MJ watched the Colonel’s expression cycle through displeasure, resignation, and something that might have been grudging respect.

Then Colonel Vane made another mistake.

Colonel Vane looked at Neville, and Neville looked back at him with an expression that clearly said: I have more, Colonel. Would you like me to continue?

Colonel Vane’s eye twitched.

Desperate, he turned to the one person in the room who might be able to rein in this particular force of nature. Grayson sat in his designated seat like a king observing court proceedings, his eyes were watching over everything, and he was simply enjoying the show.

Colonel Vane’s look clearly pleaded: Help me, General. Control your employee. Do something.

Grayson’s response was to lean back slightly in his chair, the ghost of a smile playing at the corner of his lips. His body language practically screamed indifference to the Colonel’s plight.

But then something fascinating happened.

Neville, without even turning around, sent a single glance over his shoulder at his boss. It was quick, but the effect was immediate. Grayson’s almost-smile softened and gave Colonel Vane a small shrug.

It clearly meant: This isn’t my problem... Actually, wait—technically it is, but I’m choosing not to interfere.

MJ had to suppress a snort. He had suspected for a while that the power dynamic between the CEO and this rookie was more complicated than it appeared to be. But this confirmation was a whole lot different in scale.

Colonel Vane turned back to Neville, visibly torn.

Meanwhile, Neville was looking at him now with a challenging expression. He raised one eyebrow slightly. His lips pressed together in what might have been suppressed amusement, but with eyes that were absolutely serious.

The look said: Your move, Colonel. Choose wisely.

Colonel Vane chose to surrender. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

It was a small thing—just a slight dip of his head, a relaxation of his shoulders, an almost imperceptible step backward. It was the equivalent of laying down arms and waving a white flag.

The instant he did, Neville moved.

His fingers danced across his light brain. A file transfer was initiated, and MJ could see the notification ping on Colonel Vane’s device from across the room. Whatever Neville had sent, it made Colonel Vane’s eyes go wide.

Really wide.

Colonel Vane’s head snapped toward Grayson with an incredulous expression. His look was accusatory now—not pleading, but demanding.

How does your employee have access to military channels? What have you done?

Grayson’s response was just a shrug. It was his own way of expressing bewilderment. It was as if he had absolutely no idea how Neville had acquired such capabilities and was just as surprised as everyone else.

MJ didn’t buy it for a second. Neither did Neville.

Neville’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as he caught the silent exchange between the two men. His expression changed from challenging to distinctly displeased. It was the kind of displeasure that said he didn’t appreciate being talked about as if he weren’t standing right there, capable of hearing and seeing everything.

His fingers moved again on his light brain.

Colonel Vane flinched.

Whatever had just happened was apparently devastating enough to make the military officer physically taken aback.

Then Neville waited.

The silence stretched.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Colonel Vane’s jaw worked as if he were chewing on something unpleasant. Military officers had a lot of pride, and having to swallow it in front of a room full of corporate civilians had to taste particularly bitter.

"I... apologize," Colonel Vane finally managed, each word sounding like it was being physically extracted from his throat. "For the... misunderstanding."

Neville’s expression didn’t change, but something in his posture relaxed a little. The apology was accepted—barely, but still accepted.

Colonel Vane straightened, clearly deciding to cut his losses and focus on the task at hand. He glanced at Julius Seaton, who stood near him, just like how he had waited back in those years of chain of command.

But when Julius looked at Neville, Colonel Vane knew that Neville had full control of the laser cuffs right now. Even though he was unhappy about it, he still needed to answer to the person in charge.

Before anything else, Grayson spoke, and his voice carried the weight of absolute authority.

"Colonel Vane, I believe my employee has provided more than sufficient assistance to your investigation. Certainly more than we were obligated to offer. I suggest you take this information, pursue the actual criminals, and perhaps in the future, consider a more... diplomatic approach when requesting cooperation from civilian entities."

Colonel Vane’s face cycled through several shades of red before settling into forced neutrality.

"Mr. Maxwell. Mr. Hope." He nodded stiffly to each of them. "The military appreciates your... cooperation. We will review this evidence and take appropriate action."

"Proceed with the arrests," Grayson ordered. "Julius, Bryan—assist the Colonel’s team."

The next few minutes were controlled chaos.

MJ watched as military personnel moved through the assembly hall. George Hewitt was escorted out first; he expressed outraged innocence that fooled absolutely no one.

"This is preposterous!" George’s voice echoed through the hall. "I demand to speak to my lawyers! Do you know who my family is? The Hewitts will not stand for this treatment!"

Director Hannel was next, equally vocal in his objections. "There’s been a mistake! Are you not looking at the holographic screens?! You can’t just—! Someone!"

The two of them made quite a spectacle, their voices overlapping in a discordant symphony of denial and accusation.

MJ noticed several junior employees recording everything on their light brains—this would be all over the internal networks within the hour, and probably leaked to external media by the end of the day.

MJ looked at his superior, Chief McCartney, and said, "Chief, we might need to plan contingency based on this much media coverage."

Chief McCartney nodded in understanding and replied, "Have the military in contact for additional things to look out for."

"Understood."

But it was Director Cox’s exit that made MJ’s blood run cold.

Director Cox just went quietly, no protests, no demands, no cries for innocence. He moved with resigned dignity of a man who knew this day would come and made terms with it.

But that wasn’t what caught MJ’s attention.