The Pressure Point
Catherine received John's message detailing the date discrepancy—October 12th vs. October 15th—and felt a chill of professional respect mix with a renewed sense of their shared fate. This information was the bomb; she now had to light the fuse.
She immediately filed a motion for expedited discovery, specifically targeting the records of the trust that handled the payment to the Nweke family.
John's strategy for the defense was simple: stall the discovery motion while simultaneously offering a settlement so vast that Catherine's activist clients could not refuse. The goal was to silence the ethical argument before the coercion evidence became public.
"They are trying to buy us out, Ms. David," her lead counsel, Eleanor (the activist lawyer), warned Catherine. "The offer is astronomical—enough to fund our movement for a decade. It settles the environmental claims and gives substantial reparations to the Chatwin community."
"They are offering enough to buy our silence, not justice," Catherine countered, though the temptation was real. "The money is meaningless if David & Sons can still justify coercion. We need the truth of the original deal."
Catherine knew the missing link was the affidavit signed by Charles. His signature gave the coercion a façade of family consent. If she could break Charles's five-year silence, she could prove the moral bankruptcy of the entire acquisition.
She needed to find him.
The Intercepted Meeting
Using old university contacts, Catherine tracked Charles down to a small, private accounting firm he now ran in a quiet suburban district of Tredex City. He was now outwardly successful, but the haunted look in his eyes hinted at the crippling debt and moral compromise that had purchased his freedom.
Catherine showed up unannounced. Charles, spotting her through his office window, went pale.
"Catherine! What are you doing here? You can't—" he stammered, pulling her quickly into his private office, clearly terrified of being seen with her.
"I know what you did, Charles," Catherine said, her voice firm but not accusatory. "I know you signed the affidavit for Loveth five years ago. I know you were leveraged because of your debt. I know the price you paid for your silence."
Charles collapsed into his chair, running his hands over his face. "It was necessary, Cathy. I was terrified. They offered me a clean start. I didn't know it would destroy Mrs. Chatwin's resolve! Loveth convinced me it was all just tax maneuvering."
"It was coercion, Charles," Catherine insisted. "And now David & Sons is trying to bury the evidence with money. I need you to testify. I need you to tell the court that your signature was bought to apply undue pressure on your aunt."
Charles shook his head violently. "I can't. If I break the NDA with David & Sons, they will ruin me. I lose everything, Catherine! My firm, my home, my peace. They paid off my old creditors; they can resurrect my old debts just as easily."
The Leverage: John's Intervention
The moment Catherine's office contacted Charles's firm, John's father's defense team was alerted. Loveth immediately cornered John.
"Your former roommate is speaking to your former girlfriend, John," Loveth hissed, her eyes blazing with suspicion. "If Charles breaks his silence, the affidavit is tainted, and the entire land deal becomes toxic. You need to intervene. Use your friendship. Offer him a better deal—a partnership with David & Sons—anything to silence him before he testifies."
John saw his chance. He wasn't going to silence Charles; he was going to protect him and ensure he spoke the truth.
John tracked Charles down to a remote, empty parking garage late that night, knowing this environment was outside of Loveth's immediate surveillance net.
"Charles, don't take any deal Loveth offers you," John warned, stepping out of the shadows.
Charles was startled. "John! You're supposed to be offering me the deal!"
"I'm offering you the truth. Loveth will own you, Charles. The affidavit you signed is being used to cover up a criminal act of coercion. The payment for the medical procedure was routed three days before the deed was finalized, meaning your signature was part of a planned, illegal duress scheme."
"Illegal?" Charles repeated, the color draining from his face.
"Yes. You are a key witness, Charles. You can be the fall guy, or you can be the hero who redeems himself. Catherine can protect you legally, but she needs your honesty. David & Sons cannot touch you if you testify truthfully about the pressure and coercion Loveth placed on you."
John paused, his voice softening, the corporate armor briefly slipping. "We were friends, Charles. Five years ago, I didn't warn you in time. I failed. Don't let my father's empire buy your life again. The price of your loyalty has been silence. The price of your freedom is the truth."
Charles looked at his old friend—the man who was supposed to be his enemy—now offering him a way out. He finally broke, the five years of guilt pouring out in a rush.
"I'll do it, John," Charles whispered. "I'll tell Catherine everything. But what about you? This is corporate suicide."
"My motives are my own," John said, keeping his professional distance. "Just tell Catherine everything about Loveth's manipulation, and the payment schedule she promised you."
The Unmasking of the Villain
Charles, emboldened by John's protection and Catherine's clear legal path, agreed to provide a sworn, detailed deposition to Catherine's team. His testimony was devastating, fully exposing Loveth's calculated exploitation of his debt and his aunt's compassion.
Catherine, armed with the payment dates (John's evidence) and the testimony on coercion (Charles's evidence), filed a motion to invalidate the Mrs. Chatwin land sale and launched a formal investigation into the corporate practices of David & Sons.
The pressure immediately forced Mr. David Sr., John's father, to hold an emergency meeting.
"The case is crumbling," Mr. David Sr. roared in his boardroom. "The coercion charge is credible. Loveth, you swore this deal was clean!"
Loveth, ever cool under pressure, attempted to deflect. "The coercion was minor, sir. The true threat here is John. He is collaborating with the opposition—with the merchant's daughter—to bring this firm down! His own cousin, Christen, warned us about his misplaced loyalties five years ago!"
John stepped forward, his eyes locked on Loveth. "My motives are to prevent this firm from facing criminal charges, Loveth. You were the intermediary. You had access to all the accounting details. You set up the Nweke payment trust yourself. Why did you route the payment three days before the deed was signed, making the entire acquisition illegal? Why did you risk a billion-dollar Tredex project over a three-day delay?"
Loveth hesitated, her composure finally shattering into fear. She realized John's methodical pursuit had cornered her into a deeper secret.
"I—I had to move the funds quickly because I needed to clear a personal account, and the trust was the fastest way to mask the transfer!" she stammered.
John seized on the slip. "Personal account? Your corporate documents show you had no personal financial distress five years ago. Unless… you were not just acquiring land for David & Sons, Loveth. You were clearing your own personal debts and using the Nweke family's hardship as a cover for a larger financial shell game."
The true nature of the conspiracy was revealed: Loveth hadn't just manipulated the deal for corporate gain; she had used the Tredex project's massive budget to secretly launder her own illicit funds and clear private, undocumented debts. She was not just a ruthless corporate agent; she was an embezzler.
Mr. David Sr. was stunned. The coercion was bad, but the financial fraud was a crime that could sink his entire empire.
"She was using Tredex as a personal bank to cover her own past mistakes!" John concluded, turning to his father. "Loveth is the true vulnerability, Father, not Charles, not Mrs. Chatwin, and certainly not Catherine."
The Cost of Redemption
The confrontation marked the end of John's forced servitude. Mr. David Sr., facing a financial scandal that threatened his legacy, immediately fired Loveth and had her accounts frozen.
But John knew the fight wasn't over. Loveth's financial maneuverings were intertwined with the original Tredex City bond issues—issues that Catherine's brother, Christen (the politician), had personally guaranteed.
John contacted Catherine immediately via the secure channel. "Loveth is out. Embezzlement confirmed. She was running a financial shell game through the Tredex funds. Your brother, Christen, is linked to the bond guarantees that will collapse if this fraud goes public. We need to protect him, Catherine. It's not just the shame; it's prison time."
Catherine read the message, her victory instantly tempered by the new, terrifying dilemma. Her professional duty was to expose all corruption linked to Tredex. Her personal duty was to save her brother, the man who had spied on her, separated her from John, and ruined her family's reputation five years ago.
The cost of their redemption was rising.