Chapter 2

Twelve days went by in a blink.

Twenty hours a day of brutal training had worn the three new hires down to nothing.

The dark circles under Leo's eyes were practically down to his chin. He yawned nonstop, and his hands shook so badly he could barely do the drills.

After he failed the troubleshooting simulation three times in a row and I chewed him out for it, he called Kevin.

Kevin came stalking over with a face like a storm cloud, Nora right behind him, and handed me a [Humane Management Notice].

"Ethan, the training's too intense. The new hires can't take it."

Nora put on her best manager act, nothing like the timid receptionist she used to be.

"Starting today, class ends at ten. They get two more hours of rest a day. If your teaching is behind schedule, you should look at yourself for the reason. Don't dump the pressure on other people just because you're not up to the job."

Kevin chimed in.

"Ethan, drop whatever you're scheming and lose the attitude. If you push one of these guys until he cracks, that's on you, and you won't be able to answer for it."

My calibration pen never stopped moving.

"Kevin, they're not the only ones grinding. I am too. A year's worth of training, and the company gave me one month. Cranking up the intensity was my only option."

I looked up at him.

"Besides, the agreement's in black and white, confirmed and signed by you. If something really does go wrong, well, that's what you're for, isn't it?"

"So you're saying it falls on me?"

Kevin slammed his hand down on the console.

"Ethan, quit trying to pin things on me!"

"Sure."

I set down my pen and pulled out the agreement.

"Kevin, if you think I'm wrong, we can take this contract straight to the President's office and let Mr. Preston decide who bears the liability."

Kevin froze instantly. He clearly knew blowing this whole thing up would backfire on him badly.

Nora clamped her mouth shut too, shooting me a venomous glare but saying nothing.

After a few minutes of deadlock, Kevin left me with one last line.

"You'll pay for this!"

He stormed off with a dark look on his face.

Before Kevin could get his revenge, disaster struck first.

That evening, I headed to the warehouse to pick up calibration fittings.

I'd only been gone three minutes when the factory alarm blared.

By the time I rushed back, Leo stood rigid at the control console, his face ashen.

He avoided my gaze, yet he still dug in his heels.

"I did everything exactly the way you taught me. You're the one who taught it wrong!"

Bright red fault codes blazed across the screen, and half the production line had ground to a halt.

Ten minutes later, Kevin showed up after hearing the news. He listened to Leo's side of it and nothing else, then dumped all the blame on me.

"Ethan, after more than ten days of training, how can they still botch basic operations? Is this the standard of your mentorship?"

Nora grabbed Kevin's arm and held him back before he could explode.

"Ethan, what are you standing around for? Before Kevin files a formal report and this blows up, fix the machine right now. You know what will happen if production stalls."

I perked up the second I heard he hadn't submitted the report yet.

I turned and pulled up footage from the action camera I'd tucked in the corner of the equipment bay.

The video showed me warning Leo and the others three separate times before I left not to touch the machinery without supervision. He'd nodded in agreement, then immediately messed with the controls behind my back, muttering the whole time.

"Ethan, you bastard! I'll stir up some real trouble for you right now. Just watch how Kevin deals with you!"

Kevin quickly changed the subject.

"Who answers for this is my call. Nobody asked you! Your one job right now is to get that equipment fixed!"

I shook my head, calm as ever.

"Kevin, have you forgotten you reassigned me to the training track? My official duty right now is mentorship. You'd better find someone else to fix this."

Just then, Mr. Preston rushed over after receiving the factory's incident report.

Once he heard the full story, he pointed straight at Kevin and ranted at him nonstop for ten minutes.

"You buried a major incident and can't even manage your own men. What good are you?! Sort this mess out today, or pack up your things and get out!"

Crushed by the dressing-down, Kevin had no choice but to soften his tone.

"Ethan, go fix the machine right now, and I'll log overtime pay for you."

I smiled faintly and held up two fingers.

"This isn't simple overtime. Work outside my formal job scope gets charged at the market freelance rate, twenty thousand."

Kevin opened his mouth to shout, but Nora held him back with a death grip.

A dozen seconds later, he gritted his teeth in fury and pulled out his phone.

"The money's transferred. Get over there and fix the machine this instant!"

As I turned to leave, I caught him muttering to Nora:

"Ungrateful brat! I'd like to see how long he can keep this up."

I broke into a grin.

We'd find out soon who would crack first.