Chapter 1

When I finally signed the contract for the Verdanian client's rush order, the pen felt unusually heavy in my hand, as if the entire deal hinged on that single signature. Before the ink even dried, I carefully pressed the company seal onto the document.

A moment later, a two-million-dollar deposit hit the company's account.

I let out a long breath.

The factory had sat idle for two solid weeks with no orders coming in. The profit from this single deal was enough to keep all 50 workers on the payroll for the next six months.

The only catch was the tight deadline. The client wanted the order delivered by the day after Memorial Day, which left us with almost no time.

I walked out of my office and looked across the empty factory floor.

I pulled out my phone and opened the company group chat. "Good news, everyone. We just landed a massive order. Anyone willing to work over Memorial Day weekend gets five times their base rate. Completely voluntary. Nobody has to sign up."

I expected the chat to explode instantly. The workers were always griping that there wasn't enough overtime to go around. At five times the base rate, just five days of overtime would earn them more than half a month's pay.

One minute passed. Then five.

The group chat remained dead silent. No one even bothered to reply with a simple "Got it."

I frowned, grabbed my phone, and headed for the break room.

Just as I got there, a smug voice carried through the half-open door.

"Whatever you do, don't reply to him in the group chat."

It was Howard Chase, a college intern who'd been hired just last month.

He stood there in a designer tee, waving his phone around and running his mouth in front of everyone in the room.

"Bosses are all bloodsuckers. He says five times the base rate, but do you really think he's going to pay up when the time comes? He just wants to work us like mules all through the holiday weekend."

Larry Lewis, a veteran worker who had been at the factory for five years, stood nearby, blowing smoke rings.

"Howard's got a point," he chimed in. "I've been here for years, and I've never seen anyone actually get paid five times their base rate. Let's leave him hanging and see how desperate he gets."

My face darkened as I shoved the door open. Their conversation stopped.

I fixed Howard with a cold stare. "The five-times rate is in writing right there in the group chat. That's legally binding. If you don't want to work overtime, you're free to go home and rest."

Howard crossed his arms and sneered. "Mr. Hale, don't play games with us. You have to deliver that order right after the holiday. If we don't work overtime, you'll be on the hook for a massive breach-of-contract penalty, right?"

He pulled out his phone and waved it in my face. "I already screenshotted your message from the group chat and posted it online. Now the whole internet is tearing you apart for being a heartless boss who forces his employees to work over Memorial Day weekend."

Anger surged through me. I quickly pulled out my phone and found my DMs flooded, along with thousands of comments ripping into me.

"Heartless, money-hungry boss. Hope you go bankrupt soon."

"Somebody call the city's complaint line and report him! Get the state labor board to shut this dump down!"

Seeing how pale I'd turned, Howard grew even bolder. "That kind of heat online isn't something you can just ride out. We're just workers. We don't have any leverage. But if you want us to save this order for you, five times the base rate isn't going to cut it."

He added with a smirk, "We want ten times the base rate."

Larry and a few of the other veteran workers perked right up and started egging him on.

"That's right. Ten times the rate."

"Not a cent less, or we don't work."

I took a deep breath, forcing my anger down. I strode back to my office, grabbed the cost sheet for the order, then returned and slammed it down on the table in front of them.

"Take a good look at the numbers yourselves. The total profit on this order is only 500,000 dollars. Paying all of you five times your base rate will eat up 400,000 dollars of that. The remaining 100,000 dollars has to cover the factory's rent for the second half of the year. As the owner, I'm not lining my own pockets with a single dime from this deal."

I looked around at faces I'd known for years, and my voice came out shaky. "I fought like hell to land this order. All I wanted was to keep this factory alive and keep you employed."

Larry looked at the sheet, and something in his face softened.

Howard, however, snatched it up and hurled it to the floor.

"How do we know you didn't cook the numbers just to fool us? You bosses sure know how to play poor. Let me make this clear. Ten times the base rate, not a penny less. We've already got our own group chat going, and everybody's agreed. If you don't pay up, none of us are lifting a finger."

I stared at the smug look on Howard's face, then at Larry and the rest of them, all standing there in silent agreement.

Something inside me went cold.

I'd treated them like family, trying to weather the storm together. But to them, I was nothing more than a sucker they could squeeze for every last cent.

"Fine. I understand."

I bent down, picked up the sheet, and walked out of the break room without looking back.