Chapter 4

The factory's roomy security office had been drafted into service as a mediation room.

Theodore and Ruby had barely sat down before they were choking out tears, denouncing the terrible conditions at the factory.

Ezra held his tea, brows knotted, and when he'd heard them out he turned to me with advice.

"Ms. Sterling, a business has to think about its social responsibility."

"They're just students. It isn't easy for them to come out and earn a little tuition money."

"A few hundred dollars in heat pay, and now everyone's worked up and it's all over the internet."

"Isn't the damage to your company's reputation worth more than that few hundred dollars?"

"You're the boss. Be generous, eat the loss, spend a little to smooth it over and be done with it."

Rex was nodding frantically beside me, reaching over to tug at my sleeve.

"Ms. Sterling, Ezra's right! The orders are what matter!"

Seeing even the mediator taking their side, Theodore couldn't keep the smile off his face.

He slapped the handwritten ultimatum of an agreement back down on the table and shoved it toward me.

"Boss Sterling, you hear that? Even the officials are telling you to sign!"

"Sign it, press your thumbprint, go out there and apologize, and this is over."

"Drag it out any longer, and once the livestream hits trending, you won't be able to buy your way out of it!"

Ruby snatched up the water bottle off the table and rolled her eyes.

"Just sign already, quit keeping everyone from going back to catch up on sleep."

Every eye in the security office landed on me, waiting for me to pick up the pen and cave.

I leaned back in my chair, glanced at the agreement, and didn't so much as touch it.

The HR manager came running in, out of breath, and put the blue briefcase into my hands.

I pulled the zipper open, took out a stack of photos and a report stamped in red ink, and dropped them in front of Ezra.

"Officer Lawrence, you say it isn't easy for them. Take a look at these."

"This is security footage from yesterday afternoon, of Theodore pulling the main breaker in the workshop."

"And this is the damage assessment the equipment manufacturer worked up overnight."

I kept my eyes locked on Theodore, whose face had changed across the table, and spoke each word out plainly.

"Because he cut the power on purpose, sixty-five thousand dollars in imported raw material all hardened into scrap."

"Estimated repair and cleanup, another thirty thousand."

"Direct financial loss, close to a hundred thousand."

Theodore's hands were shaking with fear as he shot up out of his chair.

"You... quit trying to scare people! I... I bumped it by accident!"

"You put on insulated gloves before you accidentally bumped the breaker?"

"The footage caught every bit of it!"

I didn't bother with him anymore and turned straight to the two officers beside us.

"Officers, I'm not here for mediation today. I'm here to file a report."

"I'm charging these dozens of summer interns with disorderly conduct and seriously disrupting company operations."

"And I'm formally charging Theodore and the others with willful destruction of public and private property, in a substantial amount!"

The two officers went grave and immediately picked up the report to read. Rex was completely stunned.

Ezra froze, his teacup stalled halfway up.

"Ms. Sterling, isn't this... going a little too far? They just wanted a bit of the bonus..."

"The bonus? They have no idea what they just threw away!"

I pulled open the bottom of the briefcase, drew out a thick document envelope, and tossed it onto the table in front of Ezra.

The envelope wasn't sealed, and a stack of documents scattered across the tabletop.

The one on top was stamped, unmistakably, with the double red seals of a bank and a notary's office.

Summer Student Scholarship Trust Agreement

Ezra set down his tea, and the moment he made out the title his eyes went wide.

He flipped fast to the attached list of names.

Right there in the first row were Theodore's and Ruby's names, clear as day.

Behind each name ran a string of numbers that stung to look at.

Ezra drew in a sharp breath, the hand holding the document trembling.

He looked at me, unable to believe it.

Ezra brought his palm down hard on the table, hard enough to make the teacups jump.

He jabbed a finger at Theodore, his voice shaking with rage.

"You pack of ungrateful animals! You worthless little wretches!"

"This boss of yours, to protect your tuition, afraid you'd blow it, poured her heart out and set aside a big sum of money for every one of you!"

"Ten thousand dollars a head! In black and white, held in trust at the bank! Just waiting to be wired straight to your tuition cards the day the job wrapped up!"

"And look at you! Over a dozen dollars a day for popsicle money, you actually went and pulled the main breaker on her workshop!"

"Destroyed tens of thousands of dollars in equipment! Did every bit of your education go to the dogs?"