“I did my job,” I said.

I looked at my father, wanting him to feel the weight of what he had brought into our home.

“I protected the state from a thief.”

Richard flinched as if I had struck him.

“I did it for the company,” Richard whispered, though it sounded like a lie he had told himself too many times.

“We were going under, Natalie. The logistics contracts were all we had left.”

“So you poisoned the supply lines?” I asked. “You let Hayes use our family trucks to move black-market ordnance?”

“It was supposed to be empty crates,” Richard said, his eyes pleading. “Just a paper trail manipulation.”

“You lied to me, Dad,” Madison spoke up, her voice trembling but clear.

She stood up from the corner, her back against the server rack.

“You told me the documents in the safe were just tax records.”

Richard looked at his youngest daughter, and for the first time, I saw real panic in his eyes.

“Madison, I didn’t know they would involve you,” Richard said.

“She knew too much,” Hayes interrupted, his voice flat.