Bank Scandal: My Married Coworkers Were Sleeping With Each Other. Things Turned Ugly When One Of Them Fell In Love.
We were all working together in a big bank located in the Central Business District.
I’m about to spill the tea on the spiciest bank scandal I’ve witnessed after working in the industry for 5 years. I used to work as an Assistant Relationship Manager (ARM) in an acclaimed bank. ‘Jen’ and ‘Sammy’ were my colleagues. Jen had a reputation for being the office ‘tramp’ because she was rumored to have already had affairs with some male managers, despite being married. I initially thought it was just slander to tarnish her image. I mean most bankers are slimy anyways so I brushed it off as ‘office politics’.
But after being transferred to the same department as her, I firsthand witnessed her unhinged behavior. Basically, we were all ARMs working with a male Relationship Manager (RM), Sam. Right off the bat, it was very obvious that she had a privileged relationship with him. And she was completely transparent and unapologetic about it. The worst part? They both had spouses.
He bought her luxury bags and other benefits. She was not afraid to flaunt it in our faces.
Source: thetimes
Everyday in office, she would brag about how close they were even though their relationship was an obscene breach of any company policy. She’d always be flaunting the luxury bags Sam bought her from time to time and even other ‘cute’ gifts. I mean the logical thing to do if you were flirting with your boss who has a pregnant wife, while you’re also married, would be to keep things discreet. But Jen saw it as a badge of honor. Her ego blinded her and to her, it put her above us. It also got her many benefits that we witnessed firsthand. They’d both leave the office for really long periods of time to grab ‘chai’. It was really frustrating because we were working so hard and every wealth client we closed gave our RM a commission. Which obviously contributed to him splurging on her.
She was so possessive that no female colleagues could text him directly for work. She would check his phone and lash out.
While I was juggling between replying emails and dealing with entitled clients on calls, she would be on WhatsApp chatting with him. And she was overly possessive of him to the point that it started affecting my work-life. She got extremely jealous if I or any of the other younger female ARMs even spoke to him. (It was our duty to report to him too so literally wtf?). And if you spoke to him, she would get upset, take it personally, and go out of her way to create problems for you. So eventually the only way any of us were ‘allowed’ to speak to him was through her. I remember one time I texted him directly for assistance, she went ballistic and started spreading rumors about me.
Suspicious turned into evidence when they got caught in the act, twice.
After awhile, everyone from the other departments too started having suspicions about them having an affair but there was nothing ‘explicit’ to insinuate anything. But her behavior was clearly abnormal so whether they were sleeping together or not, it was still ethically wrong. Then one day, my colleague caught them making out and cozying up in the MRT carriage. He was probably being careless because his family was overseas. Still, it was a public place and my colleague spread the news through the office soon enough.
At this point, everyone had concluded that they were definitely in a secret (not so secret) love affair. She was in a loveless marriage and he was probably just making use of her to pass his time. The next time they got caught in the act, was during a business summit in a hotel. All the other RMs saw both of them walking out of the same hotel room. Soon after we heard the news that his wife had gotten wind of what he was doing and had threatened him with an ultimatum. Jen on the other hand told him that they should get together and she filed for divorce from her husband to prove it to him. I know it sounds insane but this whole soap opera was unfolding right before me. I’m not sure what he promised Jen for her to make that decision or if she was just caught up in her fantasy world.
She divorced her husband hoping that he would marry her. He fled the country instead to appease his wife.
A month passed by since the hotel incident and Sam suddenly announced that he was leaving the company to go back to his hometown and work for another company. We then found out from another RM that his wife had threatened to file for divorce if he did not come back right away. So instead of staying put with Jen, he chickened out and fled. She on the other hand, was stranded with no husband and no lover. By then, the whole office knew about the scandal and she was fired. The banking industry is small and gossip travels fast. I’m not sure where she is now but Jen if you’re reading this: karma’s a b*tch. And so are you.
I’m glad I quit the toxic work environment where I was constantly surrounded by people who would do anything to feed their own egos. I’m currently unemployed and looking for a job. But I never want to work in a bank again.
Would you ever date your coworker? Do you think it should be normalised?
