Chapter 5

I didn't reach out immediately.

Nora held the manila envelope in midair, as if certain I would take it.

Adrian frowned. "Bring it in first."

"Are you sure?"

I stared at the authentication code on the envelope opening.

"I only generated this code after midnight last night. It's only visible in the project lead's backend."

Nora's eyes immediately reddened. "Maybe it was a system error. I found it in the archives. I brought it to you first because I was afraid you'd misunderstand."

After speaking, she pushed the envelope toward me.

People had stopped outside the door.

Marketing, administration, two board assistants fresh from the conference hall---all watching through the glass.

She'd picked the perfect moment.

If I lost my temper in front of these people, by tomorrow the company chat wouldn't be talking about fake filings---they'd be talking about Lena Sinclair bullying the new hire.

I took the envelope and pulled out the papers inside.

The cover read "Starbridge Project Original Filing," with the reference number, page count, and signature fields all complete. Even my handwritten notes were there.

But the more authentic it looked, the faker it was.

I flipped to the last page.

The signature field only had a stamp, with ink bleeding at the edges---like it had been pressed from a scanned copy printed repeatedly.

"This isn't the original."

Adrian's expression darkened. "Don't make wild accusations."

I held the paper up to the light.

"The real original has a security watermark. This one doesn't."

Nora bit her lip, her voice barely a trembling whisper. "Lena, I really don't understand these things. Mr. Knox asked me to find it, so I did. If you don't believe me, I'll go search again."

She'd pushed Adrian to the front again.

Pushed him naturally, pushed him cleanly.

But Adrian acted like he hadn't noticed, only staring at me. "Making a scene to this point is enough. The board is already waiting for an explanation. Do you want to drag the regulatory departments down with us too?"

"I'm not the one doing the dragging."

I put the document back on the desk.

"You're the ones who brought a fake document to my face."

He lowered his voice. "Lena, you've already sabotaged half the funding round. If we keep investigating, the company's credibility will be completely destroyed."

"Then let it be destroyed."

I looked at him.

"Before a medical system enters the operating room, credibility should pass under the knife first."

His expression finally changed.

I opened my phone and called the financial audit department, pressing speakerphone.

They answered quickly. "Lena?"

"Cross-check the permission changes, preliminary review replacements, and filing anomalies. Investigate now."

Nora's face went white.

Adrian stared at me. "You're calling an audit?"

"Yes."

I pushed the fake envelope to the center of the desk.

"From this second on, no one's explanation matters anymore."

Keyboard sounds came through the phone.

The audit manager's voice quickly lowered. "Lena, there's no door access record for Nora at the archives tonight."

Nora's head snapped up.

Adrian froze as well.

I looked at the unnatural ink mark on the back of Nora's hand.

"Then who went in?"

The line went quiet for two seconds.

The audit manager said, "At 19:42, the sealed file cabinet was opened."

"The card swipe wasn't Nora."

I tightened my grip on the phone.

The next second, a door access screenshot appeared on my screen.