Chapter 8 - The Fall of Mr. Smith
Dr. Hart stood in the doorway, flanked by three massive security guards.
She took in the chaotic scene: the overturned chairs, the scattered hard drives, and Marcus scrambling to his feet.
"Secure him," Dr. Hart ordered, her voice like cracking ice.
The guards quickly restrained Marcus, who was now panting and glaring fiercely at me.
"You set me up, you arrogant bitch!" Marcus spat, abandoning any pretense of professionalism.
"I was not the one who paid a gambling addict to sell out her own daughter," I replied coldly.
Dr. Hart walked over and picked up one of the dropped hard drives.
"Mr. Vance forwarded me the screen recordings of your offshore transfers ten minutes ago, Marcus," she said.
"The federal authorities are waiting for you in the lobby."
Marcus went entirely limp in the guards' grasp, realizing his game was finally over.
As they dragged him out of the office, Dr. Hart turned to me.
"Emily, I owe you a profound apology," the CEO said, looking genuinely remorseful.
"I should have trusted your track record instead of blindly believing planted evidence."
"Marcus was very good at his job," I admitted, smoothing my skirt.
"He knew exactly how to exploit the weakest links in my life."
Dr. Hart nodded, gesturing toward the empty chair behind the massive desk.
"The board has reviewed the evidence and cleared your name completely."
"If you still want it, the Vice President position is yours."
"With a significant raise for the trauma you endured this week."
I looked at Nathan, who gave me a proud, encouraging smile.
"I accept, Dr. Hart," I said firmly.
"But my first order of business will be completely restructuring the HR department."
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"I think that is a fantastic idea," she agreed, shaking my hand.
I had won my career back, but there was still one more mess I needed to clean up.
