"But that’s not the most interesting part." Neville’s fingers danced across his interface again, and new evidence materialized on the display.

Connections formed and lines stretched outward like a spider’s web. Names appeared beside photographs—some familiar, some not. Financial transactions illuminated another set of pathways of corruption, hiding in plain sight while everyone focused on surface appearances.

"You see, Mr. Goelet didn’t act alone. He had distribution lines. Sponsors. People who looked the other way in exchange for various favors."

MJ found his gaze drawn unwillingly to Director Cox, sitting rigid in his seat near the front of the assembly. The elderly man’s face had gone gray, and his hands were gripping his chair arms with white-knuckled intensity.

MJ’s mind raced, connecting the dots he never thought he would.

Marcus Chen was one of the people who was close to Ethan. They had been seen together constantly, working on projects, having lunch, and staying late at the office, just like a normal co-worker. But now that Marcus was dead, that left everyone to wonder.

Was Ethan hiding something more sinister than this? What more can be sinister than this pheromone experimentation? If Ethan was involved this deeply, was he really not involved with Marcus’ death?

He knew that Neville had already explained that his death was an explosion. But was it? Did Director Cox kill Marcus to protect Ethan? Or had Ethan done it himself?

"Additionally," Neville continued, his voice dropping. "Mr. Goelet was responsible for several attempts against me during my employment here."

The crowd was in uproar.

Attempts? Against Neville? Someone had tried to—when? Had someone been trying to kill him all this time?

The casual way Neville mentioned it made it somehow worse. Just how accustomed did you have to be to murder attempts before you could talk about them like that?

"He was also responsible for several... shall we say, ’incidents.’" Neville’s smile sharpened into something dangerous. "The contaminated drinks during a hotel gathering. The attempted surveillance of my personal quarters. The unauthorized access to my files."

He let that hang in the air for a moment, watching as the fan club died away into uncomfortable silence. Their previous certainty was replaced by the dawning horror of realizing they had been defending a monster.

MJ remembered the hotel gathering vividly. Everyone was in uproar because of Mick, and they tightened their security. They were even in a buddy system.

But what exactly had Ethan been looking for in Neville’s files? What had he hoped to find or exploit?

Movement in the room interrupted MJ’s spiraling thoughts. Keaton Hewitt was striding toward the podium; he looked unstoppable.

When Keaton positioned himself beside Neville, they seemed to complement each other well. It would have made a great scene in one of those drama serials. The wronged hero and his unexpected ally, facing down the forces of corruption together. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Colonel Vane," Keaton addressed the military officer directly, "while we’re airing grievances and providing helpful information, allow me to add my own contributions."

Colonel Vane, who had been watching the entire proceeding with an expression caught somewhere between amusement and personal outrage, gestured curtly for Keaton to continue.

It seemed that this situation had spiraled far beyond his control.

"Mick Hewitt—my adopted brother and the former second young master of the Hewitt family—was operating illegal drug distribution lines within our company." Keaton’s voice was steady, but MJ could see the tension in his jaw, the way his hands were clenched at his sides. "The same illegal pheromone enhancers that Mr. Hope mentioned. I have reason to believe that perhaps Ethan Goelet was involved in similar—"

MJ watched Neville’s head turn slowly toward Keaton, those eyes narrowing with unmistakable warning.

The message was clear even from across the room: Stop right there.

Keaton stopped mid-sentence, apparently receiving the message behind Neville’s glare. He cleared his throat, adjusting his approach to the subject.

It seemed that they were really close.

"What I mean to say," Keaton continued, his voice slightly more measured, "is that George Hewitt—the current CEO and Chairman of HW Corporation—was the primary force enabling these operations. Almost every board member in our company was complicit. They were all using these illegal pheromone enhancers themselves."

The revelation hit the room.

"If I may," Neville’s voice cut through the chaos. "I believe we’ve established something important here today, Colonel."

He turned to face Colonel Vane directly, and there was something almost pitying in his expression. He had the look of someone who had won that they could afford to be magnanimous.

"Your investigation was doomed from the start because you were chasing the wrong targets."

MJ had always thought Neville was interesting. But this? This was a whole different species of interesting.

Colonel Vane’s mistake had been simple, really. But he hadn’t accounted for Neville.

MJ moved in his seat, trying to maintain the appropriate expression of a loyal employee while internally his entertainment-professional brain was taking notes.

This was the kind of tension that couldn’t be scripted because no writer would believe audiences would buy it.

He had no choice now but to disclose everything and arrest everyone as originally planned. The ’quiet handling’ option had evaporated the moment Neville decided to stop playing nice.

Colonel Vane pursed his lips. "And you expect me to accept that simply? To take your word for all of this?"

"I expect you to do your job." Neville gestured at the evidence still displayed behind him. "For the record, everything you need is right there. Verified. Authenticated. Ready for whatever judicial process you need to take care of."

"This is highly irregular," Colonel Vane protested, but even MJ could hear the weakening in his voice. The argument was pro forma1 now, a last grasp at dignity before surrender. "Evidence obtained outside official channels—"

"Evidence that your official channels completely missed." Neville’s interruption was merciless. "Evidence that would have stayed hidden forever if you had not succeeded in arresting the wrong people and patting yourself on the back for a job well done."