Congratulations! A nice story. Thanks for sharing.

Judging from the swiftness of the department head's action, the resourses were ready to make the counter offer. They seemed to be delaying your promotion on purpose. However, the last paragraph seems a little pessimistic.

Now this brings my question: if one feels that he/she deserves a pay raise and/or promotion, how shall he/she negotiate with his/her manager/boss professionally? The bottom line, I think, is to keep the job, unless he/she is looking forward to a job change.