Chapter 0207
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Hazel…”
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“There is no way that t
is on this list of layoffs.”
I recognized many of the other workers too. They were hard workers all, but I guessed didn’t have a high enough productivity to merit their continued employment with the company they’d given their all to for the past however many years.
“Actually,” I said. “This entire list is crap, Logan, and you know it.”
“These layoffs are important,” Logan said, sighing. He seemed so resigned about this whole thing, as if the board’s decision was final and he couldn’t fight back. Who knew if he could? He wasn’t even trying.
It made me furious.
“Important for who? These are all hard workers. They show up every day and give their full effort. But because they don’t put in the overtime to meet some new arbitrary deadline, they aren’t worth keeping around anymore? I thought this company cared about its employees. How can you treat people this way?”
Logan stood up from behind his desk. “You think I want to do this?”
Finally, a fire ignited in him, and anger rose in his voice. It was so much more satisfying than the defeat he had perpetuated only a moment before.
“You think I don’t understand that these pushes are only going to give temporary gains?” Logan demanded. “I’m not new to this, Hazel. I know very well my Grandfather is setting us up for long term failure. We’re on the track to burning out all of our employees, and laying off people is only going to make
it worse.”
“Then do something about it, Logan. Please.”
Logan was my husband, but he was also a man that I believed in. We were very different in our backgrounds, Logan from the high society and me from a blue collar neighborhood. Yet even with that clash, I’ve never truly known him to be heartless.
He could be cruel when needed. He certainly pushed people, with the intention of making them give- things their all. But heartless?
And make no mistake, this was heartless. These sudden exhaustive demands and the layoffs weren’t good for the company or the employees.
This was all just a punishment from his grandfather.
“You can’t let him get away with this.”
Logan looked at me sharply. “You antagonized him, Hazel.”
“Because what he was saying is wrong, Logan. A person’s value is not determined on how many zeros are In their back account,” I said – pleaded.
I wanted him to continue to be a man I could believe in. If he actually thought like his grandfather..
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Chapter 0207
I didn’t know if that was a hurdle we could jump together. Would he ever really respect me if he saw his workers as less? I might have been his wife, but I was also his employee. That meant something.
Logan held my gaze for a long moment. My heart squeezed, unsure. Was he the man I thought he was? Or was he a man just like his grandfather?
Then, he sighed, and lowered his gaze down to the paper I still held. He reached for it and I gave it to him.
“I propose a compromise,” Logan said, looking over the names. “If these employees can substantially increase their productivity by the end of the week, I will push back on this. But I can’t go to the board or my grandfather with nothing. We have to show some kind of positive results.”
That was a really crappy compromise, honestly. But for Logan…
I could see the way his jaw locked and his fingers curled around the page, crinkling it. He seemed to genuinely believe this was the best he could hope for.
“Everyone else is working hard,” Logan said. “It would be unfair to give them a pass just because I want to. They have to show improvement.”