For the first time, nobody told me I was making trouble simply by identifying a difference.
Nobody asked how long I'd worked in the field.
Nobody dismissed my concern as a misunderstanding without examining the records.
Then they checked.
After nearly two hours, Grace closed her folder.
She looked directly at me.
"Your description is consistent with the differences we've identified."
I felt my chest tighten.
"But we're still establishing how those changes entered the final package and who authorized them."
Mr. Lam leaned back.
For a moment, he seemed deeply troubled.
Then he looked toward me.
"Miss Bennett, may I ask a personal question?"
I glanced at Rachel.
Mr. Lam hesitated.
"Why did you speak?"
"You had already lost your job after raising concerns. You knew speaking again could expose you to more pressure."
For a moment, I couldn't answer.
Then I thought about Mrs. Lau.
The original schedule.
And the workers whose facilities were supposed to receive the modernization funds.
I looked toward him.
"Because I knew what the difference could mean."
"And because you were about to sign."
Mr. Lam nodded slowly.
For a moment, my voice trembled.
"I kept thinking that if I stayed silent and the money went somewhere it shouldn't, I would spend the rest of my life remembering I had a chance to warn you."
The room became quiet.
Mr. Lam studied me.
Then he spoke softly.
"I am glad you did."
My eyes filled.
For the first time since leaving Northbridge, I felt the burden I'd been carrying shift slightly.
But become something I no longer had to hold entirely alone.
Before the meeting ended, Mr. Lam brought up the wager.
He looked uncomfortable.
"There's another matter."
He smiled faintly.
"Four hundred thousand dollars."
Then laughed in disbelief.
"I almost forgot."
Rachel raised one eyebrow.
Mr. Lam looked toward me.
"Mr. Whitmore publicly offered that amount if you could speak Cantonese."
"And you clearly can."
I laughed softly.
The mood lightened for a moment.
Then Mr. Lam became serious.
"I don't know whether that exchange created an enforceable obligation under the relevant law. That's for lawyers to determine."
"But I wanted you to know that several witnesses remember exactly what happened."
For a moment, I thought about the envelope Whitmore had slapped onto the table.
The way he offered the money as entertainment.
As a chance to demonstrate that I was inferior.
I took a breath.
"I don't want this case to become about a bet."
Mr. Lam studied me.
"Because the forty million matters more."
"And because I didn't warn you to collect a prize."
Mr. Lam was quiet.
Then he smiled slightly.
"I understand."
"But you should also know that you don't have to refuse something you're entitled to simply to prove your motives were honorable."
The words surprised me.
I looked toward him.
For a moment, I didn't answer.
Rachel leaned forward.
"We can evaluate the wager separately from the underlying transaction and any employment issues."
That was sensible.
Still, when I left the meeting, the four hundred thousand dollars felt unreal.
A number shouted across a restaurant.
A wealthy man's attempt to turn my language into a joke.
I didn't know whether I'd ever see a penny.
And for the first time, I wasn't particularly concerned.
Because the more important question was finally being asked by people with the resources and authority to investigate it.
Where was the forty million dollars supposed to go?
And who had tried to change the answer?
The transaction investigation eventually brought the name Martin Pell back into my life.
At first, Jade Harbor's lawyers focused on the document history.
The approved version.
The revised version.
The transmittal records.
The internal approvals.
The electronic acknowledgments.
They asked Northbridge to preserve relevant materials and cooperate within the applicable legal framework.
The company engaged outside counsel.
It denied knowingly approving an unauthorized disbursement.