Chapter 7: Unpaid
Johan slammed the door to the greenhouse open. Dad was there, watering the carrots.
“Why did you sell the mansion?” Johan demanded.
“For capital. The company needs funds,” came Dad’s low voice, as if he hadn’t ruined his life’s work on a whim.
“Then why did you give that capital away?”
“It was salary, not a giveaway. The employees built the company. They deserve proper pay.”
“If you had fired some of them, then we wouldn’t have to—”
“Johan, listen,” Dad said, and Johan stopped. “Even without the mansion, we can live. But the factory workers, their families, they would starve without the pay.”
“You’re their employer, not their caretaker. This isn’t rational,” Johan said. “You’re breaking apart our family to save some strangers! If Mum was here, she would never agree to this.”
Dad sighed. Johan felt a pang of guilt in his heart for bringing up Mum. But he didn’t back down.