All Chapters of Caught Between Duty, Death, and a Setup: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Brad Greer hesitated for a few seconds outside the door. Then, he kicked ever harder and yelled, "Samuel Williams! You know that the emergency response team will take at least 20 minutes to get here! Do you seriously think that the three maintenance people can hold out until then?"You've had professional training! What's wrong with you taking a look at it first?"My back was soaked with cold sweat. I tightened my grip on the mouse and replied, "It's not that I don't want to go and take a look, Brad. I just don't have the technical qualifications for this."If I make a mistake, the consequences will be even more serious than now. You should contact the shift manager at once."Brad's voice was laced with anger when he yelled back again."Stop pretending not to know a thing, Samuel! You've helped the maintenance team adjust the valve on Unit 3 last week! Everyone in the factory knows how skilled you are!"We're talking about three lives in danger right now! Are you seriously just

Chapter 2

I didn't open the door. Instead, I said calmly, "Mr. Greer, according to regulations, you need to report it immediately to the supervisor-on-duty if key equipment malfunctions. Have you reported it yet?"Brad replied, "Yes, I did, but he was out drinking with clients and didn't answer the phone.""Then, did you report it to the plant's safety department?"Brad hesitated. "No, I haven't had a chance to report it yet…"I smiled. "Alright. Then, let me make the report on your behalf."Brad froze abruptly as his tone became increasingly urgent all of a sudden. "No! Don't report this to the safety department! It's just a small problem and not worth bringing it to their attention. If you do, our safety bonus for this month will be gone!"Samuel, I'm begging you, please don't report it! I've been working here for 20 years and never had an accident. If this gets reported, I'll lose my 100-thousand-dollar bonus at the end of this year!"Here's what I'll do! I'll give you three thousand d

Chapter 3

"What are you all doing here in the middle of the night?"It was the shift manager, Leo Swanson. He pushed through the crowd, reeking of alcohol. He was clearly quite drunk."What's going on? What are you all doing here gathered around Samuel's office door?"Brad hurriedly stepped forward to explain things."Mr. Swanson! It's like this! The pressure-regulating valve on the main steam pipe of Unit 4 is stuck and poses a risk of exploding! I asked Samuel to go and adjust it for us, but he refused and put on airs, saying that he knew nothing about repairs! He's just blatantly lying to us!"Leo seemed to have sobered up a bit. He exclaimed, "How could the valve have gotten stuck? How did you repair it? What's the situation now? Has the unit been depressurized? Is it leaking?"He bombarded Brad with one question after another, making the latter even more nervous."It… It just suddenly got stuck during normal maintenance. There's no leak yet, but if it's not fixed soon, it's going to

Chapter 4

Another email popped up on my computer screen."Call the safety department. Brad is desperate. He'll break in and forcibly take you away."I quickly dialed the safety department hotline."Hello? This is the suburb branch of Powerup Thermal Power Plant. The pressure-regulating valve on the main steam pipeline of Unit 4 is stuck, posing a risk of overpressure and an explosion. Please send someone over immediately."There was a loud silence outside the door, followed by Leo's furious roar."Samuel Williams! You called the safety department? How dare you! Don't you know that your call will shut down the whole factory for rectification and millions of dollars in orders will be lost? You're putting everyone at the factory out of work!"The other employees also got worked up when they heard what Leo said. They grew agitated and banged loudly on the door, cursing at me."Are you out of your damn mind, Samuel? Are you trying to get us all fired?""The safety department? Who the hell do

Chapter 5

Two uniformed police officers rushed in first, immediately noticing my rumpled work clothes and reddened wrists. Then, someone in a safety supervision uniform followed the officers in with a body camera and began recording the pipes in the control room.Brad's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the scorching-hot pipe.Leo and the other employees outside were completely stunned. They all froze in place.The police officers came over and asked what had happened. I pulled up all the recordings on my phone, the video of the door being smashed, and the inspection records stored on the cloud. I even opened the anonymous emails on my phone and read them aloud for everyone to hear, word for word.The person-in-charge from the safety department, Mike Wellington, frowned as he reached the edge of the pipes. He tested the pressure with his equipment, and his face turned dark at once."The rated pressure is 10 MPa, but the pressure here is already reaching 13.5 MPa. The pipe would

Chapter 6

The next morning, as soon as I arrived at the plant, I noticed that everyone was looking at me strangely.I'd only just walked into my office when I saw the HR manager, Oliver Dickson, sitting in my chair. There was a grim look on his face."Samuel, you're fired. Our plant can't afford to keep someone like you around."I was stunned for a moment. Before I could get a word in, he showed me something on his phone.It was a local forum with a trending post titled, "Heartless Employee at Thermal Power Plant Deliberately Reports Shift Manager for Permanent Position, Causing Thousands to Lose their Jobs".The post included a photo of Brad trying to bribe me last night, portraying me as a despicable person who maliciously reported someone for revenge after failing to extort a bribe from them.The comments below were all insults directed at me, and some of them even dug up my Social Security number and personal address, doxxing me online and threatening to make life hell for me."Look a

Chapter 7

I had only just signed the contract when my phone rang with a call from an unknown number.I answered the call, and a cautious voice sounded on the other end of the line."Is this Mr. Samuel Williams? I'm Andy Koch, the maintenance foreman from Unit 4. I was supposed to be in the control room yesterday."I was stunned for a moment. The anonymous email I'd received before told me that the three foremen had already been burned to death by the extreme heat."Are you guys alright?" I asked.Andy's voice was choked with tears. "We're alright. The moment the valve jammed yesterday, Mr. Greer told us to hide in the warehouse, saying that he would handle it. He warned us not to make a sound."We heard the police siren after that and only realized then that he was trying to pin the blame on you. We didn't dare to come out in case he retaliated against us."My heart thumped loudly in my chest. This was something that I hadn't expected at all."Where are you now?" I asked. "Do you have an

Chapter 8

After leaving the prison, I went straight back to the plant, where Joshua was waiting for me back in his office.When he saw that I was back, he poured me a cup of coffee and told me to take a seat."I heard about the verdict. You did a good job."I took a sip of the coffee, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked the question that had been on the back of my mind for a long time."Mr. Patterson, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time. Were you the one who sent me the anonymous emails the other night?"Joshua paused for a second. Then, he smiled and nodded."It was me."I had a hunch about it before, but I was still surprised when he admitted it."Why were you helping me?"Joshua sighed and told me the truth."I had suspicions about Brad colluding with Leo to purchase defective machine parts and pocketing the difference earlier on, but I never had the evidence to prove it."I happened to see Brad leading the other workers to break down your door thro

Chapter 9

After Christmas, the plant received an even larger order, which was a collaboration with a state-owned enterprise. If this order went through, the plant's profits for the year could triple.As the safety manager, I led a team to inspect the plant area every day, fearing even the slightest issue or anomaly that might occur.One day, while on inspection duty, I suddenly received a call from the fire department saying that the generator room for Unit 3 was on fire. I was shocked and quickly led my team there.When I reached the generator room, the fire had already been put out, but the main control cabinet in the room was completely charred beyond recognition, with losses estimated to be at least several hundred thousand dollars.After inspecting the site, the fire department said that the cause of the fire was arson, and there were also traces of gasoline near the main control cabinet.Joshua looked extremely grim. A fire at this critical moment was devastating. If our client heard

Chapter 10

On my last day at the branch plant, everyone in the plant came to see me off. Andy and his other two coworkers even presented me with a plaque that said "Our Safety Hero" on it.I took the plaque from him, feeling emotional about it.Just one year ago, I was just a contract safety inspector who could have been fired at any time. But now, I had become the safety director at the plant's head office. It felt like two completely parallel worlds to each other.After arriving at the head office, I was then put in charge of all safety inspections of more than a dozen power plants in the whole group. I was expected to visit a different power plant every day.One day, I went to one of the branches for an inspection, and I happened to bump into Leo, who was there for an interview. He had just been released from prison. His hair was all gray, his back was hunched, and he looked probably two decades older than he really was.When he saw me, he was shocked for a moment. Then, his face turned r

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