Chapter 254. Rebuilding the Board

The Rogers Industries boardroom is exorcised. This is the handiwork of Anton himself. Evelyn's sleek, modern chair is gone, replaced by another that is very similar but for a slightly different, warmer leather color. His father's portrait is moved to the corporate archive—a relic of the past, not a presence that haunts the future. The atmosphere is different altogether—it is cleansed of the ancient aroma of power and fear and is redolent only of wood polish and hot coffee.

The ghosts of the past were not so easilyिजdismissed, however. They hung in the empty seats of power and in the memories of unanimous votes that had in truth been frauds. And then there was the chill knowledge that the very top of his empire had been reduced to an empty form by trickery. Behind the reconstruction that was to follow would not merely be better-appointed seats but also a fresh compact.

And the high priestess was Sabatine.

Now she stood at the head of the table, not as a visitor or an adviser, but as Anton’s ultimate authority. In front of her was a pile of dossiers, high as ancient tomes. On the wall behind her, a complex web of connections, financing, and psychological analysis was displayed on the wall screen.

“Candidate Seven,” she said coolly, “Maya Chen. Former CFO of Veridian Tech, resigned for whistleblowing on creative accounting practices. pristine record on the financial front eighteen years prior. Pros: Committed integrity. Willingness to sacrifice her own career for what she believes in. In-depth Gauteng Market awareness, which is a huge requirement for us because that is the primary marketplace involved here.

Leaning forward, he read the summary of the dossier. "Cons?"

"This led to a non-disclosure settlement. The terms are under seal, but my sources say there was considerable pressure, threats to her loved ones. The damage is recent. She may be risk-averse to the point of paralysis, or she may be a grenade with the pin already pulled." Sabatine touched the screen, and a network map appeared. "Her brother is a mid-level executive at Daedalus Systems."

A rival. Not a deal breaker, necessarily, but a string that could be pulled. “And the psychological eval?”

"Guarded. Trust systems, not people. Rules as a guard against the chaos that lies beyond them. In many ways, she is a reflection of what you once were, before Geneva." Her gaze locked with his. "The question is, do we want that kind of reflection on our board, or do we want someone who has also discovered what you've discovered—that rules sometimes need to be bent for the greater good?"

It was the heart of every evaluation. Integrity was the benchmark, the non-negotiable. But Sabatine sensed more than this: the quality of being able to withstand and adjust to the grays their world always posed. This applicant represented potential allies in the war still being waged, not merely caretakers for the peace times.

“Next,” Anton said, making a note.

“Candidate Twelve. Elijah Jones. Managed sustainable technology projects for a European conglomerate. Resigned after the division was decimated for a quick fix to boost stock price. Strengths: Visionary. Leadership skills. Aligned with the new brand you are trying to create: transparency and legacy.”

“Cons

"He did a TED Talk called ‘Capitalism with a Conscience is Not an Oxymoron.’ It has three million views," Sabatine said sarcastically. "His name is Logan Sutton. They call him the mill

Anton raised an eyebrow. “And how is that a con?” “Because it puts him at risk. A visible, outspoken idealist. Our enemies—the ones who transmitted the encrypted package, the followers of Evelyn's network—would recognize him as a weakness. A weakness they can use to attack us through our ideals. They might attempt to corrupt him or engineer a scandal that would cause him—and, by proxy, our new ideals—to appear hypocritical.” She zoomed in on a corner of the flowchart where his charitable connections were highlighted. “He's also politically engaged in complicated ways that are good-natured but complicated.” "So you're saying he has integrity, but his integrity is too loud?" Anton pondered. “I’m saying his integrity is a beacon. Beacons attract ships. They also attract moths, predators. We have to make up our minds whether we are prepared to defend the beacon.” She stopped talking. “Personally, I like him. He's the kind of future you say you want. But the future is an altogether different kind of country from the past, and a very dangerous one.” The days passed. They analyzed the backgrounds with the subtlety of forensics experts. The venture capital financier with spotless integrity and a gambling problem (which he vigorously denied, although Sabatine had his sources in Macau who reported otherwise). The ex-ambassador with world influence and a record of too often compromising with tyrannical governments. Every candidate had his moral complexities, his dark as well as his light sides, and these Sabatine exposed with a ruthless, necessary insight. This was her battlefield now. No dark corners, but financial statements and biographies. Her instrument of choice was no gun, but a prying, piercing, and dogged search for truth. Anton watched her, this woman who had lived in the shadows, now basking in the light of examination. She was reconstructing his reality, turning it inside out, and it was a trust unlike any other. “And then I had this one guy, perfect on paper, but his energy was such that he needed external validation, and I’m like, ‘Wow, this guy needs a lot of external validation.’”

     Anton rubbed his temples at one point. “Impossible. People who are pure and practical, idealistic and iron-willed… What I’m looking for are people who are already damaged, already have a defined sense of purpose and a sense of the Sabatine paused and looked up from the dossier in her hand. Her harsh expression softened.

     “You're not searching for superheroes, Anton." She smiled slightly.

     “You're searching for human beings. For individuals who've been battered by the wrong thing and have still taken the correct course anyhow. Maya Chen is one such individual.

     "Elijah Jones is one such individual.

   “And… and us." “It’s made of good people who never wanted to compromise to get along,” she said firmly to her husband. “It’s made of good people who learned the price of compromise and decided it was too dear to pay.”

The words stilled the roiling in his stomach. She was right. It wasn’t a board of saints that was being created. It was a board of survivors. People who appreciated the price of compromise because "The final candidate," Sabatine whispered, lowering her voice ever so slightly. "A personal recommendation. From me." It was definitely not what Anton was used to. Anton stood up straight “General Aris Thorne. Retired, British Army Intelligence. My. former commanding officer on the Al-Rashid op.” The air evacuated the room. That name was a minefield in their past. 

The man who had issued the fateful directive. The man whose intelligence mistake had resulted in the death of civilians and continued to haunt Sabatine. “Sabe,” Anton began, with a warning struggling against curiosity. “Let me tell you,” she said, her eyes steady, a flash of hurt from long ago pulsating briefly in their depths. 

“He accepted full blame for Al-Rashid. Resigned from his commission. Not gracefully, no. Publicly. The past five years running a nonprofit disassembling cyberweapons in conflict zones. The older generation hates him, the young generation worships him. He knows the digital battlefield like no one else alive. His character. has been tempered in the hottest fire there is. The scars he has? We share them. But he did not break. Redirected himself, yes. That’s when I knew I wanted him. That’s when I knew I’d do anything to keep him.” She was pleading on behalf of the architect of her trauma. The raw, daring chutzpah of it left Anton breathless. This was her process of healing. Not forgetting but-transforming. “Can you work with him?” Anton asked quietly. 

“Truly?” She inhaled deeply. “I think we need him. With the encrypted package, the Dubai connection … This is turning into a shadow war. We require someone familiar with the playbook of espionage by nations and corporations. A man who can call the next shot. And,” she concluded, her expression fixed, “I need to be sure that my past, that the ghosts, can be put to rest by being confronted, not avoided. Having him here, doing good, would be a step towards that.” 

Anton’s gaze drifted from her determined face to the severe, dignified image of Thorne now on the screen. A man broken and remade. A weapon turned to a tool for peace. This was the most powerful statement of their new direction that could have been made. 

He stood up and went to the window, gazing out over the city. He was no longer making appointments to a board. He was creating a legacy. A legacy of redemption, of resilience, of brutally honest storytelling. 

He turned back to her. “Schedule a meeting with Thorne. You and me, together. As for Chen and Jones. make the offers. We’ll take the cautious truth-teller and the idealistic beacon. And we’ll protect them.” He let a small, sharp smile appear. “We do, after all, have the best Head of Security in the world.” 

There was a genuine smile, a smile of profound relief and shared purpose, on Sabatine's face. It was the smile of a partner whose hard, necessary work was understood and appreciated. She nodded, closing the final file. 

The boardroom, once a place of secret betrayal, was now buzzing with the kind of energy that came with laying the foundation of something new, stone by deliberative stone. The rebuilding had begun. And, with Sabatine watching over them, Anton finally realized for the first time that it would last.

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