He Married His Hometown Neighbor, Then Begged for a Second Chance novel · Chapter 35 of 40

Chapter 35: The Exposure

The Shieldon boardroom was on the thirty-first floor, one above the lab, and it had no wood in it at all.

It was glass, and chrome, and eleven white chairs.

Evan sat in the middle of one side with his lawyer beside him and a small black case on the table.

Every Red sat at the head, in charcoal, with her hair pinned and her hands folded.

She had called the meeting herself.

She had meant it for a different purpose.

"We are here," said the chair of the board, an elderly woman in pearls, "because the press has reported that a former officer of this company has been taking money from a competitor.

"Ms. Red has asked to say that this must stop, and that Mr. Green must give an account."

"I'm glad to," Evan said.

He opened the case.

"I've sent the board a drive. I'd like to show you what's on it, in order. I'll be quick.

"Item one."

The screen came down from the ceiling.

It showed a page of text, headed *Agreement*, with Ethan's name at the foot.

"This was found in Vault 3 after the breach. It says Mr. Ross paid a stranger two million dollars to open it. Ms. Red gave it to me at midnight on the day it was found.

"It's dated the fourteenth, at 11:52 p.m., at Ross tower."

Every said nothing.

"Item two."

A second page.

"Every signature has a witness, a clock outside the signer's machine that notes the true time. This is the witness's record.

"It says the document was sealed the afternoon Mr. Ross lay in the ward, at 2:10, on a machine called STUDY-RACK-02."

He turned to the board.

"Does anyone here know where that is?"

Nobody answered for a moment.

Then a man at the end, quietly, said, "It's the server rack in her study. At the house."

"Thank you."

"That's absurd," said Every, in a clear, light voice. "A rack can be spoofed, Evan. Everyone in this room knows that. You're the best engineer in the city, and if you wished to make my machine say anything you would."

"I would," he said. "That's why I didn't use mine."

He nodded to his lawyer.

She slid a folder across the glass.

"This is a report from an outside firm," she said. "The board's own auditors engaged them at nine this morning, by phone, at Mr. Green's request. They've been in your house for six hours, Ms. Red, with a court order for the study. The rack is in a van downstairs."

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