جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 67

The knock came just after nine at night. Eve had been sitting on the couch in the dark apartment with only the city lights coming through the windows. She hadn’t turned on most of the lamps. The quiet had started to feel thick after two full days alone. When the knock sounded she froze for a second, then stood and walked to the door. She didn’t open it right away. “Who is it?” “Cole.” She unlocked the electronic bolt and stepped back. Cole came in alone. He closed the door behind him and checked the lock without being asked. He looked the same as he always did — controlled, closed off, like he was measuring the room the second he entered it. “Richard sent me,” he said. “Sit down.” Eve went back to the couch. Cole stayed on his feet for a moment, then took the chair across from her. The apartment felt smaller with him in it. “The review is moving faster than he wanted,” Cole said. “Outside counsel wants a follow-up statement from you. Not at the house. Here. Lena Voss will com

The second leave hit the house before breakfast was even finished. Richard came out of the study with his phone still in his hand and the same closed look he’d been wearing for days. He didn’t sit down. He just stood at the head of the table where Grant, Cole, Sloane, and Eve were already present under the current rules and delivered it straight. “Another temporary leave went through overnight,” he said. “Closer to the center this time. The board is not slowing down. Outside counsel wants additional statements from everyone directly connected to the exposure, including the two of you.” He looked at Grant and Cole when he said it. “I’ve pushed back on timing, but I can’t block the requests entirely. They’ll come here or the statements will be taken off-site. Either way, it happens.” No one spoke for a few seconds. Grant set his cup down harder than necessary. “They’re coming for us now.” “They’re coming for the exposure,” Richard said. “You’re part of it. So is everyone at this t

Grant left the house early. Eve heard the front door close just after seven. She was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed in the half-light, listening to the house settle around the absence. No one announced it. No one needed to. Everyone knew where he was going. Richard stayed in the study. Cole maintained the watch with the same quiet consistency as always, but the silence around him felt thicker. Sloane kept to her room for most of the morning. The usual low-level tension in the house had sharpened into something more specific: waiting for the first of the sons to sit in a formal room and answer questions under the same process that had already taken statements from the women and produced the leaves. Eve went downstairs around mid-morning because staying in the room only made the waiting louder. Cole was near the kitchen when she entered. He looked at her, registered her presence, and said nothing. She poured coffee she didn’t want and stood at the counter drinking it

The decision came through late the next afternoon.Eve knew it was different the moment Richard’s study door opened harder than usual and his voice carried into the hallway without the usual controlled filter. She was in the living room when Grant and Cole both appeared within a minute of each other, summoned without explanation. Sloane came down the stairs a few seconds later. Whatever had arrived, it required everyone.Richard stood behind the desk with a printed page in his hand and the tightest expression Eve had seen on him since the review began.“The board has issued its first formal set of interim measures,” he said. He didn’t sit. “Effective immediately. Temporary leave is extended to additional senior parties connected to the exposure. That includes me.”The room went still.Grant was the first to speak. “They’re putting you on leave.”“Yes.” Richard’s voice stayed flat. “Outside counsel recommended it. The board accepted the recommendation. I retain limited authority to man