Chapter 8 Termination

Nolan let out a string of arrogant, mocking laughs. "Shawn, are you drunk or something? You want to terminate your contract with the company over Naomi? Where do you think you’re going without Judd Group?" "Mr. Judd, maybe you don’t know this, but we didn’t even want to work with Judd Group in the first place. It was all thanks to Ms. Naomi that we agreed to come onboard. We respect and admire her exceptional ability, and that’s the only reason we chose to support her here. If it weren’t for her, we never would’ve signed on." "For years, we’ve all seen just how dirty the Judd family operates. And you, Mr. Judd, don’t even bother with the company at all. You’re out partying every night, drinking yourself stupid, and dumping all your responsibilities on Ms. Naomi’s shoulders. We’ve had enough of it!" With those words, Shawn and the others felt like something that had been stuck in their chests had finally been released. The entire status of this game company had been propped up by Naomi and their elite Creative Team. Without Judd Group behind them, they’d like to see how long Nolan could keep pretending to be somebody. Nolan’s face twisted with rage as he listened to Shawn insult him so brazenly. His cheeks turned beet red and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He sputtered, "Fine! Terminate the damn contract! I’ve had it with your so-called Creative Team anyway! You people always do whatever you want, never once listening to me, the CEO. Every time something comes up, all you do is go running to Naomi, acting like I don’t even exist. The tasks I assign? You don’t bother completing them on time or up to standard. Honestly, even if you hadn’t said anything today, I was going to fire all of you!" In Nolan’s mind, Naomi was nothing but a pushover—easy to manipulate and control. She might’ve been shouting about cutting ties with the Judd family now, but she’d never actually go through with it. She had no one to rely on. Without the Judd family feeding her, who else would take her in? So what if he blew the deal with the Creative Team today? It wasn’t like this was the first time they’d threatened to walk out. They did this every few days, and Naomi always came crawling back to clean up the mess and talk them into staying. This time would be no different. Naomi would definitely come back to handle things and convince the Creative Team to return. With that thought, Nolan got even more smug. "Go ahead! Leave, all of you! I give it three days—Naomi will come crawling back to the Judd family. And when she does, let’s see if any of you still have a job!" Shawn was so furious he let out a cold laugh. He wasn’t about to waste another word on an idiot like Nolan. He hung up immediately. One of the Creative Team members fumed, "Mr. Shawn, that idiot Nolan just insulted us left and right. We’re really gonna leave without saying anything back? That feels way too generous." Shawn was just as pissed off. After thinking for a second, a sharp idea flashed through his mind. "Before we go, everyone leave a few bugs in the core files on your computers. They haven’t even paid us this month—no need to let that idiot Nolan off easy." "Yes!" "I’m in!" Meanwhile, back at the bar, Nolan was still soaking in his little paradise of booze and women. "Come on, come on, let’s keep drinking!" "Mr. Judd, did something happen at the company? Maybe you should go check?" the girl he was spending money on asked with mild concern. "Summer, relax. It’s just the Creative Team acting up again, threatening to terminate their contract. This isn’t the first time. Give it three days—Naomi will be back to whip them into shape for me. She might even throw in a little compensation. Just wait and see!" Nolan said confidently. "Alright, I’ll go with whatever Mr. Judd says~" But no matter how long Nolan waited, Naomi never came back to fix his mess. The Creative Team didn’t return either. On top of that, bugs started showing up in the company’s core code—and they were clearly planted. As the company’s stock price began to plummet and no one was left managing things, the threat of bankruptcy loomed. Only then did Nolan finally panic and rush to HR, ranting and raving. "Those Creative bastards! Not only did they ditch work without notice, they left me with this mess! I’m giving you one week—find me a new team!" "Yes, sir." But saying they’d find a new team and actually finding one that could do the job were two different things. As the one-week deadline approached, Nolan’s demands got more aggressive. HR, desperate, finally pulled together a team that claimed to be "the best in the country." "You guys can actually fix the bugs and replace the previous Creative Team?" Nolan asked suspiciously as he looked them over. "Of course! Our creativity and tech skills are top-tier in this industry. That last team of yours couldn’t even hold a candle to us. Mr. Judd, just wait—you’ll see for yourself," the team leader said, pounding his chest in confidence. There wasn’t time to be picky anymore. Nolan decided to keep the new team on for now. As for everything else—he’d deal with Naomi after he sorted this mess out. What he didn’t know was that this new team had built their entire portfolio on plagiarism. All their so-called creativity and technical skills were stolen from others. The whole "top team in the country" thing was just something they made up themselves. Not that Nolan cared about any of that. He stormed back to the Judd family estate, seething with rage—only to walk straight into a scene that left him speechless. Naomi was severing all ties with the Judd family.