Chapter 2: Eavesdropping and Paranoia

When Chris first became acting CEO, he didn’t fire me right away. In fact, he’d sometimes praise me in meetings, calling me "invaluable" at the quarterly review. For a minute, I wondered if I’d misjudged him—maybe that MBA actually taught him something besides how to schmooze on a yacht.

But then, one afternoon, I headed to the break room for coffee. The Keurig sputtered, masking their voices, but I caught every word. Chris and his right-hand guy were plotting by the counter, thinking the noise covered them.

“No matter how capable Jake Foster is, he’s still under you. Even if the boss likes him, he can’t go over your head. Just catch him on something small and make a big deal. Even if the boss checks, it’s on him.”

Chris’s voice dropped, losing that fake boardroom polish. “Capable? What does he even do? You could replace him with a dog and a treat. The job’s that basic.”

His buddy chuckled. “Waiting for him to mess up is too slow. Let’s get a few people to, you know, speed things along. Get him fired fast—hell, get him arrested if you can.”

I quietly backed out, leaving my mug behind. From that day on, I was on high alert.

I emailed copies of everything to myself. Paranoid? Maybe. But I wasn’t about to let them set me up. Changed my passwords every day, locked my computer like Fort Knox, carried important documents with me even to the bathroom. Probably looked nuts, but I didn’t care.

For every approval I signed, I checked every line. Wrong comma? Redo it. Took photos of every document, before and after.

People whispered I was being difficult, but let them talk. I wasn’t giving Chris a single opening.

I tried calling the boss—left three voicemails. When he finally called back and heard what his son was up to, he just laughed, said he was retiring soon and heading to Boca Raton. “Chris is young, hot-tempered. Be patient with him, Jake.” The disappointment was a gut punch.

My heart sank. I didn’t want to leave the company I helped build from a strip mall between a dry cleaner and a vape shop, the whole place smelling like General Tso’s chicken from next door. But I updated my LinkedIn and started saving every penny.

Chris wasn’t patient. After his sabotage attempts failed, he just cut me under the excuse of a personnel shuffle.