Chapter 15. Dismissal Decision

"What does he mean he fired me?" asked the financial director, pointing at Ethan, who stood before him.

"It means you should start packing your bags from here," Hannah replied.

Both of Hannah's hands continued to hold KG Aviation's first quarter financial report file. Although she could not check it completely, there were more losses than income. She could tell because the table marked the loss section with a red block.

"Can you explain the reason for the losses incurred during the first quarter?" Hannah asked.

The woman put the financial report on the table, telling the finance director's man to take a look on his own. The man started to get up and picked up the report, his eyes able to see the losses.

"We could not avoid the loss in the first quarter. Several things contributed to the loss, including decreased passenger interest in Kingsley Airlines," the man said.

"There are many new competitors in the aviation sector that have sprung up. The meeting below is also intended to establish cooperation with them so that we can attract more passengers," explained the finance director, explaining the reason for the meeting.

"A reduction in passenger interest is possible, but the impact will not be too great on the company's finances," Hannah said.

Ethan approached the table, looking at the same file as the finance director and Hannah. He correlated the expenses in the first quarter with those incurred during this month.

"So what are you doing to attract passengers back to Kingsley Airlines?" Ethan asked.

The man beside Ethan turned his head, his eyes fixed on the young man, "We're only doing the cooperation  aspect with other companies."

"Has your partnership been successful?" asked Ethan. The man fell silent with a sigh.

"As expected. You don't have the latest concept to propose to our customers," Ethan snapped.

Ethan seemed to walk away from the table in front of the sofa to reach the finance director's desk. There was a nameplate bearing his name, Stephen Herald.

"Pack your things, Stephen. Today is your last day in this place," Ethan said.

"You cannot do that to me. You are not part of the Kingsley Family. You have no power to decide such things," Stephen retorted.

The young man spun around, looking at Stephen as his right hand grasped the glass nameplate bearing the finance director's name. He could not let someone like him control the company's finances, especially since he could not selectively choose which expenses were important and which were not.

"Then I will leave the decision to Hannah. Are you going to keep him or not?" Ethan asked, turning to the woman sitting on the sofa.

"I'm sorry, Stephen. We had to decide to sack you from here. The severance pay will be sent to your account," said Hannah.

Hearing the woman's decision to no longer hire Stephen made the finance director faint. He had not expected Hannah's arrival here to affect his position as finance director.

Hannah walked away from the sofa, leaving the files that had been delivered abandoned. The room door opened, revealing a crowd of financial staff surprised to find Hannah out of the room with Ethan.

The woman called out to one of the staff, asking him to call the HR director. Over the company phone, the staff quickly dialled the HR director to meet with Hannah.

The HR Director, a middle-aged woman who had been with KG Aviation for ten years, worked on the second floor. She arrived quickly by elevator after Hannah asked her to come.

"Do you need anything, Ms Hannah?" the woman asked.

"Make sure he no longer works here. I will find a finance director position as soon as possible, or if you have a recommendation, please feel free to attach it to me," said Hannah, pointing at Stephen, who seemed to be standing before his desk with his head bowed.

"And because of the losses KG Aviation has been incurring, we will be cutting back on staff. Not just the finance department staff, but other staff as well," Hannah continued.

Her words signalled that KG Aviation would soon be conducting mass layoffs of some staff who were not showing their best work. This made all the staff nervous and neglected their work that afternoon.

Hannah said goodbye to all of them. She walked gracefully out of the finance department to get downstairs, Ethan walking after her.

"Was that enough for you?" asked Hannah, curious.

"If you're asking about finances, the file should be enough to answer all my questions," Ethan replied, crossing his arms.

"The company's finances should be even better now," Hannah replied.

"It's not as simple as that. If their main problem, the runaway passengers, aren't solved soon, the impact of the losses will continue," Ethan said.

"What if we discuss this with the operational director?" asked Hannah. Ethan shook his head.

Ethan raised his head as his eyes continued to watch the board with the floor numbers in this building, "There's already enough commotion going on here. I will discuss it while inviting them to the Kingsley residence."

Hannah nodded. She obeyed what Ethan said because it was probably best for the KG Aviation company. The two arrived at the main floor, the elevator doors opened, and it was clear the guests were attending a gathering held by KG Aviation.

Ethan whispered something into Hannah's ear, "Tell me if you need information about the companies invited to this event."

The woman near Ethan nodded. She stepped closer to the middle-aged woman who had met her earlier. Hannah said in a low tone to instruct the woman to provide information about the company that would be partnering.

She nodded in understanding, fully understanding Hannah's wishes. In the end, Ethan and Hannah walked out of the company building into the company parking lot. With enough of the surprises Hannah had given KG Aviation, the two were planning to leave the company.

"Are you hungry, Ethan?" asked Hannah. Ethan was surprised to hear the question.

"Since you asked that. Yeah, I'm pretty hungry right now," Ethan replied.

"Let me take the wheel. I'll show you a little restaurant with nice food," said Hannah.

Now, she was the one behind the wheel. Ethan's black sedan sped away from KG Aviation. Hannah was referring to the restaurant close to the beach, so it wasn't strange if they served seafood.

"Why don't you take this car when you go to college?" Hannah asked.

"They just know I'm poor. I can't possibly bring such a luxurious car there," Ethan said.

"How about every time you go to college, you can go with me?" Hannah asked.

Ethan smiled at the offer from the woman beside him, "Are you okay with being in the same car with me, who is known to be poor on campus?"

"But you're no longer poor now," Hannah joked, "You might be the richest student on our campus."

The young man sitting near Hannah laughed out loud at the woman's words, "Alright. I have a class tomorrow. We can start leaving tomorrow.”