The leak
379 Words
Day 12. 7:03AM.
My phone blew up before my alarm did.
12 texts. 4 calls. All from PR.
*“VANCE CEO SEEN AT PRIVATE CABIN WITH CHAIRMAN”*
*“IS VANCE INDUSTRIES IN CRISIS?”*
There was a photo.
Us. On the dock. From Chapter 9.
Not doing anything. Just talking. But it looked... close.
Damien was already in my office when I got in.
Jaw tight. Shirt wrinkled.
“Legal’s containing it.” He said. “But it’s out.”
I dropped my bag. “Who took it?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He looked up. “What matters is what we say now.”
Carter burst in. “You two need to do a joint statement. Now.
Denounce it. Say it was a work meeting. Nothing personal.”
I looked at Damien.
He looked at me.
“Or,” Damien said quietly, “we tell the truth.”
Carter laughed. “Are you insane? The board will—”
“The board can fire me.” Damien cut him off.
“But they can’t make me lie.”
My heart was hammering.
“If we tell the truth, it’s war.” I said.
“If we lie, we lose each other anyway.” He answered.
---
10:00AM. Boardroom. Emergency call.
8 faces on the screen. Mad.
Carter presenting slides about “reputational risk.”
Damien stood.
“We went to the cabin to work.
During that trip, we started a relationship.
We disclosed it to legal. We recused from conflicts.
We did nothing wrong.”
Silence.
Then Mr. Wells: “Are you asking us to approve this?”
“No.” I stood next to Damien. “I’m telling you.
You can replace me. But I’m not going to pretend.”
---
6:00PM.
Stock dropped 3%. Then leveled.
Headlines were messy, but not fire.
The Foundation got 200 new donation emails.
Damien and I sat in my office. Lights off.
Exhausted.
“Did we just blow up our careers?” I asked.
“Maybe.” He took my hand. “Or maybe we just started telling the truth.”
He squeezed.
“Day 12. And we’re still here.”
I leaned on his shoulder.
“Still here.”
---
_END OF CHAPTER 12_
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