?"She had great confidence in her appeal. Also, she didn't fear challenges that were highly difficult.Thus, she didn't give up on Dean. One of Dean's colleagues noticed her antics and asked him, "Is Liesel trying to hit on you?"Dean wasn't the type to beat around the bush. When he heard that, he asked Liesel seriously, "Are you trying to hit on me?"Liesel immediately burst into laughter upon hearing that. She clapped him on the shoulder and said, "What the hell are you talking about? You're gay! I'm just treating y
Corbyn frowned when he saw all the excuses about visiting parents and family. He wrote a reply, "I can't use my parents or relatives as the reason. My mother is a board member, and my grandfather is the chairman.""Then what are you worried about? Don't come here and show off in a backhanded way, you spoiled brat," one of the netizens wrote.Corbyn wasn't even remotely showing off. He was actually very troubled by this.Regular people could use reasons like getting sick or a family member getting sick, but he couldn't.In the end, he decided to be honest and say that he wanted to travel.The vacation request was sent to the HR Department, so naturally, it would be Paxton who would have to approve the request. However, Veronica always kept an eye on Corbyn's every move. She immediately took the vacation request and sought out Corbyn. "Is this because of Dean again?" she asked seriously.Corbyn didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to bow his head and admit fault either. So, he
Veronica patted Corbyn on the shoulder and said, "I initially thought you were just pretending to be a meek househusband in front of Dean, so I wasn't that worried back then. Now, I'm truly concerned about you. Do you know why?"Corbyn looked up at Veronica.The latter continued, "While you were pretending, you really became a meek househusband."Corbyn had really become one.He felt as though a bell had been struck inside his chest, causing the sound to reverberate through his skull and striking every chord in his heart.In the past, he had always felt that he was putting on an innocent act, pretending that he didn't have an ego and that he never complained. But in reality, was he really only "pretending"?After Veronica orchestrated the "great reveal", Corbyn actually didn't have to continue his innocent act. But in truth, the dynamic between Corbyn and Dean never changed. Corbyn had never gone back to being his real self after the "reveal".On the contrary, he strayed further
The call quickly connected. "What's the matter?" Dean asked in a calm voice.Corbyn was stunned. "Were you really the one who sent the emoji earlier?""Yes," Dean replied.Corbyn grew even more frightened. Wait, so Dean hadn't been hacked? Then, had he been abducted by aliens?Sensing Corbyn's puzzlement, Dean explained, "Liesel told me that my texting style is too cold, so she suggested that I send more emojis."Corbyn felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to curse, yet he couldn't find the courage to. He could only suppress his anger and say slowly, "Why does she care? And why would you listen to her?"As soon as he said those two sentences, even he could taste the bitterness from his words. And this was already after he had exercised all the self-control he had. If he were to truly speak his mind, he would probably be dropping swear words left and right.Probably because of the distance, but Dean didn't seem to detect any bitterness. He simply replied in a factual manner, "Yes