“Which one?”
“The story is everywhere.”
“That was rather inevitable.”
“Not this version.”
Naomi turned the screen toward her.
Iris read the first headline.
Then the second.
Then the third.
For several moments, she said nothing.
Finally, she pointed to a paragraph claiming that she had orchestrated the immediate seizure of Adrian’s personal assets.
“That’s nonsense.”
“Yes.”
“Who told them that?”
“Nobody had to.”
Iris looked at her.
Naomi closed the laptop.
“Once people believe they’ve watched a powerful family publicly destroy someone, they’ll invent the legal mechanisms themselves.”
Iris leaned back.
She had wanted the assembled investors and directors to understand that Adrian’s professional position was compromised by an ongoing investigation.
She had wanted the people who knew him personally to hear that their marriage had been built on deception.
She had not expected the entire story to escape into a world where strangers treated every rumour as an entertaining improvement on the truth.
Naomi watched her.
“We need a statement.”
Iris looked toward the garden.
“What kind?”
“A factual one. The company is investigating certain matters. No conclusions about criminal liability have been reached. Employment and contractual decisions will follow the appropriate processes.”
“And the marriage?”
“Your private decision.”
Iris nodded.
Naomi hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
Iris looked back.
“Adrian has retained solicitors.”
She was not surprised.
“Of course he has.”
“He’s alleging that the company suspended him to punish him for a private relationship.”
Iris looked down at her hands.
“And?”
“He’s also considering whether your speech damaged his reputation unlawfully.”
For a moment, Iris smiled.
It was not a happy expression.
“How very Adrian.”
Naomi did not smile.
“He’s entitled to challenge decisions affecting him.”
Iris looked at her.
“I know.”
“Good. Because if you start treating every legal objection he raises as another proof of his character, we’re going to have a difficult year.”
The words stung.
Iris wanted Naomi to agree that Adrian deserved everything happening to him.
Instead, her friend was doing what she had always done.
Separating what felt satisfying from what could be justified.
Iris looked toward the garden again.
“Then we’d better be precise.”
Adrian spent Sunday morning in a hotel suite overlooking Hyde Park.
He had left Halewick House shortly before midnight after an argument with Richard that ended only when a member of the security team asked them to lower their voices.
The older man had not shouted.
That made the confrontation worse.
Richard informed him that the board had acted on independent advice and that any professional or contractual dispute would be handled through established procedures.
He refused to discuss the affair.
When Adrian tried to explain, Richard looked at him with an expression of weary disgust.
“My daughter married you because she believed you loved her.”
Adrian stared.
“I did.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“Then I can’t imagine what you would have done if you hadn’t. Afterwards, Adrian returned to the ballroom looking for Iris.
She was gone.
He called.
No answer.
He sent a message.
Then another.
By morning, he had stopped.
Instead, he sat with his new solicitor, Martin Voss, a sharp-faced commercial litigator who had arrived carrying two folders and an expression of scepticism.
Martin listened while Adrian described the wedding.
He did not appear impressed.
When Adrian finished, the solicitor asked whether the allegations about company expenses were true.
Adrian shifted in his chair.
“Some of the charges were misallocated.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Approximately?”
Adrian looked away.
“We’d have to review them.”
Martin made a note.
“And the consultancy payments?”
“Legitimate.”
“All of them?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Martin looked up.
“Then documentation should establish that.”
Adrian nodded.
The solicitor continued.
“What is your objective?”
“To challenge the suspension.”
“That may be possible, depending on the circumstances and relevant agreements.”
“And to stop Iris damaging my reputation.”
Martin considered.
“She made several statements in front of a substantial audience. We’ll need the exact wording, context, and evidence supporting each allegation.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“She’s humiliated me in front of every investor I know.”
Martin watched him.
“Did you have the affair?”
Adrian went still.
The solicitor waited.
“Yes.”
“And did you use company funds for personal hotel stays?”
Adrian looked down.
“Some charges may have gone through the wrong account.”
Martin placed his pen on the table.
“Mr Mercer, I need you to understand something. My task is to protect your lawful interests. I cannot do that if you give me a version of events designed primarily to make you feel better.”
Adrian looked up sharply.
For years, he had paid people to solve problems.
He was not accustomed to paying someone who insisted on describing his failures.
Martin continued calmly.
“If you’re telling me that Whitmore Meridian has fabricated allegations, that’s one case. If you’re telling me some allegations are true but the company has acted unlawfully in response, that’s another. We need to know which.”
Adrian looked toward the window.
Traffic moved below.
He thought about Iris’s smile at the lectern.
The way she had stepped back when he approached.
The moment he’d realised she knew everything.
He felt an intense wave of humiliation.
Beneath it lay something he did not want to name.
Fear.
For the first time since joining Whitmore Meridian, he could no longer assume his professional future would continue upward.
He looked back at Martin.
“I want my career back.”
The solicitor nodded.
“Then we’d better start with the documents.”
Celia returned to her apartment shortly after midnight.
She had taken a car from Halewick House without waiting for Adrian.
During the journey, her phone rang eleven times.
Six calls from Adrian.
Three from a colleague.
Two from her mother.
