David answered:
I went where the policy says to go.
Marco:
You could have destroyed the refinancing.
David:
Then the refinancing depended on numbers we should not have been using.
I stopped reading.
That sentence sounded familiar.
Alessandro’s family history had apparently spent years colliding with people who refused to soften inconvenient facts.
Samuel Reed.
David.
Maybe others.
The next
emails became more strained.
Marco accused David of disloyalty.
David accused Marco of treating the division like a personal reputation project.
Neither behaved perfectly.
David wrote one message while angry that crossed a professional line.
Marco responded by suspending him.
Then the altered freight invoices appeared under David’s credentials.
The forensic audit later proved Marco had reassigned those costs himself.
Not to steal.
To hide the losses and safety expenses until refinancing closed.
He then let suspicion fall on David because admitting what he had done meant admitting David’s original warning was right.
Cowardice.
Professional.
Human.
Damaging.
Then came the final email.
Sent by Marco two days before his car accident.
David,
I reviewed the maintenance records myself.
You were right.
I moved the costs because I thought I could fix the fleet after refinancing and then correct everything quietly.
When compliance asked about the invoice edits, I panicked.
I
let them believe you did it.
I told myself it bought me time.
It didn’t.
I am going to tell Victoria and Alessandro.
I also need to correct your suspension and back pay.
You have every reason not to trust me.
I am asking for forty-eight hours.
If I lose my nerve, show Elena the file.
She deserves to know why you were really fired.
I stared at that sentence.
Why Elena?
Priya pointed to the attachment.
Another note.
Marco had apparently met me once.
I did not remember.
Then I did.
A company holiday dinner.
David took me.
Marco shook my hand for maybe ten seconds.
That was all.
His note to David explained:
You keep talking about leaving because you think Elena will eventually realize you are a failure.
Stop using my mistake as evidence for your worst opinion of yourself.
Tell her what happened.
I nearly laughed.
Marco Duca, the man who had blamed David for his own failure, had apparently understood David’s shame before either of them learned how to handle it.
My attorney waited.
“What do you think?”
“I think they were both idiots.”
David’s attorney smiled despite himself.
“Legally precise.”
“I think Marco owed David correction.”
“Yes.”
“I think David still chose to leave me.”
“Yes.”
“I think getting fired unfairly explains why he was scared.”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t explain ten months of silence.”
“No.”
Good.
The truth stayed proportioned.
That mattered.
“Why
did David keep this?”
“According to him, at first he wanted to use it against the Ducas.”
“Then?”
“He was angry.”
