My Boss Refused My Time Off To See My Dying Father. I Went Anyway. When I Returned, He Called An All-Staff Meeting To Publicly humiliate Me, And Said The One Thing He Shouldn't Have

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He stared at me like I’d asked for a vacation in paradise—not to say goodbye to my dying father. “Not my problem,” he muttered, already turning away.

So I walked out. No notice. No calls. Just time frozen in a hospital room, waiting for the inevitable. When I came back, the office was buzzing.

My boss had scheduled an all-staff meeting—with one target in mind. Then he said the one thing he couldn’t take back…

I Entered To Colin Mercer’s Stare

The conference room hummed with side talk. I stepped in and shut the door behind me. My hoodie bunched at the wrists; I tugged it straight and looked up.

Colin Mercer watched me from the end of the table, jaw tight. 'Take a seat,' he said. Chairs scraped as people shifted.

I kept my bag on my shoulder and moved toward the back. Colin’s eyes tracked me until I pulled out a chair. 'Front row,' he added.

I stopped and faced him.

Nora Made Room Beside Her Chair

Nora Patel slid a chair out with her foot and nodded to the open spot. 'Here,' she said. I set my bag down and took the seat beside her, facing the rest of the team.

Marco looked away from his laptop. Dani folded her arms. 'Let’s get started,' Colin said. He moved a remote in his palm, tapping it against the table.

Nora passed me a pen. 'You good?' she whispered. I clicked it once and kept my eyes forward.

The Door Closed, The Recorder Blinked Red

Colin stepped back to the glass door and pushed it closed until the latch clicked. He lowered the lights and pointed the remote at the projector.

The screen glowed blue. 'Marco, recording on,' he said. Marco rolled closer, checked the webcam angle, and hit a key. A red dot lit beside the lens.

'Audio’s live,' Marco said. Colin cleared his throat and rested both hands on the table. 'This is an all-staff compliance review,' he announced.

Attendance Review Put My Name Up Front

‘First item: attendance,’ Colin said, raising the remote. The projector switched to a spreadsheet. Names filled the left column.

He scrolled, stopped, and clicked mine. A heat map appeared. Last week blazed in red. Murmurs circled the table.

He underlined the dates with the cursor. 'We track hours for a reason,' he said. 'We plan coverage, we meet client obligations, and we keep costs aligned.

' He squared his shoulders toward me. 'We’ll address this directly, now.'