"I know."
"I don't have management experience."
"You will."
"I don't understand."
Marcus leaned back.
"You understand systems."
"I sort packages."
"You notice patterns."
"I do my job."
"You follow rules when breaking them would be easier."
Daniel looked at the card.
Marcus continued.
"Most executives spend years learning how to manage people."
"You already know how to respect them."
Daniel swallowed.
"Why me?"
"Because Sterling doesn't need another executive."
Marcus looked at him.
"It needs someone who remembers what it feels like to be invisible."
Daniel looked down.
The words hit him deeply.
Then the door opened.
Eleanor stood there.
She looked tired.
She held a folder.
"Marcus."
He turned.
"What?"
"I found something."
She placed the folder on the table.
"What?"
"Evidence."
Marcus opened it.
Daniel leaned forward.
Inside were photographs.
Emails.
Bank records.
Security footage.
One photograph showed a man meeting someone in a parking garage.
Daniel recognized him.
"That's Mr. Collins."
Marcus nodded.
"Chief Financial Officer."
Eleanor said,
"He wasn't working alone."
Marcus looked through the documents.
Then stopped.
A photograph showed another man.
Marcus stared.
"No."
Daniel looked at him.
"Who is that?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Eleanor did.
"Jonathan Blake."
Daniel's eyes widened.
The man whose phone he had found.
The COO.
The same man whose messages had appeared that morning.
Marcus closed the folder.
"How long?"
Eleanor answered,
"At least two years."
Marcus stood.
"Then we know who was stealing the data."
Daniel looked confused.
"Why?"
Marcus pointed to the photograph.
"Because Jonathan had access to every system."
The investigation accelerated.
Within forty-eight hours, Sterling's internal security team discovered a hidden network.
Data had been copied.
Patents had been transferred.
Financial records had been manipulated.
Executives had been paid.
And the person at the center of it all was Jonathan Blake.
But there was something nobody expected.
Jonathan wasn't working for a competitor.
He was working for someone inside Sterling.
Someone even higher.
The final document revealed the name.
Eleanor Whitmore.
Daniel stared.
"She was involved?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Not the way we thought."
Eleanor looked at the document.
"I told you."
"What?"
"I told you I was trying to save the company."
Marcus looked confused.
"Then why is your name there?"
"Because I signed the emergency agreements."
Marcus stared.
"You authorized the loans."
"Yes."
"That gave them access."
"Yes."
"You knew?"
"I knew they were dangerous."
"Then why?"
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
"Because they threatened my daughter."
The room went silent.
Marcus looked at her.
"What?"
"They knew where she lived."
Daniel stared.
Eleanor continued.
"They told me if I didn't cooperate, they would destroy my family."
Marcus's expression softened.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because they said they would kill her."
Silence.
Daniel looked down.
For the first time, he understood that the story was not simply about greed.
It was about fear.
Eleanor had made terrible decisions.
But she had been trapped.
Marcus sat down.
"Is she safe?"
Eleanor nodded.
"Now."
"Where?"
"Switzerland."
Marcus nodded.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"This is why we don't judge too quickly."
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
She looked back at him.
"I was cruel to you."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
Daniel thought for a moment.
"I accept your apology."
Eleanor looked surprised.
"That's it?"
Daniel smiled.
"What else should I do?"
She laughed softly.
"I don't know."
Daniel picked up the black card.
"Maybe this is enough."