Nathan stood at ease, but his face remained tight and pale.

He turned his eyes to my father.

“Your daughter is also the officer who just authorized the emergency freeze on all Hart Precision Marine contracts,” Nathan said.

Gordon’s face lost its ruddy color, the glass in his hand trembling slightly.

“What nonsense is this?” Gordon demanded, leaning forward. “That is a multi-million dollar defense contract.”

“It’s a fraudulent contract,” Nathan said.

“Watch your tongue in my house, young man,” my father growled, slamming his fist on the table.

“Two weeks ago, my team’s submersible suffered a seal failure off the coast of Norway,” Nathan said. “The lock collar cracked under pressure.”

He reached into his pocket and placed a small, twisted piece of dark metal on the white tablecloth.

“The alloy was substandard, lacking the required titanium density,” Nathan said. “Yet it was stamped with your company’s quality assurance seal.”

Paul Mercer looked toward the hallway, his fingers twitching against his linen napkin.

“We nearly lost four men in that trench,” Nathan added, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper.

Caroline looked between her fiancé and her father, her eyes wide with sudden fear.

“Daddy, tell him he’s wrong,” Caroline whispered.

Gordon did not look at her.

He was staring directly at me, his knuckles white.

“You did this, Evelyn?” my father asked, his voice shaking with sudden rage. “You betrayed your own family?”

“You signed the safety certifications, Father,” I said. “Paul countersigned them.”

Paul Mercer scraped his chair back, his leather shoes squeaking on the parquet floor.

“We need to check the database,” Paul muttered to Gordon. “The server room in the study.”

I looked down at my watch.

It was exactly eight o’clock.

Out in the driveway, the crunch of heavy tires on gravel broke the silence of the estate.

Headlights swept across the dining room windows, throwing long, stark shadows against the walls.