Chapter 7

The next day, Brooks Group released a public apology.

It was three pages long.

The statement repeatedly claimed that the Crown Club had been created by a small number of employees. Brooks Group insisted that the company had never known about it or allowed it to continue.

The public did not believe them.

Less than ten minutes after the statement was posted, Brooks had to close the comment section.

Anna’s buried complaint, the false resignation records created by Human Resources, and eight payments from a company affiliated with Brooks Group could not have been arranged by a few young employees acting alone.

More former employees began speaking out.

One woman had reported her supervisor for harassment. The next day, she was removed from a major project.

Another had been pressured to resign after becoming pregnant because her manager claimed she would hurt the team’s stability.

Another woman had gone three years without a promotion because she refused to attend private after-hours events with senior executives.

Brooks tried to delete the comments.

That only made the public reaction worse.

Business partners canceled projects one after another, and banks suspended new credit lines.

Protesters appeared outside stores owned by Brooks Group.

The Brooks internships that people once fought to get became a joke overnight.

A week later, the first compensation agreements were placed on my desk.

Ethan’s frozen bonuses, stock distributions, and trust assets could cover only part of the payments.

Brooks Group had to pay the rest.

Anna sat beside the attorney and reviewed her corrected employment record.

The claims of gross misconduct had been removed.

So had the accusation that she had allowed a personal relationship to affect her work.

Brooks Group had also publicly admitted that her complaint had been valid.

“They asked whether I wanted my job back.”

Anna closed the file.

“I said no.”

I nodded.

“You do not owe them forgiveness.”

Anna pressed her lips together.

“Miss Hale, I should thank you for all of this. Without you, no one would have known what they did to us.”

I shrugged.

“You should give yourself more credit. You were brave enough to stand up and fight back.”

After Anna, the other seven victims received settlements as well.

The false debts were removed.

New references were issued to replace the ones Brooks had destroyed.

The people who had secretly recorded and shared the videos were turned over to investigators.

The women who had lost income because of false employment records received compensation.

Two of them returned to their former industries.

Three used the money to go back to school.

Another decided to start her own company.

They did not need to return to the place that had hurt them in order to begin again.

A week later, Noah came to see me.

He told me he planned to resign.

“Why?”

“There is no reason for me to stay at Brooks anymore.”

He paused.

“I also helped bury Anna’s complaint when senior executives pressured me. I cannot pretend I never stayed silent just because I finally spoke up this time.”

I did not try to convince him to remain at Brooks.

Instead, I pushed another document across the desk.

It was a proposal for the Employee Protection and Internal Investigations Center at Hale Capital.

The founding director would have an independent budget and report directly to me.

“If you are considering a new job, come work for me.”

Noah stared at the document.

“Because I helped you?”

“No.”

I looked at him.

“When you sent the first anonymous email, you did not know who I was. You also kept evidence that someone had ordered you to destroy.”

“You knew that speaking out too early would accomplish nothing if you could not stop them. You were not a coward. You were careful, and you were waiting for the right chance.”

“But you still chose to stand up when that chance came. That took courage.”

“I can make sure you do not have to stand alone next time.”

Noah remained silent for a long time.

Then he picked up the pen and signed the employment contract.

That evening, Brooks Group announced that it would sell its most valuable overseas logistics division.

The public boycott had left the company with no other choice.

The division had once been valued at $8 billion.

Now no buyer was willing to offer even half of that.

I instructed my team to submit a bid.

Before the bidding meeting began, my assistant handed me a list of the other bidders.

Mercer Industries was listed directly after Hale Capital.

The man sitting in the center of the Mercer delegation looked up at me.

Julian Mercer.

He opened his proposal and spoke calmly.

“Miss Hale, it appears we both want the same thing.”