PART 7:

They finished the counter brief at 8:22, sent it to all six board members at 8:30 exactly. By 8:45 Marcus texted, “Board members are reading it. Gerald Foss reportedly has not spoken in 20 minutes.” Ethan showed Charlotte the text. She allowed herself one small exhale. “One night,” she said, “we bought one night.” “It’s enough.

” She looked at him. “Is it?” He met her eyes. “We’ll make it be enough.” They stood in her office in the quiet of a building that had mostly gone home with a fight that was nowhere near finished and 2 days until a boardroom that could end everything. And somewhere on another floor of the same building in an office he would not leave until well past midnight, Victor Cain sat behind his desk and read their counter brief and began making new calculations.

He had one more weapon. He just hadn’t used it yet. Thursday came in fast and mean. Ethan was at his desk by 6:45, coffee in hand, counter brief already memorized. Every document organized in a folder he could pull up in under 10 seconds. He’d slept 4 hours. He’d checked on Lily twice before leaving. She’d been fine, completely unaware, eating cereal, complaining about a math test. Normal.

That normalcy felt like something fragile he was carrying in both hands. By 7:30 Marcus was at his desk across the aisle with the expression of someone who had found something he hadn’t wanted to find. “Talk to me.” Ethan said. Marcus pulled his chair closer. “I’ve been going through Kane’s activity logs the way you asked.

Communication metadata, internal system access, forwarding records.” He lowered his voice. “Ethan, he’s been building this for at least 8 weeks.” Ethan set his coffee down. “8 weeks ago, someone with system-level access began pulling archived performance reviews and contract records, yours specifically. Not downloading them, just accessing them. Mapping the structure.

” Marcus tapped his laptop screen without turning it to show the open office floor. “3 weeks ago, someone began making very small edits to scanned document images. We’re talking pixel-level changes to approval signatures and timestamps. Whoever did it was careful, extremely careful, but not careful enough.

” Ethan said. “Not careful enough.” Marcus agreed. “Because they used the same editing software signature twice on documents that were supposedly created 14 months apart. Same software, same machine fingerprint, same person.” Ethan felt the pieces lock into position. “Can you prove the machine fingerprint belongs to Kane?” Marcus hesitated.

“I can prove it belongs to a device registered on the company network to his office. That’s not the same as proving he touched the keyboard himself.” “It’s enough to raise serious questions.” “It’s enough to get someone fired if it lands right.” Marcus said. “But Ethan, if Kane finds out we have this before Friday morning, he’ll move first.” Ethan said. “He’ll move fast.

” They looked at each other. “Don’t tell anyone else.” Ethan said. “Not yet.” At 8:50, his phone buzzed. “Charlotte, meet me at the legal suite. Now. He was there in 3 minutes. Charlotte was already seated at the long conference table with two members of the legal team, Sandra Pruitt, the company’s general counsel, and a younger attorney named David Park, who specialized in corporate governance.

Both of them had the focused, slightly grim expressions of people who were being paid to solve a problem they hadn’t anticipated. Charlotte looked at Ethan when he walked in. Close the door. He did. Tell them what you told me last night, she said. About Kane. He laid it out. Diane’s call, the document anomalies, Marcus’s findings that morning, the 8-week timeline.

He was concise. He hit every relevant point and stopped. Sandra and David exchanged a look that carried a full conversation in it. Sandra spoke first. If what you’re describing is accurate, we’re looking at deliberate fabrication of corporate records with intent to manipulate board judgment. That’s not just a termination offense.

I know what it is, Ethan said. We need the technical evidence before Friday, David said. Without it, we’re presenting a theory against documented materials the board has already received. I can have it by this afternoon, Ethan said. How confident are you? Sandra asked. Confident enough to put Ethan said. And at this point, my name is already on everything else in this room, so.

Sandra almost smiled. Almost. Charlotte leaned forward. Sandra, worst-case scenario, Friday, what happens if we walk in without the technical evidence and Kane has something else we haven’t seen yet? Sandra didn’t hesitate. They move on the removal vote. 60 days administrative leave pending investigation, which in practice means removal.

Charlotte said flatly. Effectively, yes. The room held that. Ethan watched Charlotte absorb it without flinching. She looked like someone receiving a weather report. Not indifferent, but functional. Already calculating what adjustments needed to be made. He had never respected anyone so quickly in his life. He chose not to examine what that meant right now.

“We won’t walk in without the evidence.” He said. “I’ll have it.” Charlotte looked at him. “By when?” “3:00.” She nodded, decision made. “Sandra, we proceed on the assumption that we have what we need. David, prepare the governance brief. I want a full counter narrative ready for the board packet by 5:00 tonight.

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