The Tolerance Limit

“Who the hell adjusted the threading tolerance by seven-thousandths of a millimeter?!”

“I did. Got a problem with that?”

The factory’s resident Human Lucky Charm was applying lip gloss in the reflection of a polished machine panel, not even bothering to look up.

“I just thought it looked better, so I made a tiny adjustment. Why are you screaming?”

The production line had been running to the wrong specification for twenty-four hours. I slammed the emergency stop button.

I forced my anger down. “It doesn’t meet the export standard now. We can’t ship tomorrow. We’ve worked overtime for a month, and the penalties will wipe out any profit—and then some!”

“Seriously? It’s one number. You’re being so dramatic.”

Skylar Bloom snapped her compact shut. “It’s New Year’s Eve, and I have a date. I’m not sticking around to watch you panic!”

Before she could reach the exit, I motioned for a floor manager to lock the main bay doors.

“On a precision component like this, that one number represents a million dollars.”

I fixed her with a cold stare. “You can take this pile of defective parts and explain that to the regulatory inspectors.”

1

Skylar paused, stunned for a fraction of a second, then scoffed. “Don’t go acting like this is the apocalypse. What difference does 0.007mm make? You can still screw it in, right?”

She grabbed a nearby component and twisted it into a wooden block a few times, her expression smug.

“See? No difference. You’re just jealous of my easy job and looking for a fight.”

I suppressed a weary sigh and picked up the spec sheet. “The buyer for this batch is a high-tech firm overseas. Their compliance standards are strict. 28 TPI corresponds to a pitch of 0.907mm. This is for precision instruments.”

I tapped the sheet. “Your little adjustment of 0.007mm is going to cause slippage, strip the threads, and damage expensive equipment. We won’t pass customs and compliance, and the company won’t just owe massive penalties for late delivery—our entire corporate credibility will be destroyed.”

“You call this ‘looking for a fight’?”

Watching the blank look in Skylar’s eyes, I knew her simple brain couldn’t process the technical complexity.

Sure enough, the next second, she huffed and faced me. “Don’t think you can baffle me with a bunch of fancy technical jargon.”

“I’m calling someone who knows what they’re talking about. Let’s see if you still have the guts to bully me then!”

The phone connected quickly.

Loud bar noise crackled through the speaker. “Skylar, where are you? I’ve been waiting forever.”

Skylar’s voice immediately turned whiny. “Brad, I wanted to come, but Anya’s locking the doors and won’t let me leave.”

“She keeps saying that because of me, we won’t meet the delivery deadline tomorrow—”

“Nonsense!” Brad Harrison roared. “Put her on speaker. I’ll talk to her.”

Skylar hit the speaker button, her eyes daring me, the look clearly saying, Let’s see you squirm.

“Brad, Skylar unilaterally adjusted the production specs. The screws we produced are non-compliant with international standards—”

Brad cut me off, his voice laced with aggression. “Anya Reed, are you still struggling to understand your place here?”

“Skylar is the Human Lucky Charm I brought in to draw in prosperity. She’s willing to even step onto the floor, and that’s a privilege for you. How dare you cross her?”

“If she gets upset, the company will have bad luck. Can you handle the consequences of that?!”

I knew that business owners often believe in luck or superstition. But whatever the future held, the immediate disaster was the priority.

I was about to explain, but Skylar jumped in.

“Brad, that’s what I told her! But she keeps using this scary professional language to intimidate me.”

“She even threatened that the company is doomed! I was so angry, I had to call you.”

Eighteen years in this industry. It was the first time I’d ever met someone so gifted at twisting the truth.

Logic told me I couldn’t waste any more time arguing with her. I needed to immediately convey the severity of the situation.

I grabbed the contract and pointed to the fine print. “Brad, I’m not threatening bad luck. If we can’t deliver tomorrow, the buyer has the right to demand three times the penalty fee.”

“Plus, they are a major global player. Messing up this order means we lose access to the entire Western market. The losses are truly incalculable!”

Brad Harrison, Mr. Maxwell’s sister’s husband and the newest VP, usually acted like the big shot, but he valued money above all else. I thought this would finally get his attention. Instead, he sneered.

“It hasn’t happened yet, has it?”

“If it weren’t for Skylar gracing the floor with her presence, do you think we would have even landed those contracts?”

“And besides, failing to meet the production deadline is your job, not hers. Don’t try to pin your failure on Skylar. You deliver that product tomorrow, or I’m holding you responsible!”

I nearly laughed out loud from the sheer ridiculousness of it all. This order took our sales team three months to secure. It had nothing to do with Skylar. All she’d done since arriving was cause chaos.

I gritted my teeth. “Brad, I refuse to knowingly ship defective products. Customs will never clear it.”

The laughter on the other end grew louder. Brad sounded completely irritated.

“I hired you to solve problems, not create headaches for me.”

“Give me a straight answer, Anya: Do you want this job or not?”

2

Mr. Maxwell—Brad’s brother-in-law and the actual owner of the company—had lured me away from my last job with a salary 20% above the industry average. He respected my stringent quality control.

I took a deep breath. “Brad, since you refuse to address this situation, I have no choice but to report directly to Mr. Maxwell.”

At the mention of the owner, Brad’s fury intensified. “Anya, going over my head is a serious offense. Besides, my brother-in-law is ill and recovering. If you upset him, can you handle the consequences?”

“I’m in charge of this floor now. Reporting to him undermines my authority. Where does that leave me?”

“Stay right there. Don’t move. I’m coming down.”

It wasn’t long before Brad stormed into the factory bay. The first thing he did was snatch my phone.

“I hate people who don’t follow the chain of command.” He flopped into a chair, his tone mocking. “So, tell me. What is this earth-shattering issue you’re threatening to take to the owner?”

I ignored the sarcasm and recounted Skylar’s unauthorized spec change.

Brad leaned back, contemplating. “Skylar, why did you do that?”

I thought, finally, he’s listening.

“Because the Vibe Consultant said I shouldn’t see too many decimal points,” Skylar said, linking her arm through his.

“You’ve been complaining that this department’s profits are shrinking. But everyone says Anya is so competent. It doesn’t add up. I think Anya is exaggerating, Brad. She’s probably padding the specs by 0.007mm just to claim extra material costs. That’s at least seven thousand dollars per million screws. She’s probably been skimming off the top for years!”

Skylar was accusing me of fraud, and everyone understood it.

A few workers spoke up for me.

“Brad, Anya is not like that!”

“She’s incredibly responsible. Anyone else, maybe, but never her.”

“She pays for our late-night catering out of her own pocket when we work overtime. She won’t even accept a bottle of water from us. She would never steal!”

Most of these men and women had followed me from my previous company years ago. My eyes stung a little. To speak up when Brad was at his most aggressive meant risking their jobs.

Skylar sneered. “That just proves Anya thinks your little contributions are beneath her.”

“Brad, she’s so desperate she’s threatening the owner. I think something suspicious is going on. You should have Internal Affairs audit her books!”

Brad, eager for an excuse to assert his power, immediately agreed. “Audit her! I want a deep dive into everything!”

He then ordered the remaining crew to triple their efforts to meet the deadline. A few veteran employees tried to object, but he shouted them down.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to work can leave right now!” he bellowed.

“But consider it a voluntary resignation. Don’t expect severance or any of that piled-up overtime pay!”

They had all been working crazy hours for this order for a month. Losing their jobs and their paychecks would ruin their families. The workers lowered their heads, defeated.

I raised my voice again. “Brad, the screws we made yesterday are defective. We can’t—”

Before I could finish, Brad had two security guards clamp a hand over my mouth and drag me away.

He had me locked in a utility closet. A short while later, two Internal Affairs staff arrived. Skylar followed, acting as the lead whistleblower.

She pointed a finger at me. “I saw Anya giving an envelope of cash to the Accounting Department!”

“Do you have proof?” one of the IA staff asked.

“Yes, look at this!”

3

Skylar produced a grainy photo. It showed me handing a thick manila envelope to our staff accountant, who was holding it to her chest.

The IA officer’s expression hardened. “Anya Reed, how do you explain this?”

I stared at the picture. That was the day I had taken the factory’s collective donation—I was the representative who visited her in the hospital.

But the angle was deliberately misleading. It looked less like a charitable gift and more like a clandestine transaction.

The IA officer adjusted his glasses. “We will verify your account. Next, let’s discuss the alleged financial discrepancy.”

I was frustrated but detailed the situation again, explaining why the 0.007mm adjustment was not padding the books but sabotage. The IA staff were older employees, not yet fully swayed by Brad. They finished their questions and left.

My young apprentice, Leo, slipped into the closet while the door was momentarily unguarded. He whispered that Skylar had already posted everything online.

Skylar had already built a minor online following based on her ‘Human Lucky Charm’ persona—everyone admired her high salary and easy job. She had just posted a video detailing how she had discovered a management loophole and saved the company from a major fraud.

The comments section was a toxic mess.

“OMG, the audacity! Not only is this girl lucky, she’s smart too! The Human Lucky Charm is real!”

“That Plant Manager totally deserved it! Who messes with the Good Luck Mascot? Busted for embezzlement, serves her right.”

“Finally! My parents work on the floor, they work so hard, and people like Anya hurt their paychecks. She should be fired and prosecuted!”

“Piece of trash! If I saw her on the street, I’d punch her!”

…A rare comment defending me was instantly buried.

Reading the venom, I felt icy cold. Skylar wasn’t just looking for a win; she was trying to destroy my career.

I quickly regained my focus and gave Leo instructions. “Copy the surveillance footage from the past week. Especially the part where Skylar changed the numbers and our confrontation.”

“Also, Brad is useless. Go to my desk, find Mr. Maxwell’s private contact card in the top drawer, and tell him everything that’s happening.”

Leo looked distressed. “The footage I can get, but your office is locked. I can’t get in.”

“Find a way, Leo. Mr. Maxwell is the only person who can stop Brad now!”

Leo nodded and slipped out.

Skylar returned after seeing the IA staff off. She smiled, watching me sitting there disheveled.

“Anya, everyone knows Brad favors me. Why would you set yourself up for this?”

She picked up the technical documents I had compiled, scribbling all over them with a permanent marker.

“What good is all this work? I can get more done with one sentence than you can with a hundred pages.”

“Brad told me to keep an eye on production. I missed my New Year’s Eve date, but ruining your career is a good enough substitute!”

I couldn’t fathom the depth of her malice. I had only been professional. Yet, she had constantly disrupted my work, picked fights, and even rear-ended my car trying to beat me to the parking lot.

Seeing my confusion, a flash of pure spite crossed her eyes. “Don’t play innocent, Anya. I’ve hated you since the day I walked in.”

“Yes, you’re competent, but you think I only got this job because of my ‘lucky chart,’ and I earned this! You wouldn’t let me drop the decimal points? Fine. Then I’ll change the strength ratings—the 4.8, 8.8, and 12.8—to 5, 9, and 13. You can’t complain about those numbers, can you?”

Her ignorance horrified me. Those numbers represented the tensile strength and load-bearing capacity. Exceeding the maximum could lead to structural failure and collapse!

“Skylar, you’ve made a catastrophic mistake! You can’t touch those numbers!”

I jumped up to run out and stop the production line, but Skylar mistook my panic for an escape attempt. She immediately yelled for the guards outside.

“Tie her up! And muzzle that doom-and-gloom mouth! Brad said she’s not to leave until the investigation is complete!”

4

My mouth was taped shut, and I was tied to a chair. I could only watch Skylar sashay out.

I struggled, but the combination of exhaustion and the tight ropes made me lose my balance, and I crashed to the floor, chair and all.

I knew the company was doomed.

Early the next morning, Brad arrived to oversee the shipping. He finished the process and burst into the closet, grinning triumphantly.

He dangled a thick document in front of me. “Anya, you’re stuck in a junior manager mindset because you’re not flexible enough. See this? Customs clearance!”

“If I had listened to you and delayed the shipment, we would have paid a fortune in penalties!”

I managed a strained smile, despite the gag.

Originally, it was just a delay and a penalty. Now that they had shipped and used the defective screws, the entire finished product would be affected. This was far beyond a simple breach of contract.

There’s no reasoning with the willfully blind. I was helpless.

With the shipment out, Brad was ecstatic. He draped an arm around Skylar.

“Skylar, thanks to your presence, we delivered the goods without paying a single penalty. Name your reward!”

Skylar’s eyes immediately welled up. “Brad, you’re already so good to me.”

“I don’t want anything… except a public apology from Anya. I want her to clear my name.”

“Done! Consider it handled.”

Brad had the guards haul me out and gather everyone on the floor.

“I called this meeting to address Anya Reed’s abuse of power and alleged embezzlement,” he announced.

“Skylar Bloom uncovered the fraud and saved the company from a major economic loss. Effective immediately, Skylar is the new Department Head!”

“As for Anya, once the investigation is complete, we’ll turn her over to the authorities.”

He had the guards pull the tape off my mouth. “Anya, you owe Skylar an apology.”

I stretched my jaw, which was sore from the tape. “I won’t apologize for something I didn’t do.”

“Brad Harrison, you’re celebrating too soon. The hole Skylar just dug is too deep for you to climb out of.”

Perhaps Brad hadn’t expected me to refuse, especially after he’d ostensibly ‘solved’ the problem. I had publicly humiliated him.

He grabbed my collar, eyes blazing. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Anya. Once this is out, no firm in this industry will touch you.”

He was still using that as leverage, clearly unaware Skylar had already posted everything online. It wouldn’t work on me.

He leaned in, his voice low and cruel. “You brought fifty people with you when you jumped ship, right? They’re older, they have families to feed. What if I fire all of them?”

His threat sent a jolt through the crowd. The workers who had followed me were skilled technicians.

They erupted in anger.

“Anya, don’t listen to him! We’re skilled workers; we can find jobs anywhere!”

“Yeah! A pigheaded leader like him is a liability! We don’t need him!”

“Brad, you don’t fire us—we fire you!”

A few of them tore off their company uniforms and moved to usher me out. The situation was spiraling out of Brad’s control. He started to panic.

Then, a stern, booming voice cut through the chaos.

“What is going on here?!”

Brad spun around, his face lighting up with relief. “Brother-in-law, you’re finally here!”