All Chapters of Five Times the Pay, Zero Loyalty: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

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

Chapter 2

I didn't sleep a wink that night.I sat alone in my office and made three calls back-to-back.…The next day, at 8:00 am sharp, I called a company-wide meeting. All 50 workers stood in neat rows on the factory floor.Howard stood in the front row, looking smug and triumphant.He leaned over and whispered to Larry beside him, "Just watch. He's about to come begging. The moment he caves, everybody holds the line and demands ten times our pay."I took the microphone, stepped in front of the group, and smiled at them."I did some hard thinking last night about where I went wrong," I said into the mic. "Management has taken everyone's criticism to heart and decided to make major changes. Starting today, everyone gets Memorial Day weekend off. Nobody works overtime."The whole floor went dead silent. Everyone's expression froze.Larry's eyes went wide, and he took an anxious step forward. "Mr. Hale, what about the order? If we don't deliver on time, we'll be looking at millions in p

Chapter 3

As soon as Howard started the livestream, hundreds of viewers poured in.He pointed his phone camera straight at me. "Guys, this is the heartless boss. He landed a multi-million-dollar order and tried to make us work over Memorial Day weekend for free. When we refused, he put on this whole act just to intimidate us."Larry squeezed into the frame and did his best to look pitiful. "You can all judge for yourselves. Working stiffs like us have it hard enough already."Then a horn blared outside. A heavy truck backed through the main gate with two forklifts rumbling in behind it.Liam Walker, owner of the plant in the neighboring industrial park, jumped down from the passenger side.He was a heavyset guy in his 50s, his face slick with sweat as he clutched a thick stack of papers."Ryan!" he shouted. "I brought a truck to pick up the raw materials! I went over the Verdanian blueprints overnight. No problem at all. I spent three million dollars on a brand-new imported CNC machine las

Chapter 4

I stared at Howard's smug face.I wasn't angry at all. If anything, I found it almost amusing.I reached up and straightened my tie. "Howard, for an intern fresh out of college, you seem to know quite a few legal terms. But since you know so much about employment law, did you ever bother looking up what happens when a company suspends operations?"Howard froze for a beat, his eyes darting away. "Stop playing mind games and trying to scare us. Paying us our wages is a given!"I turned, walked to the factory bulletin board, and pulled down an official notice that had been posted just yesterday.With the notice in hand, I took my time walking back toward Howard."Open your eyes and read it carefully. Our factory has been sitting idle for two weeks because we've had no orders. Under labor regulations, once a company has been shut down for more than one pay period and employees aren't doing their regular jobs, the company only has to pay a living allowance equal to 80% of the local mi

Chapter 5

Howard's hand froze in midair, still holding the phone up.His eyes locked onto the manila folder in my hand. Even so, he forced himself to stay calm and managed a sneer."Mr. Hale, enough bluffing. You really think waving some stupid folder around is going to scare me?" He scoffed. "I graduated from a top law school. You think I scare that easily?"I couldn't help laughing at the arrogant look on his face.Ignoring his posturing, I flipped open the folder, pulled out a letter-size printout, and thrust it right in front of his phone camera."Everyone watching the livestream, take a good look," I said. "This is the surveillance log from our factory's back gate. The timestamp is 2:00 am on the 12th of last month."I turned to Larry, who was still slumped on the floor, and gave him a cold look. "Larry, did you really think cutting the cable to the main security camera meant you were in the clear?"Larry's entire body jerked. He looked up in disbelief, his face white as a sheet.I

Chapter 6

The livestream comments exploded instantly.Just moments earlier, the comments flooding the screen had been tearing into me as a "heartless capitalist". Then they turned at the drop of a hat."Holy shit! What a plot twist!""Stealing? Selling trade secrets? These two are straight-up criminals!""I can't believe I was defending that intern. I seriously want to slap myself across the face right now.""Mr. Hale, call the cops! You can't let traitors like them get away with it!""No wonder he kept trying to get the workers to strike! He wanted to sabotage Mr. Hale's order so his competitor could swoop in and steal the client!"As the comments flew by, Howard finally panicked. He fumbled for the button to end the livestream."Stream's over! The connection's acting up!"I grabbed his wrist before he could touch the screen. "Don't turn it off. Didn't you just say you wanted the whole internet to see how I'm exploiting you?" I asked. "Didn't you say you were going to ruin my name in

Chapter 7

A dead silence fell over the entire factory floor.The remaining 48 workers stood frozen in place, barely daring to breathe. The arrogance they'd shown earlier while demanding ten times their base rate had vanished without a trace.I picked up the microphone and looked at the greedy, foolish crowd in front of me."Now, let's talk about your situation."Fear instantly flashed in their eyes."You participated in an illegal strike," I said. "You deliberately stopped working to pressure me right when the company had a rush order to fill. That's a serious violation of the employee handbook."A slightly older male worker scrambled forward, rubbing his hands together with an ingratiating smile."Mr. Hale, that little bastard Howard fooled all of us! We had no idea he was selling company secrets. Please, be the bigger man and give us one more chance."He pleaded desperately, "We'll get back to work right now, and we won't ask for a single cent of overtime. Just pay us our regular wages

Chapter 8

I scoffed. Howard's well-connected uncle actually had the nerve to call me."Mr. Ziegler, what can I do for you?""Go to the police station right now and tell them you want to withdraw your report against Howard," he demanded. "Sign a written statement saying you've forgiven him on the spot. Otherwise, your factory will be shut down for inspection tomorrow!"His tone dripped with condescension and menace.I immediately hit the record button on my phone. "Mr. Ziegler, are you threatening me with your official position?""Cut the crap! I call the shots in this industrial park. All it takes is one word from me to shut you down!"I glanced at the call timer on my screen. I wasn't rattled in the slightest. In fact, I almost found it funny."Too bad you won't get the chance," I replied. "Ten minutes ago, I submitted Howard's bank transfer records to the county ethics commission. I also sent them the full video of him bragging about how you trade official favors for money."The line w

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP