Chapter 60 — Lila Gives Up the Drive
Lila gave up the drive in a conference room with no windows, no flowers, and no place for charm to sit.
That was the first thing she hated. The second was the silence.
Investigators do not fill silence for frightened women. They leave it there until the frightened woman decorates it herself.
Lila sat opposite two investigators, her solicitor, and Marcus’s associate, invited because the material overlapped. Not me.
I stayed away. Evidence should look like process, not revenge.
The silver USB drive lay in a clear bag on the table.
Chain of custody form. Time. Date. Source.
Witnesses. Lila watched each line as bureaucracy ate her last escape.
The senior investigator said, “For the record, Ms Monroe, are you providing this material voluntarily?”
Her solicitor touched her sleeve. Lila lifted her chin.
“Yes.” “Were you promised immunity?”
“No.” “Were you threatened by Eleanor Hart or any representative of Hart Capital?”
Lila’s mouth tightened. There it was. Her last useful lie, placed gently before her.
She could say I threatened her, forced her, bought her, manipulated her. Lila looked at the drive.
Then at her solicitor. Then at the blank wall behind the investigator.
“No,” she said. “She did not threaten me.”
Marcus’s associate made no expression. That was talent.
The investigator continued. “Why are you providing it?”
Lila gave the first answer she had rehearsed. “Because I wish to cooperate.”
The senior investigator waited. Silence.
Lila sighed. “Because Victor Lang will sacrifice me if I do not.”
More silence. “And Ryan Hart will let him.”
That answer stayed. The drive was inserted into an isolated machine.
Files appeared slowly.
Messages. Audio clips. Approval chains. Hotel invoices. Draft instructions.
Two years of ambition, sorted by date. Lila did not cry when Ryan’s voice came through the speaker.
“If Victor guarantees the bonus, I will sign. I do not care how they route it.”
She looked at the table. Her solicitor closed his eyes.
Then Victor’s voice followed in another recording. “Keep Lila off the board thread. She is useful, not permanent.”
Useful. Not permanent.
Lila made a sound too small to be laughter. The investigator paused the audio.
“Do you need a break?” “No.” Her voice was flat. “Play it.”
They played more. Ryan agreeing. Victor instructing. Lila forwarding.
Ryan flirting in between signatures because some men can turn corruption into courtship if the lighting is flattering. By the third file, Lila’s face had changed.
Not softer. Sharper.
She had entered hoping to survive. She was leaving behind the fantasy that she had ever been central.
At 3:12, the investigator asked, “Is this the complete set?”
Lila hesitated. Tiny. Fatal.
Marcus’s associate looked up. So did her solicitor.
Lila said, “Yes.” The investigator folded his hands.
“Ms Monroe, I will ask again. Is this the complete set?”
Her throat moved. “Yes.”
Across town, Marcus showed me the transcript. He paused there.
“You were right,” he said. “I wish I were not.”
From my handbag, I took out a second sealed evidence bag. Inside was the copy collected from the car park, plus the deleted folder recovered before I ever entered Victor’s house.
Lila’s missing files. I did not smile.
I had never enjoyed watching women burn. But I did believe in doors.
The truthful one was open. Lila had stepped around it.
Marcus delivered the second drive at 4:05.
At 4:32, investigators called Lila back. When they showed her the deleted folder, her face lost its performance.
The senior investigator said, “Would you like to revise your answer?”
Lila stared at the screen. A file name glowed there.
Victor_Private_Ryan_Backup_FULL.
Then another.
Eleanor_Hart_Background_Strategy.
Her eyes lifted slowly. Lila understood I did not have more evidence because I hated harder.
I had more because I prepared earlier.
She whispered, “I want to amend my statement.” Outside the room, her solicitor exhaled.
Inside mine, Marcus shut the transcript.
“Now,” he said, “they start eating each other.”
I looked at the rain on the window.
“No,” I said. “Now they realise they already have.”