My Wedding Leave Cost Him Everything

I had just submitted my wedding leave application when the new hire turned to me and said:

Chloe, Ruth just informed me that starting tomorrow, all your projects will be transferred to me.

Your salary is being cut by eight thousand, and mine is going up to twenty thousand.

I fell silent.

I'd been with the company for seven years and had been the top salesperson for six of them.

The new hire had only been here three months, and I'd completed his first project for him.

And they were demoting me and cutting my pay?

I laughed bitterly, stood up from my desk, and walked straight to HR's office to demand an explanation.

HR manager John coughed twice and pulled out my wedding leave application.

"According to company policy, wedding leave disrupts normal operations, so we must take disciplinary action. This is Paul's decision."

I smiled coldly.

Paul had no idea that my fianc was none other than the company's biggest partner.

"Chloe, it's not that I don't want to help you. This is Paul's decision."

In HR manager John's office.

When I explained why I'd come, John pointed to my recently approved wedding leave application on his desk, hinting.

"You know how busy the company is at year-end. Requesting wedding leave at this timearen't you deliberately causing trouble?"

I remained silent.

From graduation until now, I'd been with the company for seven years, and I'd been the top salesperson for six of them.

Even my lowest-level projects were worth at least a million dollars.

A month ago, after I'd secured the partnership with SKY Group, boss Paul had specially thrown a celebration banquet to commend me:

"Chloe, you're amazing! I knew I was right about you. When the project officially launches, I'm definitely giving you a promotion and a raise!"

"The Market Manager position is yours."

But now, just because I'd submitted a wedding leave application,

I was being demoted and having my salary cut by eight thousand.

Facing John's accusatory gaze, I didn't rush to argue back. Instead, I calmly pulled up my overtime records from the past three months.

"I only requested seven days for wedding leave, and that includes three statutory holidays."

I pointed at my phone screen.

"For these seven days, I worked three consecutive months without rest, arriving at eight a.m. and leaving at midnight every day."

"According to company policy, that totals eleven days of compensatory leave."

John's smile stiffened.

I continued scrolling through my phone, pulling up this month's business list.

"Of my projects, five are completed; three are in progress but already signed and finalized."

"There's one waiting for a response from our partner, Pierce. I just spoke with him yesterday."

"Pierce is on vacation in Norway and won't be available until after the New Year."

"I clearly communicated all of this when I submitted my wedding leave application."

I stated these facts calmly, staring at him without flinching.

"So John, I'd like to askwhich part of the company's operations did my wedding leave disrupt?"

"And how did you and Paul determine that my requesting leave to get married was causing trouble?"

Sweat began to bead on John's forehead.

"Chloe, that's not exactly what I meant..."

"I'm not finished."

I cut him off and pointed through the glass door toward a desk near the windowthat was Paul's assistant James's workstation.

He'd gotten married last month, and since his hometown was out of state, he'd taken half a month off.

"James got married on the 8th of last month and took two weeks off. On his first day back, the company gave him a family establishment benefit and raised his salary by a thousand."

"John, if you say I'm incompetent and demote me with a pay cut, I'll accept it."

"If you say I caused major losses to the company and demote me with a pay cut, I'll accept that too."

"But demoting me and cutting my pay because I requested seven days of wedding leave, and letting a new hire who's been here less than three months step on my head and completely replace me"

"I'm sorry, John, but that I cannot accept."

My voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear.

John's face turned from dark to pale, and finally he just threw in the towel:

"It's no use telling me all this. Who told you to be a woman?"

"What?"

I froze, thinking I'd misheard.

John rolled his eyes at me and said coldly:

"You only requested seven days of wedding leave, but won't you have to have kids after marriage? And won't having kids mean maternity leave and parental leave? Add all that upwho knows how much the company will lose in the future? Can you take responsibility for those losses?"

"I just can't stand you young women, thinking you can play tricks just because you're getting married, always requesting time off at the drop of a hat. If everyone did that, the company might as well close."

"Alright, I'll pretend I didn't hear any of this today. Get back to work."

"Really think you're someone special."

John muttered, looking at me like I was a piece of replaceable trash.

I looked at him, feeling chilled to the bone.

I'd worked hard for the company for seven years, and just because I'd applied for wedding leave once, seven years of effort became "causing trouble."

I'd been the top salesperson for six years, generating tens of millions in revenue for the company, and just because I was getting married, my position and salary could be easily replaced by a new hire.

This was the company I'd worked for seven years.

Efficient, and brutally cold.

I stood up, gave John one last look, and turned to leave.

Since that's how it was, I didn't need to tell the company.

My fianc was actually Stuart, the CEO of SKY Groupthe company's biggest current partner.

After leaving HR's office, I went to the restroom to wash my face.

In the mirror, I wore perfectly applied makeup, my shirt buttoned all the way to the top, every strand of hair carefully styled.

For seven years, I hadn't dared to relax for a moment in order to meet my performance targets.

When I had colds or fevers, I didn't dare take time off. When I had family matters, I found others to help.

On the company's perfect attendance chart, I'd been in first place for seven consecutive years.

Just because of one wedding leave request, the company had demoted me and cut my pay, and seven years of effort had gone down the drain.

I pulled out my lipstick, habitually preparing to touch up my makeup.

From inside a bathroom stall, I suddenly heard the new hire on the phone.

"Mom, I got promoted."

"You won't believe thismy supervisor's been the top salesperson for six years, but just because she requested wedding leave, my boss specifically called me into his office. Said something about how requesting leave to get married shows irresponsibility to the company, that they can't tolerate employees like that, so they're promoting me to teach my supervisor a lesson. It's hilarious."

"Can you believe she's stayed at this company for seven years? If it were me, I'd have left long ago. There's bullying, and then there's this."

Yes, even a new hire who'd only been at the company three months knew this was wrong.

But my boss had done it anyway.

I snorted, didn't disturb the person inside, and walked toward my desk.

Passing by Paul's office, I heard John reporting to the boss inside.

"Paul, I've handled things with Chloe. She won't cause any trouble."

"Your method was brilliant. Taking advantage of her wedding leave request to directly strip her of her position. After all, she's just a woman. She should be grateful the company gave her a job opportunity. How dare she request wedding leave? Long hair, short brain."

"Exactly," from behind his desk, Paul leisurely lit a cigarette. "John, you did well with this. Seven days of wedding leave? She dares to even think it? Really thinks she's some big shot."

"We can't set this precedent. If everyone starts using marriage as an excuse to ask me for leave, how can I run this company?"

"But..." John suddenly lowered his voice. "What if Chloe quits?"

"She wouldn't dare!"

Paul slammed his hand on the desk.

"If I hadn't recruited her into the company and given her such a great platform, how could a woman have climbed to her current position?"

"Besides, if she hadn't gotten married, I might worry. But once she's married, with car loans, mortgages, baby formula costs... she'll only become more dependent on the company. Quit? Impossible."

"When she comes back from wedding leave, find an excuse to cut her salary again."

"I can handle her."

Paul blew a smoke ring, and I could feel his smugness even through the door crack.

John gave a thumbs up and readily agreed:

"Alright, when she comes back, I'll have her do grunt work for the new hire."

These words, along with the new hire's words, pierced my heart like knives.

Seven years. I'd been at this company for seven years.

I'd developed the first state-level market.

I'd established the first complete production chain.

In terms of performance and ability, I was second to none.

I'd thought at least the boss would respect me.

But the result...

I laughed self-mockingly and returned to my desk.

I pulled out my phone and found my fianc's Twitter:

"Change of plans. Don't send a wedding invitation to my boss this weekend."

"Yeah, I'm planning to just quit."

After sending the message, I began packing up my things.

The company's 200-person group chat suddenly updated with an announcement.

Paul was calling me out by name.

[Former Sales Manager Chloe, due to requesting seven days of wedding leave for personal marriage, has severely disrupted the company's daily operations. We have decided to revoke her Sales Manager position and reduce her salary by eight thousand. Let this be a warning to everyone.]

The group went quiet for a moment, then came a long string of "Acknowledged" messages.

Immediately after, my Twitter exploded with dozens of messages.

[Sorry Chloe, something came up last minute this weekend. I won't be able to attend the wedding. Wish you happiness.]

This was from my desk neighbor, a workplace partner I'd worked with for five years.

[Chloe, um, my elderly relative is sick and I can't get away. I'll send you the gift money. Happy wedding.]

This came from a colleagueI'd covered his shifts when he was sick and took leave last month.

And then there was Lisa, the first intern I'd trained, who was also my bridesmaid.

[Chloe, John hinted in the group chat that we shouldn't attend your wedding. Find someone else to be your bridesmaid...]

I stared at the screen, my finger hovering over the keyboard, not replying.

I knew this was part of Paul's manipulation.

Making sure no one came to my wedding, turning me into a joke on my wedding day.

I closed my phone, forcing myself not to look anymore.

Suddenly, a document was slammed down in front of me.

"Chloe, SKY Group's CEO is getting married this weekend. I'll have to trouble you to come in on Saturday for some overtime."

John looked at me with a fake smile, deliberately emphasizing:

"This is Paul's decision."

I remained silent. On my wedding leave application form, I'd clearly written:

Wedding date: January 31st, this Saturday.

So demoting me, cutting my pay, and isolating me wasn't enough for Paul.

He actually wanted me to cancel my own wedding?

"Are you and Paul sure about this?"

I asked in a flat tone.

"Of course. How could we joke about something like this?"

John tilted his chin at me.

"Chloe, don't feel wronged. Marriage, well, good things come to those who wait. Changing the date is the same thing."

"Fine."

I stood up, picked up the box of items I'd just packed, and showed an unusually warm smile:

"Then I'll see you on Saturday."

When I got home, my mood had been bad all day because of what happened at the company, and my expression showed it.

Stuart was sitting on the couch looking at documents. He turned and saw my expression, frowned, and asked: "Chloe, what's wrong? You look terrible."

I rarely complained to him about work issues. Whenever I encountered difficulties, I always solved them on my own.

Today, I'd originally wanted to tell him it was nothing as usual, not to worry,

But when I opened my mouth, I ultimately felt a bit powerless.

So I told him exactly what had happened at the company today

How my boss deliberately made things difficult for me because of my wedding leave, trying to cut my pay,

Letting a new hire step all over me and take my position,

Having company colleagues isolate me so no one would come to my wedding,

And making me postpone the wedding to come in for overtime on Saturday.

I laid it all out, one thing after another.

The more I spoke, the angrier I became.

"He also said that weddings are just a formality anyway, and changing the date was no big dealcouldn't interfere with company work."

My voice grew quieter:

"He also said that when I come back from wedding leave, my salary will be cut again, and once I have a family and kids, I'll be at his mercy and won't dare to quit."

Stuart's expression darkened with each word of my account.

When I finished my last sentence, he stood up abruptly, his phone already out.

"Paul, right?" His voice was cold as ice. "Your bossI've had my eye on him for a while."

"Just wait. I'm calling him right now to tell him the partnership is cancelled."

"Wait!" I quickly grabbed his arm.

But he'd already pulled up Paul's number in his contacts.

Over the years, most of the company's business had been developed by me,

But Paul didn't know that the company's most important partner, Stuart, CEO of SKY, was my fianc.

"Don't call yet!" I grabbed his phone.

Stuart looked at me, the fury still in his eyes, but he stopped what he was doing.

He'd always been indulgent with me.

We'd met three years ago at a project coordination meeting.

At the time, I happened to be in charge of a collaboration between our company and SKY.

Stuart, as SKY's CEO, represented them at the meeting.

The meeting ran from two in the afternoon until eight at night, with both sides deadlocked on several key terms.

Everyone else was exhausted, but I was still going over data and revising proposals again and again.

After the meeting, Stuart walked over and said to me: "Miss Chloe, you're the most meticulous person I've ever met."

I didn't know who he was then, assuming he was some SKY executive,

So I replied politely: "It's my job. This project is very important to our company."

Later he told me that it was that evening,

Watching me repeatedly verify details and data with my team, my eyes shining, that he'd suddenly felt his heart move.

He'd proactively asked for my contact information and started asking me to dinner.

At first I thought it was work-related, but later I realized he was pursuing me.

I asked him why he liked me, and he said: "I like the way you look when you're working seriously."

So we secretly started dating, and now, it's been almost three years.

This renewal of the contract between SKY and my company had originally been shelved for two months due to terms issues.

It was Stuart who, after learning that I was mainly responsible for this project, actively pushed the renewal process forward.

Paul had even specially praised me for it, saying I "had connections."

But he didn't know that these "connections" were my fianc giving face on my behalf.

All these years, I'd worked diligently and conscientiously for the company,

But they treated me this way. It was time I got my revenge.

I gripped his hand tightly: "Listen to me. Paul and the others sent out invitations they haven't responded to, right? Call them now as my fianc and personally invite them to our wedding."

Stuart paused for a moment, then understood what I meant.

The fury in his eyes gradually transformed into a playful smile: "You want them to see you at the wedding?"

I nodded, feeling the suffocating anger in my chest finally find an outlet: "I want to see what expression Paul and John have when they discover that the bride of their biggest business partner is the subordinate they docked bonuses from and workplace bullied."

Stuart laughed.

He picked up his phone again, called Paul, and personally invited them to our wedding.

He put it on speakerphone.

I heard Paul on the other end,

Nodding and bowing, saying he'd definitely be there on Saturday. A cold smile curved my lips.

After hanging up, Stuart raised an eyebrow at me:

"Alright, now we just wait for Saturday's show."

I looked up at him:

"Aren't you afraid they'll hold a grudge and it'll affect future cooperation?"

"Cooperation is important, but more important is the character of the partner," Stuart said lightly. "If they can't even respect their company's veteran employees, how can I trust them to be responsible for our cooperation?"

I smiled and said nothing more.

Night deepened outside the window, but my heart felt bright.

I suddenly felt even more anticipation for Saturday's wedding.