Richard's voice followed.
"The truth won't give you those six years back."
Naomi stopped.
He continued.
"Money might at least give you the next thirty."
For several seconds, Naomi said nothing.
Then she looked over her shoulder.
"You still think this is about what you took from me."
Richard frowned.
"It isn't."
She faced him fully.
"It's about making sure you can't do it to someone else."
Naomi walked inside.
Her legs trembled only after the doors closed behind her.
Upstairs, Evan was still working when security informed him Richard had appeared.
He found Naomi sitting alone in the lobby.
"What did he want?"
"To buy my silence."
"How much?"
"Five million."
Evan stared.
"And?"
"I said no."
Something like admiration crossed his face.
Naomi noticed.
"Don't romanticize it."
"I'm not."
"I wanted the money."
Evan sat across from her.
"Of course you did."
"I thought about my mother's bills. Isaiah's tuition. Everything."
"That doesn't make your decision less meaningful."
Naomi looked away.
For once, Evan didn't try to solve the problem.
He simply sat there.
After a while, Naomi spoke.
"Is the job offer still open?"
Evan turned.
"Yes."
"I have conditions."
"Name them."
"I report to the board, not directly to you."
"Fine."
"I control the program's strategy."
"Within budget."
"Obviously."
"And I want funding for scholarships in the neighborhoods we're investing in."
Evan smiled.
"Anything else?"
Naomi looked directly at him.
"Never invite someone into a room just to make them feel small again."
His smile disappeared.
"Deal."
Naomi extended her hand.
Evan shook it.
Neither of them knew that across the city, Richard Halston was already preparing his next move.
And this time, money wasn't going to be enough.
The story broke Friday morning.
Naomi woke to seventeen missed calls.
Isaiah rushed into her bedroom holding his phone.
"You need to see this."
A headline filled the screen.
CARRINGTON'S "CLEANER GENIUS" HAS TROUBLED FINANCIAL PAST.
Naomi's stomach dropped.
Another article appeared.
FORMER HALSTON EMPLOYEE LINKED TO MILLIONS IN SUSPICIOUS TRANSFERS.
Then another.
VIRAL GALA SPEAKER ONCE INVESTIGATED FOR FINANCIAL MISCONDUCT.
Someone had leaked the old allegations.
Not the new evidence.
Not the falsified documents.
Only the accusations.
By eight o'clock, Naomi's name was trending.
Comments multiplied beneath every video of her gala speech.
Fraud.
Scammer.
Fake inspirational story.
She fooled everyone.
Naomi sat at the kitchen table staring at the screen.
Six years disappeared.
Suddenly she was twenty-five again.
Terrified.
Unemployed.
Watching strangers decide who she was.
Her phone rang.
Evan.
She ignored it.
It rang again.
Then Arthur.
Then Margaret Chen.
Isaiah took the phone away.
"Stop reading."
"I need to know what they're saying."
"No, you don't."
Naomi stood.
"I can't do this again."
Lorraine looked at her daughter.
"Then don't."
Naomi blinked.
"What?"
"Don't do what you did last time."
Naomi stared at her.
"You disappeared."
Lorraine's voice was gentle.
"You let them make you ashamed of something you didn't do."
Naomi's eyes filled with tears.
"I was tired."
"I know."
"I couldn't fight anymore."
"I know."
Lorraine reached for her hand.
"But you're not that woman anymore."
Naomi looked toward her father's letter on the counter.
You were right.
Whatever happens, don't let them convince you otherwise.
At nine fifteen, Naomi called Evan.
"I'm coming in."
When she arrived at Carrington Plaza, reporters crowded the entrance.
Questions exploded around her.
"Ms. Brooks, did you authorize the Halston transfers?"
"Were you fired for fraud?"
"Is Carrington paying you to stay silent?"
Naomi kept walking.
Upstairs, a crisis meeting was already underway.
Margaret wanted to release a statement.
Carrington's public-relations director wanted Naomi out of sight until the story cooled down.
Evan disagreed.
"She's not hiding."
Naomi entered.
Everyone stopped.
The PR director stood.
"Ms. Brooks, our recommendation is that you make no public statements."
"No."
He blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"I hid for six years."
Naomi placed her father's USB drive on the table.
"I'm done hiding."
Margaret leaned forward.
"What do you want to do?"
"Release everything legally permissible."
The room went silent.
"Access logs. Authentication discrepancies. Forensic findings. Everything."
Margaret nodded slowly.
"That will trigger scrutiny of Halston."