Betrayed by My Boss: The Story of a Stolen Byline and an Unjust Termination

My life was like a rollercoaster ride, with so many ups and downs that it made my head spin. I used to brush off my friends’ comments about my drama-filled life, thinking they were just exaggerating. But then, something happened that made me realize that they were right all along. It was an incident that would change the course of my life forever, and one that my friends would surely want to hear about on their monthly “drama catch-up” day.

The tension between me and my former boss, A, was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It all started when we had a disagreement about how to handle a work-related matter. I voiced my concerns, but A didn’t take kindly to being challenged. From that moment on, things went from bad to worse, and the office atmosphere became as toxic as a chemical spill. Our conversations were as minimal as the amount of hair on a bald man’s head, and it was clear that A was gunning for me. I knew that my days at the company were numbered, and it was only a matter of time before A pulled the trigger and fired me like a bullet from a gun.

It was a brutal realization when I discovered that my boss had been planning to throw me out like yesterday’s trash all along. But what was even more gut-wrenching was the fact that he had been using me as a pawn in his twisted game. Like a spider luring a fly into its web, my boss had extracted everything he needed from me before pulling the plug. I was left feeling like a shell of myself, a victim of his cruel and manipulative ways. From my perspective, he was the ultimate villain in my story, and I was determined to make sure he didn’t get away with it.

Working under my boss was like being in a mental warzone, where he relentlessly bullied me. It seemed like he took pleasure in excluding me from event coverage and purposefully ignoring my contributions while showering other coworkers with opportunities and help. I was left feeling like I was constantly treading water, trying to keep up with ever-changing KPIs, and fighting to keep my head above water.

The ultimate betrayal came when we were tasked with writing two client articles, one for a beauty product and the other for an event. He told me that he will be the one who will write the article himself and I can focus on my current work but then pulled the rug under me. Fast forward a few weeks later, and he’s asking me to write the article on short notice, with limited information to go off of. It was like he was setting me up for failure, dangling a carrot in front of me only to snatch it away at the last moment. But I wasn’t going down without a fight, and even with the deck stacked against me, I managed to churn out a high-quality article in record time.

My boss’s sudden request for me to be involved in the post-production of a client video felt like a trap, and I should have known better. Initially, he assured me that all I needed to do was lend my voice to the project. But as soon as I was knee-deep in the process, he vanished into thin air, leaving me to fend for myself. I was caught off guard when I was asked to make revisions on the spot, with no preparation and zero guidance.

But little did he know, I was not one to back down easily. I dug my heels in and refused to let him sabotage my credibility any further. I put my nose to the grindstone and worked tirelessly to get the project back on track. In the end, my perseverance paid off, and the project was a resounding success. It was a small victory, but it felt like a triumph in the face of adversity.

It was like déjà vu when my boss pulled the same stunt with another client’s article, this time about an exhibition in Genting Highland. He initially promised that my colleague would cover the event and in my understanding write the article, but then out of nowhere, he threw me under the bus yet again. To make matters worse, I hadn’t even attended the event, and yet he was expecting me to write a high-quality article about it.

It was the same old modus operandi: limited time, limited information, and no guidance whatsoever. It felt like he was setting me up to fail, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this was all part of some twisted game he was playing. But I refused to be a pawn in his game, and I threw myself headfirst into the task. I spent countless hours researching the exhibition, poring over every bit of information I could find to craft a compelling and engaging article.

In the end, I managed to pull it off, despite the odds stacked against me. My boss may have thought he had me beaten, but I refused to back down. It was just another day in the cutthroat world of corporate politics, but I had emerged victorious, and that felt like a sweet victory indeed.

Just when I thought the worst was over, he pulled the ultimate dirty trick. It was a Friday afternoon when I noticed that the two articles had been uploaded to WordPress but with a different byline — his and my colleague’s names were on them instead of mine. Furious, I decided not to write anything else that day, but my boss wasn’t done with me yet. He texted me later, demanding to know why I was “so busy” despite having written articles. And as if that wasn’t enough, he scheduled a meeting for Monday morning, telling me ‘nicely’ to come up with excuses for my supposed lack of productivity. All the while, I had been juggling other tasks at the office, including converting articles to social media posts and analyzing readership data.

The meeting on Monday felt like walking into a trap. My boss, with a smug grin on his face, didn’t even offer a greeting before dropping the bombshell. He revealed his plan to fire me, but in a twisted act of kindness, suggested that I resign instead, to avoid tarnishing my reputation. As if that wasn’t enough, he gave me a measly three days before kicking me out of the company. I was blindsided and felt like I had just been hit by a ton of bricks. It was clear that my ex-boss was more interested in getting rid of me than helping me salvage my career.

As I confronted him about the article, I could feel my heart racing with anger and frustration. His response was almost comical, claiming he would never take credit for someone else’s work, while his name was still plastered all over it. It was like a slap in the face. Little did I know, this was just the beginning of a rollercoaster week.

It appears that he has a hidden motive behind wanting to terminate my employment so abruptly. Fortunately, I was able to negotiate with the Human Resources department to extend my timeline until Friday to settle any loose ends. As it turns out, the reason for his urgency to get rid of me by Wednesday becomes clear on Thursday when the truth is revealed. I begin my workday as usual, logging into my various accounts, including WordPress, email, and Facebook. To my surprise, I discover that the article that was meant to be published under my name has been credited to him despite his reassurances to the contrary.

My blood boiled with anger! Without wasting any time, I immediately took a screenshot of the article and confronted him in the group chat. To make my case even stronger, I reminded him of his own words from Monday, but he shamelessly tried to gaslight me by claiming that the article was still a work in progress. However, there was no denying that the article had been published 14 hours ago with his name as the author!

He couldn’t bear being near me, so he hastily altered the byline, and I assumed that would be the end of it. But then I reminded him that there was still another article with my colleague’s name on it instead of mine, and he had the nerve to say, “Don’t worry, nobody here wants to steal your work.” The nerve! The office was thick with tension that day. I warned my coworker that unless he changed the byline, I’d delete everything, forcing them to start from scratch. I even put restrictions in place to ensure they couldn’t access the original write-up again.

As I wrapped up my workday on Thursdays and headed home at 6 PM, my phone buzzed with a message from him about our group project. He coldly informed me that he would be revoking my access to all materials at 6:30 PM that evening. I was stunned by his abruptness and lack of professionalism. Without even bothering to give me a chance to clarify anything, he kicked me out of the group. I was seething with anger and immediately reached out to HR to inquire about this kind of behavior. I couldn’t believe that this was how they treated their employees. Even HR seemed puzzled by his actions. I was relieved to hear that he would be taking leave on Friday, which meant that I wouldn’t have to face him again.

As I walked through the doors of the office on my last day, a sense of relief washed over me when I realized that my access had not been revoked as threatened. I couldn’t help but think that my coworker, A, had overplayed his hand. But as I sat down for my exit interview with HR, I was shocked to learn that A had actually suggested revoking my access a day earlier than planned. It was clear to me now that A had been scheming against me all along.

I took the opportunity to call out his unprofessional behavior once again, expressing my frustration at being treated unfairly and dismissed without cause. It was disappointing to see that someone so much older than me would resort to childish tactics just because he felt threatened by my abilities. But at least now, as I walked out of the office for the final time, I could hold my head high knowing that I had stood up for myself and my work.

Just when I thought the drama had ended, the following week I woke up to find out that A had been going through my LinkedIn profile once again. He had been doing this ever since I started working there, but I didn’t think much of it before. However, I was taken aback when a friend of mine from an agency told me that A had reached out to her with questions about me. I couldn’t understand what else he wanted from me.

All I wanted was to move on from this and carry on with my life. As for A, I hope that he will eventually face the consequences for his unprofessional behavior. It’s not fair to treat someone unfairly and then continue to harass them even after they’ve left the company.