Chapter 2

That very day, I had someone install a punch-in machine downstairs in the company lobby.

Early the next morning, Emily reported the number of employees who were late. There were more than half of them.

"Notify them," I said calmly. "Deduct $50 from their wages. And if anyone is late more than ten times in a single month, treat it as a lack of professionalism. Terminate them immediately."

Emily had barely relayed the message downstairs when, not long after, there was a knock on my office door.

More than a dozen people crowded into the room.

"Mr. Hale, we were only half an hour late. Isn’t this a bit too much?"

"Yeah, Mr. Hale. $50 is enough for me to eat for several days."

……

I put down the pen in my hand and looked at them.

"I made the rules very clear yesterday. You chose not to follow them. That has nothing to do with me."

"Th—" They froze, completely speechless.

Over the next few days, they had no choice but to wake up early and rush to catch the bus to work. Because all preferential policies had been canceled, they could no longer leave early, nor make up the time later.

On top of that, there was performance pressure.

For a while, the entire office was filled with complaints and resentment.

"Now there’s performance pressure too. That’s it for me. I haven’t even hit my target this month."

"Do you think he’s doing this on purpose? He talked big before, but never planned to hand out that $850,000 bonus. Maybe he wants to squeeze us out and pocket it himself."

"Could be. I’ve already been late six times. That’s $300 gone. If this keeps up, I’m gonna starve for dinner."

Suddenly, someone snapped, "Just wait. If he's going to make our lives so difficult, then he won’t have it easy either."

…

I turned off the surveillance feed and didn’t watch any further.

A few days later, I received another call from the Labor Department. They had reported me again; this time, it was over policy issues.

I smiled and submitted our company regulations, along with the daily punch-in surveillance footage.

"After the previous warning, our company made immediate adjustments," I said evenly. "Our policies are now no different from other companies. Performance-based evaluations and punctual clock-ins.

"Wages are calculated strictly according to fixed standards: base salary plus performance."

After confirming everything was in order, they ended the call.

The employees who had been waiting for me to be punished were now outside, whispering excitedly among themselves.

"Hey, do you think he’s about to get chewed out badly?"

"Serves him right for docking our wages. If he doesn’t get fined, he’ll think we’re easy targets."

"Exactly. And he even swallowed our $850,000 bonus. I was counting on that money to pay my mortgage."

Amid the chorus of agreement, Daniel Moore spoke up cautiously, "But don’t you think reporting him behind his back was kind of unethical? Putting that aside, the new rules are no different from those of a normal company. And honestly, the old policies were really good too; it was so convenient for all of us. Why did you still report him?"

The moment those words fell, he was immediately attacked from all sides. They cursed him, calling him my lapdog.

Disheartened, he said nothing more and turned back to his workstation.

The others continued talking until I suddenly walked out.

Under their stunned gazes, I stopped in front of them.

"Looks like everyone is pretty unhappy with me."

The moment the words left my mouth, all conversation stopped. Eyes widened. Chairs scraped back as people stood up one after another.

"Mr. Hale, when did you get here?"

"Yeah, Mr. Hale…"

They forced smiles and crowded forward.

Did they really think I was deaf?

I immediately played the surveillance footage, which showed them openly criticizing me.

Everyone froze.

I hadn’t expected that the people who usually flattered me the most were the ones cursing me the loudest. Meanwhile, the one who spoke the least was not only quietly doing his job all along, but also the only one who had stood up for me.

"Mr. Hale, we were just joking around, and…"

"You’re terminated."

My gaze landed on Ryan Cole, the one who had led the insults.

"W–What…?" He looked as if he couldn’t believe it.

I ignored him and walked over to the man still working quietly at his desk.

"Daniel, come with me for a moment," I instructed.