Chapter 2

"This good boss of yours, Silas Rivera, has been quietly siphoning company funds to keep a young, pretty mistress on the side!"

Laurence Lambert's voice rang out across the empty yard.

"There's nothing left in his accounts. He's about to grab the money and run!"

"These five thousand garments? I held them back out of the goodness of my heart, to protect your wages. Otherwise you'd all be starving by tomorrow!"

An uproar went through the workers.

I was just getting to my feet to answer him when Egbert Finch suddenly leapt out of the crowd.

He pointed at me, his face full of righteous indignation.

"Mr. Lambert's right! I checked the books myself yesterday. Every bit of the factory's cash is gone!"

"Silas can't even make next month's payroll!"

Stabbed in the back by the supervisor I trusted most, I looked at the expression on Egbert's face, and something in my chest twisted.

Dozens of workers who didn't know the truth were whipped up on the spot.

They grabbed the wrenches within reach and closed in around me.

"Rivera, cough up our hard-earned money!"

"You settle six months of wages today, or we'll haul every machine out of the workshop and sell it!"

A few of the hotter-tempered ones had already grabbed me by the collar.

I drew a breath and fished the phone out of my pocket, ready to call the police.

Then, out at the gate, tires screeched to a stop.

Rupert Whitney came in, supporting an old woman with a head of white hair.

It was my mother. She was blind.

"Mom! What are you doing here?" I stopped caring about the grime on me and shoved through the crowd to reach her.

Before I could touch her, Laurence Lambert dropped with a heavy thud, down on his knees at her feet.

"Cousin Rivera, you're family, you have to hear me out and set this straight!"

He was a mess of snot and tears, wailing like the most pitiful man alive.

"Back when your family was so poor you couldn't put food on the table, it was me who fed Silas from my own bowl and kept him alive."

"Now that he's struck it rich, he's ready to hound my whole family to death over a few pennies of profit!"

My mother had already been frightened just by not being able to see, and hearing her husband's cousin sob out those words, her whole body began to shake.

"Silas, did you really do a thing so heartless?" She turned her head, groping toward the sound of me.

"Mom, don't listen to his lies. He's the one who rigged the contract, they—"

Crack.

She swung the cane in her hand and brought it down hard across my back.

"You shut your mouth! The Lamberts saved this family. Even if you lose the whole factory today, you will pay them back!"

She was shaking with fury, jabbing a finger at me, cursing me out.

"If you don't sign Boss Lambert's contract today, I'll smash my own head against this iron gate right here and die!"