Chapter 8 - The Exposure
The operating room doors swung shut with a clinical, metallic hiss, sealing away the chaos of the hallway. Inside, the air was sharp with the scent of sterile integrity. I wasn't allowed in the room—protocol demanded it—but I stood against the glass viewing window, my eyes locked on Grace.
Outside in the corridor, the scene had devolved into a masterclass in corporate cannibalism. The board of directors, now fully aware that the live-streamed evidence I had pushed to the news outlets was irrefutable, had turned on Julian with the ferocity of wolves.
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Julian stood near the elevator, his tailored suit jacket crumpled, his face a mask of shock as his own hand-picked Chief of Staff handed him a termination letter. The cameras were everywhere, recording his every twitch. He looked toward the viewing window, catching my eye for one last time. He opened his mouth to shout, to threaten, to lash out—but the security team he had once paid to protect him now stepped forward, their faces stone-cold, escorting him toward the service elevator to be processed by the authorities.
I didn't watch him go. I kept my gaze on the surgical team. I saw the lead surgeon—a woman I had vetted weeks ago, one of the few doctors Julian hadn't been able to buy—nod toward me through the glass. She was going to save them both. The empire was gone, the man was in cuffs, and the truth was being broadcast to every living room in the country.
