Chapter 2

The worst part was, I remembered a different Chad. I remembered a kid who couldn't afford a bike, so I let him use mine until the chain broke. I remembered his dad losing his job at the old factory, the same one I was now leasing. My father gave his family a loan to get by, a loan they never fully paid back, but no one ever mentioned it.

Years later, when I came back to pitch my idea, Chad was one of the first people I hired. He was unemployed, living with his parents, going nowhere. I gave him a manager position, a salary he' d only dreamed of. I trusted him. I thought our shared history meant something.

Now, that history was a weapon he used against me.

"We' ve talked it over," Chad announced, puffing out his chest as if he were a general. He had a piece of paper in his hand, unfolded with a dramatic flourish. "The town council, led by Mayor Jenkins, has drafted a new lease agreement."

He didn't even look at the paper. He had the demands memorized.

"First, the rent on these warehouses will be increased to fifty thousand dollars a month. Per warehouse."

A collective gasp went through my actual employees who were watching from the edge of the crowd, their faces pale. My current lease was five hundred a month per warehouse, a deal I' d made when they were rat-infested shells. I had poured hundreds of thousands of my own money into renovating them, making them viable.

"Fifty thousand?" I said, almost laughing at the absurdity. "Chad, that' s insane. The business can' t support that."

"Oh, I think it can," he said smoothly. He gestured to the paper. "I saw an article online. A tech company in California just leased a warehouse half this size for a hundred grand a month. You' re getting a bargain."

He was comparing a dilapidated building in a forgotten rural town to prime real estate in Silicon Valley. It was a lie, a deliberate, malicious lie, and he knew it. But the crowd didn' t. They heard the numbers, and their eyes gleamed with greed.

"That' s not comparable," I said, shaking my head. "This is Harmony Springs, not Palo Alto. There' s no other industry here that could possibly pay that."

"Then you' re lucky we' re giving you the chance," Mayor Jenkins finally spoke up, his voice weak but trying for authority. "The town needs more revenue, Ethan. Our budget is in shambles."

"This will put me out of business," I stated flatly. "And then the town will have zero revenue from these warehouses. And twenty-five people will be out of a job. Again."

The crowd shifted, a few people murmuring. They hadn't thought that far ahead.

Chad saw the wavering and jumped back in. "Don' t listen to him! He' s trying to scare you! He' s not going anywhere. He' s making too much money to leave." He turned his glare back to me. "And that' s not all. The new agreement requires you to give twenty percent of your company' s profits directly to a new town fund."

"Controlled by who?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"A board of concerned citizens," Chad said with a thin smile. "With me as the chairman."

So that was it. It wasn't just about money. It was about control. He wanted my business. He couldn' t build it, so he was trying to steal it.

"No," I said. The word was quiet but final.

"What did you say?"

"I said no. I will not be extorted. I have a legally binding ten-year lease, signed by you, Mayor. It' s iron-clad." I looked from Chad' s furious face to the mayor' s sweating one. "None of these demands are legal or reasonable."

The crowd started shouting again, their brief moment of doubt erased by Chad' s promises of free money.

"He thinks his city lawyers can protect him!"

"This is our town, not his!"

"Pay up or get out!"

Chad held up his hands for quiet, a smug grin plastered on his face. He had them. He owned their anger.

"You see, Ethan?" he said, his voice dripping with false pity. "The people have spoken. But we' re reasonable. We' ll give you twenty-four hours to sign the new agreement." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear. "Or we' ll make you regret it. This is my town now."