CHAPTER 10
He entered with his attorney.
Victoria sat behind the desk.
“Mr. Keller.”
“Ms. Matthews.”
“I've reviewed the preliminary findings.”
“My attorney advises me not to answer questions.”
“That's your right.”
She slid a document across the desk.
“Then read this.”
Richard looked down.
It was a suspension notice pending investigation.
His face hardened.
“You can't do this.”
“I can.”
“You need me.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Richard stared.
“You don't understand this company.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“I spent one day pretending to be someone you considered beneath you.”
She paused.
“I learned more about this company in eight hours than you apparently learned in twenty years.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“You're going to regret humiliating me.”
Victoria stood.
“I didn't humiliate you.”
She opened the door.
“You did that yourself.”
Sandra Miller remained in her office for three days.
Then she asked to see Victoria.
She entered quietly.
No designer confidence.
No armor.
Just exhaustion.
“I want to tell you something.”
Victoria gestured toward a chair.
Sandra sat.
“I was wrong.”
Victoria didn't respond.
Sandra looked down.
“I have spent years believing that protecting management was the same as protecting the company.”
“It isn't.”
“I know that now.”
She took a breath.
“When I told you to kneel…”
Victoria waited.
“I knew who you were.”
Victoria frowned.
“What?”
Sandra looked up.
“I had seen your photograph in the acquisition documents.”
Silence.
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
“You knew?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you realize?”
“After you asked about the harassment policy.”
Sandra's voice shook.
“I recognized your name.”
“Then why did you continue?”
Sandra looked away.
“Fear.”
Victoria said nothing.
Sandra continued.
“I thought if I admitted what had been happening, I'd lose my job.”
“You may still.”
“I know.”
She handed Victoria a folder.
“What is this?”
“Copies.”
“Of what?”
“Complaints that were closed improperly.”
Victoria opened it.
There were dozens.
Sandra had kept copies.
Some included handwritten notes.
Some contained evidence.
Some had been marked:
DO NOT ESCALATE.
Victoria looked up.
“Why are you giving me these now?”
“Because I don't want to be the person who keeps hiding them.”
Victoria closed the folder.
“Thank you.”
Sandra stood.
“Are you firing me?”
“I haven't decided.”
Sandra nodded.