Chapter 2 Frank gave me a week off.

But the very next day, the company called me in for the accident review meeting.

When I walked into the conference room, still injured, Cedric was already there.

Elena sat next to him, running her foot up and down the inside of his calf under the table.

Frank was furious. He slammed the accident report down on the table.

"Edwin Hart only flies regular aircraft. He hasn't been trained to fly in winter conditions yet.

"Who the hell signed off on him taking over this flight?"

Cedric glanced at me. He didn't hesitate for a second.

"Frank, I reported the shift swap ahead of time.

"As for what happened to Edwin, that's all on the tower for giving him the wrong instructions.

"If they'd bothered to read the swap notice, they would have given Edwin a safer route instead of sending him straight into the storm."

I was the one on duty that day, and no one had ever sent me anything about Cedric swapping shifts.

He pulled out a screenshot of a text thread, dated three days before the accident.

"I told Cassandra. I was only taking Elena on that trip for her birthday.

"If you ask me, Cassandra was jealous and lost control. She knew Edwin wasn't trained for those conditions, but she deliberately sent him into the danger zone anyway."

Elena's eyes reddened.

"Cassandra just warned me. She said as long as she's at this company, no woman is allowed anywhere near Cedric."

Elena kept chiming in to back him up, and then Cedric actually laid a psych evaluation on the table.

According to it, I showed signs of mental instability and an extreme need to control Cedric.

I clenched my fists. That evaluation had been doctored.

A few months ago, I'd been part of a rescue operation. Afterward, I struggled to sleep and often had nightmares.

It was Cedric who had gone with me to counseling.

"That's not what happened at all. I never received any notice about a shift swap."

The room was split.

Some of my coworkers wanted me suspended, while others questioned whether the screenshot was even real.

I slapped my phone down on the table.

"I never received any notice about the shift change. If you don't believe me, I'm willing to cooperate with any investigation."

A tech from IT quickly pulled the data off my phone. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "It's going to take some time to verify all this."

Frank thought it over for a long time before he finally gave his answer. "Until the results come back, Cassandra is suspended."

I had no choice but to hand over my ID badge. During the ten-minute break, Cedric dragged me aside.

"Cassandra, when you get the chance, tell them you did it. Say you were jealous and deliberately gave the pilot the wrong information."

Yesterday's crash was a major accident. Whoever was found at fault would never be allowed to work in this industry again.

"Cedric, if I confess, I won't be able to keep working here."

Everything Cedric said was about protecting himself.

"Once you sign it, the company will drop the matter. But if I admit I'm responsible, I'll never be allowed to fly again!

"Your family's loaded. It's not like you need the job.

"But it's different for me. If I can't be a pilot, I've got nothing!"

A helpless laugh escaped me.

Cedric kept switching between sweet-talking me and pressuring me. It was obvious he'd keep this up until I gave in.

"You've always wanted to marry me, haven't you, Cassandra?

"Take the fall for me and save my career, and I'll marry you in three months as planned. Otherwise, I'll marry Elena instead."

I hit record on the phone in my pocket.

"Fine. I'll think about it."

When I returned to the conference room, Edwin called from the hospital.

He was out of danger now.

"A few days ago, Cedric came to me. He pulled rank as the senior pilot and asked me to cover his flight."

Every now and then, pilots at the airline swapped shifts privately. But if anything ever went wrong, the company always made sure to get to the bottom of it.

In the end, Cedric got grounded too, while I stayed suspended pending the investigation.

As soon as I walked out of the conference room, I called my father's lawyer.

"Yesterday's accident has caused serious fallout. Are any of our shareholders looking to pull out?"

"Yes. A few of them are planning to sell some of their shares."

Once I had everything confirmed, I answered without hesitation.

"Good. However many shares they're selling, we'll buy them all.

"I'm going to be the airline's largest shareholder."