His Number Changed So I Changed My Life Chapter 26
He said it.
“It wasn’t one mistake.”
The room fell silent.
He stared at me, as if realizing for the first time that I had known far more than he’d ever imagined.
“What do you want?” he asked. “An apology? Money?”
“I don’t want anything.”
That answer seemed to make him even more uneasy.
A person who wants money can be bought. A person who wants an apology can be placated.
But a person who no longer needs anything from him—he had no idea what to do with that.
My father leaned back in his chair.
“If you insist on publishing this, I will speak to your company’s management. This industry isn’t as idealistic as you seem to think.”
“Fine,” I said. “But contact me by email. And don’t call.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m creating an accurate record.”
I picked up my bag and walked out.
After I left the building, I added the meeting time and his objections to my conflict-of-interest memo. I did not include the past events that I had no way of proving.
That night, my mother called.
My father had already contacted her.
“He said this story is going to make me sick again,” she told me.
“If you want me to stop, I will.”
My mother was quiet for a few seconds.
“When you were fourteen, Charlotte, I told you to keep his number. Not because you were wrong, but because I was afraid.”
She let out a slow, heavy breath.
“I can’t let my fear be the reason for your silence again.”
The next day, lawyers from my father’s company did, in fact, contact our newsroom.
After our legal team reviewed the letter, they had only one question.
“Does the article mention him?”
“No.”
“Then keep fact-checking.”
That afternoon, reception called to tell me someone was waiting for me downstairs.
Victor had come, and he’d brought a folder.