Chapter 195: Unity

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Jared yelled, as Chloe finished her sentence.

Everyone stood up and rushed to the entrance to greet him. Jared was startled by the number of people at home.

"Jared, are you okay?" Hannah anxiously ran her hands over him, checking for injuries.

"Mom, I'm fine! I'm just hungry. I haven't had dinner!" Jared smiled.

"I'm glad you're fine! I'll prepare dinner for you!" Hannah exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"I'll help you, Hannah," Chloe said, accompanying her to the kitchen.

"Hi, Mr. Saunders!" Jared greeted Franklin.

"Are you really alright?" Franklin scrutinized Jared. "I knew something was wrong when Maria returned with the news. I knew that Porsche belonged to Leyton, and since you two aren't on good terms, I figured he'd cause trouble. Unfortunately, none of my contacts dared to cross the Scott family. I had no choice but to wait."

"I'm fine, Mr. Saunders. Thanks for your concern," Jared replied gratefully, appreciating Franklin's worry.

"That's good. It's getting late. We should go," Franklin said, and he and Maria left shortly afterward. Although Maria remained silent, Jared saw relief in her eyes that he was unharmed.

After dinner, Jared went to bed, and Chloe left after visiting for a while.

The next day, Jared went to Dragon Bay for training. Despite spending the entire day there, he didn't improve much. Still, it was better than nothing!

On Monday morning, Jared arrived at the sales department, sensing an unusual atmosphere.

"Mr. Jennings usually holds a corporate meeting every Monday. What's going on? Why haven't we heard from him?" someone asked.

"Exactly! I've been here for three years, and this is unprecedented. What's happening?" another chimed in.

"Has Mr. Jennings fallen ill?" a third person wondered.

Whispers filled the sales department.

"Enough," Maria said. "Stop speculating. Once Zayne arrives, I'm sure he'll tell us what's going on."

Soon, Zayne arrived, carrying a document.

"Mr. Carlson, what happened to Mr. Jennings?"

"Yeah, I haven't seen him at work today. Have you?"

"I heard he left early last Friday. Is that true?"

Questions were directed at Zayne.

"Mr. Jennings was fired and has left the company," Zayne announced dejectedly. He was devastated; he'd invested heavily in currying favor with Xavier, hoping for a promotion to the procurement department. With Xavier gone, so were his aspirations.

"What? Why? Who will be our general manager?"

"This is too sudden! There was no warning!"

"Exactly! Now we have to deal with someone new!"

"Our next general manager will probably be harsh. We're doomed!"

The discussions grew louder.

"Shut your mouths!" Zayne roared, his already bad mood worsening.

Silence fell.

"Regardless of who our new general manager is, we in the sales department must stick together. Unity is strength!" Zayne, fearing the new manager, seized the opportunity to unite his team and garner their support.

"Yes! We'll follow Mr. Carlson's instructions!"

"I'll follow your lead, Mr. Carlson!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Carlson. You have our support!"

The sales department pledged their allegiance to Zayne. (The final sentence was altered to correct the contradictory statement.)

I removed the extraneous website promotion. The prose is tighter, with improved sentence structure and flow. I also corrected some minor inconsistencies in wording and tense.