Divorced the CEO, Chose His Rival

Chapter 005 — The Permission That Expired

Owen Keats was halfway through reviewing Bellwether's latest financial projections when Naomi Park appeared at his office door.

"I need to show you something before you approve the updated assessment."

Owen looked up from his monitor. Naomi rarely interrupted him without good reason. As Whitlock Industries' systems analyst, she preferred resolving technical problems before anyone in senior management knew they'd existed.

"Is something wrong with the figures?"

"Not exactly. It's the software we're supposed to use to validate them."

She entered with her laptop and closed the door behind her.

Owen gestured toward the chair opposite his desk.

"Show me."

Naomi opened a dashboard containing Whitlock's historical financial assessments. Several completed reports appeared in the archive, including earlier evaluations of Bellwether Industrial Services.

The records were intact.

But the option for generating a new assessment through the SABLE Framework was unavailable.

"Why is the reporting function disabled?" Owen asked.

"Because our licence expired."

He frowned.

"I thought we had a transition arrangement."

"We did. Ninety days."

"And?"

"The transition ended eight days ago."

Owen took off his glasses.

For several seconds, he stared at the screen.

"Are you certain?"

Naomi opened the licence administration record. The dates were clearly displayed, along with the termination notice and the scheduled end of authorized use.

"I checked them twice. I also asked the systems team whether they'd received an updated authorization. They haven't."

"Could legal have negotiated an extension without notifying IT?"

"Possibly, but we can't assume that. I've asked them to confirm."

Owen leaned back.

The timing was inconvenient, to put it mildly.

Whitlock was preparing updated financial information concerning Bellwether, the industrial services company it had acquired eight months earlier for forty-five million dollars. Much of the purchase had been financed through borrowing, and management remained eager to demonstrate that the investment would deliver the growth it had promised.

The original forecasts were already proving difficult to achieve.

Now the analytical system management had relied upon for years was no longer available for new assessments.

"Can we still access the previous reports?" he asked.

"Yes. The agreement permits Whitlock to retain historical outputs generated during authorized use."

"Then why can't we update them?"

"Because retaining an old report isn't the same as holding a licence to operate the software that produced it."

Naomi turned the laptop toward him.

"Ellery Strategy Systems owns SABLE. Whitlock had limited permission to use it internally. When Nadia issued notice, the agreement provided a ninety-day transition so we could complete permitted activities and arrange alternatives."

"And nobody arranged an alternative?"

"We've been developing internal reporting procedures, but the replacement isn't ready to provide the same analysis."

Owen looked toward the financial documents on his desk.

He remembered Nadia explaining the licensing arrangement when SABLE was first introduced. Adrian had complained about the formalities, insisting that his wife's analytical framework was already part of how Whitlock operated.

Nadia had remained firm.

Her company owned the framework. Whitlock could use it under the agreed terms.

At the time, Owen had considered her insistence perfectly reasonable.

Now he wished someone had paid closer attention to the expiration date.

"Can we finish the assessment manually?" he asked.

"We can prepare a financial review using our own records and authorized tools. But it won't be a new SABLE assessment."

"Would it be reliable?"

"That depends on the quality of the information and the procedures we use. We can examine actual revenue, operating costs, customer commitments and cash flow. We just shouldn't present the result as though Nadia's framework validated it."

Owen nodded slowly.

"Have any new SABLE reports been generated since the transition expired?"

"None through the reporting environment my team administers. I can verify those activity records. I wouldn't make a broader claim about every possible copy or system without a separate review."

"Good. Don't."

Naomi looked relieved.

It was a small but important distinction. Owen wasn't interested in making a sweeping declaration that might later prove inaccurate.

He needed to establish what Whitlock was authorized to do and what its employees had actually done.

"Keep the historical reports available to the people permitted to access them," he instructed. "Don't delete or alter anything because the licence ended. But don't attempt to reactivate the software without proper authorization."

"Understood."

A knock interrupted them.

Lydia Fenwick entered before Owen could respond.

"Adrian wants the updated Bellwether figures ready for the lender briefing tomorrow afternoon."

She noticed Naomi's laptop.

"What's happening?"

Owen put his glasses back on.

"We've identified an issue with SABLE's licensing arrangements."

"What issue?"

"The authorized transition period has expired."

Lydia frowned.

"I thought that was being handled."

"So did I," Owen replied. "Apparently, neither of us confirmed it."

She crossed her arms.

"We have a board review on Friday. Gareth is expecting revised figures before then."

"We can prepare an updated financial report," Owen said. "But we can't generate a fresh SABLE assessment unless the licence is extended."

Lydia glanced at Naomi.

"Could we use the previous model and update the inputs?"

"That would involve operating the framework again," Naomi explained. "The licence doesn't permit that after expiration."

"But the company already has the software."

"Possessing an installed copy doesn't establish continuing permission to use it."

Lydia's expression tightened.

"So the program is sitting there, and we're not allowed to run it?"

"That's correct."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Lydia turned back to Owen.

"Is this something Nadia arranged deliberately?"

Owen looked at her.

"She issued notice under an existing agreement. The transition period was documented, and Whitlock acknowledged it."

"I'm asking whether she knew we'd need updated analysis."

"She knew the company used SABLE. That doesn't make her responsible for extending the licence."

Lydia glanced toward the historical reports still displayed on Naomi's laptop.

"Fine. Then use whatever records we're entitled to keep and prepare the updated projections ourselves."

"We will," Owen said. "But the supporting assumptions need to be clearly identified."

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Because the older reports reflected information available when they were prepared. We can't simply treat them as confirmation that today's projections remain valid."

Lydia held his gaze.

"I understand that, Owen."

"Then we're agreed."

She left without another word.

Naomi quietly closed her laptop.

"That went better than I expected."

Owen looked at the door.

"I wouldn't describe it as better."

"She didn't ask me to bypass the restriction."

"Give her time."

Naomi's expression suggested she wasn't certain whether he was joking.

Neither was he.

By early afternoon, Whitlock's legal department had responded.

There was no executed extension of the SABLE licence.

The company retained its rights to legitimate historical reports, subject to the applicable agreement, but continued operation of the framework would require a new authorization from Ellery Strategy Systems.

Owen read the confirmation twice.

The position was clear.

What bothered him was how easily the expiration had escaped management's attention.

He opened Bellwether's latest operating statements.

Actual revenue remained below the acquisition forecast. Several anticipated customer expansions were progressing more slowly than management expected, and the integration expenses had not fallen as quickly as projected.

Those were ordinary financial facts. They didn't require proprietary software to recognize.

But evaluating their full consequences would take careful work.

Owen called Naomi back.

"I want a revised analysis using the current financial records. Separate confirmed customer business from anticipated expansions."

She nodded.

"And the historical SABLE assessment?"

"Retain it as background. Identify its date and limitations. Don't carry forward its conclusions as though they've been updated."

"What about management's growth targets?"

"Show them as management's targets. Then prepare alternative scenarios based on the information we can verify."

Naomi considered the instructions.

"That may produce a less favourable picture."

"Then that's the picture we need to examine."

She left to coordinate the work with the finance team.

Owen remained at his desk, studying the acquisition forecast.

During Whitlock's financial recovery, Nadia had often challenged projections that depended on everything going according to plan.

He'd appreciated her judgment then, even when her objections delayed decisions other executives wanted to make quickly.

Now the company was facing a transaction whose expected benefits had become considerably less certain.

He wondered how much of the current discomfort management would have avoided if it had paid greater attention to those concerns.

At three-thirty, Adrian called.

"Lydia tells me we're having trouble with SABLE."

"The licence expired eight days ago. Legal has confirmed there's no extension."

"Can we still use the earlier reports?"

"Yes, as historical records. We can't operate the framework to produce new assessments."

Adrian sighed.

"Of all the things Nadia could have complicated."

Owen looked toward the signed licensing documents on his screen.

"She gave the company ninety days to arrange its transition."

"I know what the agreement says."

"Then we need to respect it."

Adrian was silent for a moment.

"How quickly can you get me a reliable Bellwether forecast?"

"We're preparing one now. But it won't be a SABLE-validated assessment, and we shouldn't describe it that way."

"Gareth wants the numbers by four tomorrow."

"I'll have a defensible package ready for review."

"Good."

Adrian was about to end the call when Owen spoke again.

"There's one thing you should understand. If management wants Nadia's analytical services, that's a separate engagement. Her former position doesn't obligate her to provide them."

"I understand."

Owen wasn't convinced.

After the call ended, he emailed the relevant executives and Whitlock's legal department, documenting the confirmed licence expiration and the restrictions on further software use.

He also identified the alternative procedures finance would use for the upcoming review.

It was a routine professional step, but he knew the message wouldn't be popular.

The company could retain the reports Nadia had legitimately produced.

It could continue making its own decisions.

What it couldn't do was generate fresh work through her proprietary system simply because management had become accustomed to having it available.

Owen returned to Bellwether's financial statements.

There was enough uncertainty in the numbers without adding another problem by misrepresenting how they'd been assessed.

He opened a fresh spreadsheet and began working through the verified cash-flow figures.

The final forecast would not carry Nadia's professional approval.

And for the first time in years, Whitlock would have to decide how to defend its financial assumptions without relying on the woman who had once examined them.