I was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Reach out to them. But keep this under wraps."
The job switch proceeded smoothly and quietly. To make sure nothing leaked, I personally gave the other company's CEO a heads-up.
He swore up and down that not a word would get out. As for start dates, they'd work around our resignation timeline.
A week later, the company welcomed a new face.
Some distant relative of the boss.
The boss personally escorted him to the Tech department.
"Hello, everyone. I just got back from abroad. I have experience at three major international firms. You can call me Henry Caldwell."
The young hotshot looked around with obvious disdain.
"Fifteen people, and you only developed twenty systems in a whole year? At my old company, you'd have been fired a hundred times over!"
"But don't worry. Now that I'm here, as long as you're not completely useless, this company will be Fortune 500 in no time!"
Dead silence. Henry's expression turned awkward.
The boss started clapping. "Let's welcome our brilliant returnee!"
"From now on, he's your new Tech Director. Claude, you're demoted to Technical Lead with a pay cut to match. Everyone else—fifty percent salary reduction across the board!"
Caspar slammed his palm on the desk. "On what grounds?! This guy's a third-rate overseas graduate who couldn't even land an internship through normal channels. How does he waltz in and become Technical Director?"
The rest of the team looked equally outraged.
Henry's face darkened, but the boss remained perfectly calm.
"On what grounds? You all tried to jump ship to a competitor, violating your non-compete agreements. I could've had you thrown in jail, but I showed mercy. And you're standing here asking me 'on what grounds'?"
He produced his evidence—chat logs showing the competitor offering us five times our salary to defect, plus photos of us meeting with their CEO.
"So here are your options: accept a fifty percent pay cut, or get ready to cough up damages. Or enjoy prison food."
Executive VP Sawyer appeared, holding the non-compete agreements we'd signed when we were hired.
"Breach of non-compete: one million dollars in penalties."
The color drained from my teammates' faces.
"A million dollars! I couldn't save that in ten years even if I didn't eat or drink!"
"What do we do? Is my life just... over?"
The boss raised an eyebrow, smug.