Chapter 92: Should’ve Had a Bigger Dick, Then

Chapter 92: 92: Should’ve Had a Bigger Dick, Then

"..."

"...Excuse me?"

Every person in the conference room stared at the CEO, too stunned to continue.

Even Barry looked convinced he must have misheard her.

The one to break the silence was an overweight, middle-aged director.

"Um... CEO Celeste. Just to clarify, Assistant Manager Barry isn’t the perpetrator. He’s the victim. Staff Member Ed is the one who had an affair with—"

"Do you think I said that because I didn’t know?"

"N-no, ma’am... My apologies..."

The director who had stepped forward without understanding the situation took one hit and immediately shrank back.

The others only traded uncertain glances, trying to work out what was going on. None of them was reckless enough to speak up again.

Celeste swept her gaze around the conference room, then turned to Barry.

"Assistant Manager Barry."

"...Yes? Ah, yes!"

He snapped to attention like someone jolted awake.

"Do you know why this disciplinary committee was convened?"

"...To punish Staff Member Ed for having an affair, as I understand it."

"No."

Celeste held up a document. It was the formal request to convene the committee.

Printed in plain sight was: Subject of Disciplinary Action: Barry.

His eyes shook when he saw his own name.

"...Why is that..."

"This committee was convened to address your workplace violence, Assistant Manager Barry. Staff Member Ed over there is the victim."

"What?"

He let out an incredulous, almost insolent laugh.

Ignoring him, Celeste rose from her seat and began walking around the room.

Click. Click.

"I have no interest in whatever private circumstances you may have. What matters is whether you harmed the company or behaved inappropriately on company premises."

"I already explained. The one who behaved inappropriately with my fiancée at this company was Ed—"

"HR manager?"

"Ah, yes."

At Celeste’s cue, the head of Human Resources hurriedly clicked the mouse beside his laptop.

A CCTV recording appeared on the large display at the front of the room.

"Isn’t that..."

"The break room?"

"Right, they installed a camera there recently."

Everyone’s attention shifted to the footage.

It showed Hana holding a lunchbox while Barry berated her. There was no sound, but anyone could tell what he was doing from their postures alone.

Hana stood with her head bowed, fidgeting and unable to answer, while Barry unloaded on her. It looked like an adult scolding a small child.

"I’ll fast-forward."

Even at increased speed, the same thing continued for more than ten minutes.

That bastard... He’d kept it up for ten whole minutes? Even I hadn’t known that.

And he’d raised his hand to threaten her more than once.

"...No."

"Who treats his fiancée like that?"

The directors began murmuring at the obviously abnormal sight.

"Staff Member Ed appears from this point."

The playback returned to normal speed. On-screen, it looked as though I had stepped in to protect Hana from Barry.

Then, just as everyone fell silent to watch, Barry shoved me with his fist. From the camera angle, it looked like he had outright punched me.

People gathered a moment later, and the footage ended.

Barry pressed his lips together.

"Assistant Manager Barry?"

"Yes."

"Anything else you’d like to say?"

At Celeste’s question, he rushed to answer.

"...As I said, Staff Member Ed was having an affair with my fiancée. What happened was part of confronting him about—"

"So you already knew about the affair at that point?"

"Yes."

The bastard lied without even blinking.

Celeste, however, only gave a faint smile.

"Is that so? Then the recording we just heard—what time was that call?"

"What?"

"The time of the call. It should be in your call history."

"Ah..."

His mouth closed. He gripped his phone so tightly his hand trembled.

"According to the CCTV, your fiancée visited our company for the first time today. Correct?"

"...Yes."

"She entered at approximately 11:10 a.m. We confirmed that on the lobby footage. She then remained in the break room from 11:20 to 11:40. The timestamp is visible there, isn’t it?"

Everyone looked to the upper-right corner of the screen.

The current date and time were clearly displayed.

"According to what you told us, Staff Member Ed did something to your fiancée inside the company. That means it would have had to happen between 11:10 and 11:20, which does not fit the timeline, does it?"

"Ah... Th-that was—"

"And if he called to taunt you, there should be a record of that as well. The time of the call would establish the sequence quite clearly."

"..."

His answers were getting shorter. Had he run out of lies?

The HR manager approached him and held out a hand.

"May I see your phone?"

"..."

Barry reluctantly surrendered it. As the manager checked the call log, everyone watched his mouth in silence.

"The call was made at around three this afternoon."

"Three?"

"Wasn’t that just a little while ago?"

"What? Then the story doesn’t line up at all."

The directors began talking over one another.

Barry’s face darkened sharply. He bit his lip again.

"I-I learned about their affair before that. That was why I spoke to my fiancée this morning—"

"Would a fiancée having an affair come all the way to the office to bring you lunch?"

"Th-that was to deceive me!"

"Your explanations seem to be growing longer by the minute."

Celeste stopped behind my chair.

Manager Selena’s eyebrows drew together slightly.

"An affair... I don’t even know whether it happened, but either way, it’s a private matter. Strictly speaking, it isn’t a crime. Adultery hasn’t been a criminal offense for years. There was no need to drag a personal matter into the workplace."

"B-but—"

"Throwing a punch at work against another employee, however, is a serious issue. It’s also one of the behaviors I despise most."

"I told you I had no choice!"

Now he was shouting at the CEO. The man had completely lost it.

"Tsk..."

"Watch yourself."

The directors, who cared deeply about etiquette, immediately frowned.

They were all far older than Celeste, but they still treated her with perfect deference. They understood rank.

"Ugh...!"

Sensing public opinion turning against him, Barry suddenly climbed onto the conference table.

Thud!

"Everyone!"

He dropped to his knees and appealed to the room.

"I’ve worked for this company for four years! My performance has been good, and so has my reputation. Ask the other employees! Who should remain at this company—me, or Ed?"

"What is this man doing..."

"Answer me, CEO!"

He bowed his head from his knees as though performing a formal prostration.

Wasn’t this practically blackmail? He was demanding that she choose between him and me.

Fine by me.

The answer was obvious.

"CEO please answer me!"

"Very well. If you want to set aside the personnel process and demand a binary choice, I’ll give you one."

"R-really?"

"Though my decision will not change."

Standing behind me, Celeste placed both hands on my shoulders.

Her fingers stroked down lightly, almost tickling me.

The directors’ gazes shifted when they saw it.

"If I have to choose between our Ed and Assistant Manager Barry, I choose Ed."

"...What?"

"Isn’t that right, Ed?"

She patted my shoulder as she asked.

I knew what she was doing.

Every eye in the room turned toward me.

At first they looked confused. Then, one by one, understanding dawned.

A rank-and-file employee whom the CEO protected with suspicious intensity—and whose shoulders she touched so familiarly.

Reverse the sexes. Imagine a male CEO shielding a female employee this way, hands resting on her shoulders, and anyone would understand the implication.

To drive it home, I confidently laid my hand over Celeste’s.

"Thank you for choosing me, CEO Celeste."

"Hehe... Think nothing of it."

By now, anyone could see it.

The outcome of this committee had been decided before it ever began.

The quicker directors exchanged looks.

"W-well. In my view, Assistant Manager Barry bears greater responsibility, since he was the one who actually resorted to violence."

That one remark opened the floodgates. The other directors began competing to demonstrate their loyalty.

"W-we can’t keep a man who throws punches in the office!"

"And if you compare their performance, Assistant Manager Barry falls behind as well. Right? Isn’t that so?"

"Ah... O-of course! Hmm... Look here. Staff Member Ed has worked far more overtime and he also worked in weekends."

"Then that settles it! There’s nothing else to discuss!"

I hadn’t worked that overtime because I wanted to.

The directors who had been condemning me moments ago reversed course in an instant and began calling for Barry’s removal.

"Who cares about some affair? Violence is the real problem!"

"This is what comes of failing to conduct yourself properly!"

Watching them pivot so shamelessly was almost impressive. An affair probably was the worse offense, wasn’t it? Not that I was in any position to say so.

But right and wrong had never mattered much to these people.

What mattered was earning points by appearing even slightly more loyal to the CEO.

Each director raised his voice, trying to make sure Celeste heard him above the others.

"Hey! Who told you to climb up there? Get down! Now!"

"Whatever happened, this is your fault, Ex-Assistant Manager Barry!"

"Your fiancée cheated on you? Then break off the engagement! Why bring your personal mess into the company?"

"And how dare you raise your voice at the CEO?"

The directors sprang to their feet and shouted him down.

Barry’s knees trembled on top of the table.

"Ah... Ah..."

I watched at my leisure, then wrapped an arm around Celeste’s waist when she stepped beside me.

"Good work, Celeste."

"My reward later... You remember, right?"

"Of course. You’ve earned one."

Without caring who saw, I patted her ass.

The directors only shouted louder.

"Get that bastard down from there!"

"Fire him! Fire him!"

As they dragged Barry off the table, I gave him a small grin.

Should’ve had a bigger dick if he was going to complain.