The Last Time We Loved

Chapter 8

Harrison

“Mr. Hayes, we have a situation.” John informed me as soon as he stepped into my office after a knock.

I looked up from the file I was reviewing. “Explain.”

“I just received a call from Mr. Mark, the site supervisor of the Orion Project, there has been a partial structural failure at the Orion construction site, a support beam on the lower level collapsed during load testing.”

“Any injuries?”

“Two workers are down, emergency crews are on-site. We’ve stopped all activity.”

I rose to my feet, grabbing my coat as I wore it over my shoulder. “What caused it?” It was less down twenty four hours since I took the CEO position and there were already emergencies.

“We’re still accessing, sir, but preliminary data suggests the load calculations were off.”

Load calculations? I knew this error was bound to cause havoc.

“Inform them to shut down completely, no one goes near the structure until I arrive, I want engineers, inspectors, and safety officers on standby.” I was already heading toward the door.

“Yes, sir,” John took out his phone to make the call, following me. “But the city officials are already on their way, if this leaks--”

“I don’t care.” I snapped. “People come first.”

When I arrived at the waterfront site, there were already blaring sound from sirens, red and blue lights reflected off half-built steel frames, and rain-slick concrete.

I stepped out of the car, rain soaking through my sleeves immediately. “Harrison.” I turned when I heard Nate’s voice, he had just arrived as well.

“You’re here.” I haven’t seen Nate since I left the hospital the previous day, he had heard how I decided to stay, I knew he wasn’t happy with the outcome, but I was glad he was putting it aside for now.

“Mr. Hayes!” The site supervisor, Mr. Mark, rushed toward us. “We didn’t expect you this fast.”

“You should have.”

I walked straight toward the collapsed area, Nate beside me. A massive steel beam lay twisted at an unnatural angle, and emergency responders moved around it.

I frowned, I knew this would happen when I noticed the error in the structural load distribution, I didn’t know it had already been approved, and that they had continued using the miscalculated data.

“Who approved the final load numbers?” I demanded.

“The internal report was signed off by Jacob Adam’s team.” Mr. Mark told me and I glanced at Nate, raising a brow slightly, but he looked like he wasn’t aware, how could he not be when I noticed this error immediately I reviewed the report.

“Where did the calculations originate?” Nate questioned.

“They were originally prepared by a junior analyst who was terminated yesterday.”

“Elara?” He asked and Mr. Mark nodded. I watched Nate close his eyes briefly, he looked unaware, and surprised.

I turned to Mr. Mark since Nate was silent. “Get me every version of that report, every email, every revision, and every name.”

The supervisor nodded and hurried off while I stared up at the steel skeleton of the building. “Were you unaware of what is happening inside the company?” I asked him.

“It a big company, Harrison, you don’t expect me to be aware of a slight miscalculation…”

“This project is important. It’s one of the most….”

“No, don’t lecture me now.” Nate cut me off, his brows snapped together as rain dripped down his face. “It’s less than ten hours since you became CEO and now you think you know everything happening in the company.”

“Nate…”

Nate interrupted me with a cold chuckle. “Wow, let’s see how well you do, CEO Harrison Hayes.” He clapped his hand sarcastically at me and walked away.

I pinched the space between my brows and let out a sigh, I don’t wish for this to get so complicated with Nate, but I wasn’t ready for his drama or to talk sense into him, I couldn’t avoid this whole situation, but I wasn’t ready to deal with it now.

I returned to headquarters, it was past ten in the evening, but I had instructed John to call an executive meeting before my return. When I walked into the executive conference room, the table was already filled, head of engineering, director of finance, legal counsel, and head of HR were all present.

“Let’s begin.” I stood at the head table, my gaze flickered to Nate who was present, but not looking in my direction. “I want answers.”

I was sure they had all heard of the accident that happened at the site, but no one said anything, they all looked wary.

I tapped a tablet, and turned to the large screen at the front of the room that displayed the structural diagrams of the Orion project.

“This beam failed because the approved load calculations were wrong.” I turned to face them with a frown. “Not questionable, wrong!” I couldn’t understand how they run this at this company, it looked they were all unaware of their responsibility.

The head of engineering spoke first. “Our team followed standard procedure, sir, the calculations passed internal review.”

“Internal review by whom?” I looked at him coldly, and he shifted without answering, I turned to legal. “Pull up the document history.”

The timeline appeared on the screen. “Here, original load model…” I pointed. “It’s sound, conservative, safe, then this version appears twelve hours later.” I showed them the timestamps and username. I had already done research on this earlier after spotting the error.

“This revision reduced the safety margin by twenty-one percent.” I turned to them again, and everyone was still. “Who authorized that?” No one answered. “Someone answer me.” My voice hardened.

The COO broke the silence. “The final approval came from Jacob Adam’s team.”

I clenched my jaw. I was tired of hearing that name Jacob Adams, everyone mentioned his team, but how is it possible that no one looked into the calculations before approving it.

“And who created that original model?”

The head of HR lowered his head. “That would be… Elara Brooks.”

I nodded. “The employee terminated yesterday.” I said. “Convenient.”

“Sir, are you suggesting sabotage?” The COO asked uncomfortably.

“I’m suggesting someone altered her work after she was removed.” I replied, clenching my jaw. “And then, they tried to pass it off as incompetence.” I swiped the screen again, and an email appeared.

“Notice this.” I said. “The original calculations were emailed to engineering, forty minutes later, a revised file is uploaded from a different user account.”

The head of engineering frowned. “This account belongs to…”

“The previous director of Urban projects,” I completed his sentence, “who was also responsible for recommending Elara’s termination.” The room erupted in murmurs.

“That is a serious accusation.” The legal warned.

“So is attempted corporate negligence that nearly killed two workers.” I shot back at him and the room fell silent again.

I leaned forward and scanned the room. “I want this individual suspended immediately, their access revoked, I want IT pulling every communication they’ve sent in the last six months.”

“Sir, she’s been with the company for nine years.” The COO said

I turned coldly at him. “And I’ve been CEO for nine hours.” I snapped at him. “If that’s a problem, you’re welcome to join her.”