Chapter 19: The Betrayal
Day 68 started with an emergency.
I arrived at 6:58 AM to find the bullpen already buzzing with tension—partners huddled in Jessica's office, associates whispering, everyone's faces tight with the kind of worry that came from serious problems.
Kyle Durant caught my eye from his desk, mouthed what's happening?
I shrugged.
At 9:15, firm-wide email: All associates with access to the Techvance merger case report to Conference Room A. Immediately.
That's Harvey's case. The tech startup acquisition.
I grabbed my tablet and headed to the conference room with six other associates.
Jessica stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, expression colder than I'd ever seen. Harvey was beside her, jaw clenched, radiating barely-controlled fury. Louis stood against the wall, looking nervous.
"This morning," Jessica said without preamble, "confidential details from the Techvance merger appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Before the deal closed. Our client is threatening a malpractice suit."
The room went dead silent.
"Someone in this firm leaked privileged information. We're going to find out who."
Harvey stepped forward.
"Access logs show seven associates had document access. My team: Mike Ross. Corporate team: three associates. Louis's team: Scott Roden and Kyle Durant."
His eyes swept across us like a judge passing sentence.
"I know it wasn't Mike."
Of course. Absolute certainty for his golden boy.
Jessica turned to the rest of us.
"Which means it was one of you. You have until end of day to come forward voluntarily. After that, we investigate."
She dismissed us.
I walked back to my desk on autopilot, mind already racing.
[WIN RATE CALCULATOR: EMERGENCY ACTIVATION]
[SCENARIO: FALSE ACCUSATION PROBABILITY]
[PROCESSING...]
[PROBABILITY OF BEING WRONGLY ACCUSED: 37%]
[PROBABILITY OF CLEARING NAME WITHOUT EVIDENCE: 23%]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: FIND ACTUAL SOURCE]
Thirty-seven percent chance I get blamed for something I didn't do.
Not acceptable.
At 2:30 PM, Louis's assistant called me to his office.
Jessica was already there.
This is bad.
I walked in, closed the door, stayed standing.
Louis wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Scott," he started, voice strained. "You had access to the merger documents. You've been working late nights recently—"
"You think I leaked?"
The words came out flat, disbelieving.
Louis finally looked at me, and I saw it—fear. Not of me. Fear of Harvey, fear of Jessica, fear of being blamed for loose oversight.
"You're the most likely candidate. You're ambitious, you've been... distracted recently with personal matters, you have the technical access—"
"Personal matters? You mean dating Donna? That's your evidence?"
Jessica cut through.
"Mr. Roden, can you account for your whereabouts when the leak occurred? Yesterday evening, approximately 8 PM?"
My mind raced.
I was at Donna's apartment. We were cooking dinner. That's my alibi.
[WIN RATE CALCULATOR: ANALYZING RESPONSE OPTIONS]
[OPTION A: ADMIT ALIBI WITH DONNA]
[PROBABILITY: 34% SUCCESS - DAMAGES PROFESSIONAL IMAGE, CONFIRMS "DISTRACTED" NARRATIVE]
[OPTION B: DENY AND INVESTIGATE INDEPENDENTLY]
[PROBABILITY: 47% SUCCESS - IF REAL LEAKER FOUND]
[OPTION C: ACCEPT TEMPORARY BLAME]
[PROBABILITY: 12% SUCCESS - CAREER ENDING]
I chose option B.
"I was working late. Alone. And I didn't leak anything."
Louis looked almost relieved that I wasn't giving him an easy alibi.
He wants to believe I'm guilty. It's easier than fighting Harvey.
"I have no financial motive," I continued, voice cold. "No relationship with Wall Street Journal contacts. No reason to sabotage this firm. But I understand I'm a convenient suspect."
Louis bristled.
"This isn't personal—"
I cut him off.
"It's entirely personal. You're scared Harvey will blame you for loose oversight, so you're throwing me forward as a shield. I understand the logic, Louis. But I won't accept the accusation without fighting."
Jessica's expression was unreadable.
"Then prove your innocence, Mr. Roden. You have forty-eight hours before I involve external investigators. If they find evidence against you, you're done at this firm and possibly facing criminal charges."
"Understood."
I turned and left before I said something I'd regret.
Behind me, I heard Louis start to say something to Jessica, but I was already gone.
The associate library became my war room.
I spread access logs across the table, pulled timeline documents, started building a systematic investigation.
Someone leaked. Someone with access. Someone who needed money or had a grudge.
Find them.
[BLACKMAIL ARCHIVE: INITIATING DEEP ANALYSIS]
[CROSS-REFERENCING: ALL ASSOCIATES WITH ACCESS]
[BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS: REVIEWING 4 MONTHS OF OBSERVATIONS]
[FINANCIAL ANOMALIES: SEARCHING]
[EXTERNAL CONNECTIONS: MAPPING]
The System hummed at full capacity, organizing everything I'd observed over the past two months.
At 7:30 PM, Donna found me.
"Louis is wrong."
I looked up. She stood in the doorway, expression fierce.
"Doesn't matter if he's wrong. Matters if he's convincing."
Donna walked in, closed the door, sat across from me.
"Then prove him wrong. You're good at solving impossible problems."
"This one matters."
"I know. That's why you'll solve it."
She stood to leave, paused at the door.
"For what it's worth, I told Jessica there's no way you leaked. She's listening, but she needs evidence."
"Thank you."
After she left, I activated the System fully.
[MENTAL FATIGUE: 12%]
[SUSTAINED HIGH-INTENSITY USE: INITIATED]
[WARNING: ENERGY MANAGEMENT REQUIRED]
If I'm going down, I'm taking the real leaker with me.
And after that... I'll deal with Louis.
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