My sister pulled me toward her billionaire fiancé’s father and laughed, “This is the quiet one.” My parents added, “We don’t brag about Sophie much.” I smiled politely—until Richard Vale stared at me

to discredit my findings. Anonymous messages accused me of manipulating evidence. Someone pressured a junior analyst to change timestamps.

Then someone leaked a rumor that I had accepted money from a competitor.

None of it worked.

Soon afterward, I left Halden and opened my own forensic consulting firm.

I had always assumed the retaliation came from the executives we exposed.

Now I looked at Evan.

And understood.

Richard asked quietly, “Why didn’t you contact me after the case closed?”

“My contract prohibited direct communication for twelve months.”

“That expired two