Chapter 4 - The Complaint Before Morning.
Elizabeth read the complaint twice while standing beneath the hotel awning in the cold midnight air.
Daniel had filed it seven minutes after Arthur Hale announced the audit.
Seven minutes.
That meant he had not gone home, spoken to counsel, or taken time to think.
He had moved against her while she was still inside the ballroom trying to understand what had happened.
Maya read the message over Elizabeth's shoulder.
"That is not normal compliance procedure."
"He wants the record to say I took his work."
"It looks that way."
A black sedan pulled toward the curb.
Arthur Hale stepped out of the hotel before Elizabeth could get in.
"Ms. Monroe."
Elizabeth turned.
Arthur noticed the email on her phone.
"You received it."
"You knew?"
"Security copied the audit committee because Northstar is already under preservation review."
Elizabeth held out the screen.
"He filed this tonight."
"Yes."
"Can he do that?"
"Anyone can file a complaint."
Arthur's voice remained measured.
"That does not make it true."
Daniel and Vivian emerged from the hotel.
Daniel stopped when he saw Arthur standing with Elizabeth.
Vivian did not.
She approached with the confidence of someone who believed repeating a story often enough could turn it into fact.
"Arthur, surely you can see what she is doing now."
Arthur looked at her.
"What exactly is she doing?"
"Trying to take credit for Daniel's work because their relationship is falling apart."
Elizabeth felt a wave of disbelief.
"Your son filed the complaint after the audit was announced."
Vivian turned to her.
"Because he finally realized how far you would go."
Elizabeth almost answered.
Arthur raised one hand slightly.
"No more arguments tonight."
He looked toward Daniel.
"The committee will review both claims in the morning."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"I want independent counsel present."
"You will have it."
"And I want Elizabeth barred from company property."
Arthur paused.
"You are in no position to make that request."
Daniel's face reddened.
"I'm still regional strategy director."
Arthur's reply was quiet.
"For tonight."
Vivian stepped forward.
"Is that a threat?"
"No."
Arthur met Daniel's eyes.
"It is a reminder that titles are reviewed by boards, not inherited from mothers."
Maya looked down quickly to hide her reaction.
Elizabeth did not.
For the first time that night, Vivian had no immediate reply.
Arthur turned back to Elizabeth.
"Do you have the original Northstar notes?"
"Most of them."
"Where?"
"At Daniel's apartment."
Daniel's head lifted.
Elizabeth immediately regretted saying it aloud.
Arthur noticed.
"Do not retrieve them tonight."
"They belong to me."
"I know."
"Then I need them before the review."
Arthur considered that.
"Go in the morning with building security or a neutral witness."
Daniel laughed once without humor.
"This is unbelievable."
Elizabeth looked at him.
"What part?"
He stared at her.
"You turning my company against me."
"Your company?"
Arthur did not bother correcting him.
The sedan driver opened the rear door.
Elizabeth declined Arthur's offer of a ride and ordered her own car.
She spent the night at Maya's apartment because she did not want Daniel knowing where she was.
At five twelve in the morning, Elizabeth woke on Maya's couch with the same thought that had followed her into sleep.
The notebook.
She kept one black leather notebook separate from the others.
It contained the earliest Northstar calculations, handwritten dates, meeting notes, and the first version of the retention model.
More importantly, it contained a page Daniel had once laughed about.
Elizabeth had written the project's name across the top months before the company began using it officially.
PROJECT NORTHSTAR.
Below it, she had listed the four principles that later became the center of Daniel's award-winning presentation.
At seven, Maya drove her to Daniel's apartment building.
A building manager accompanied them upstairs.
Elizabeth used her own key.
The apartment was silent.
Daniel had not returned.
Her clothes were still in the closet.
Her laptop bag remained beside the desk.
The stack of notebooks sat on the bookshelf.
Blue.
Gray.
Green.
No black notebook.
Elizabeth searched the desk.
Then the kitchen shelf.
Then the drawer where Daniel kept spare chargers and passports.
Nothing.
Maya watched from the doorway.
"Are you sure it was here?"
"Absolutely."
Elizabeth opened the cabinet beneath the television where she sometimes stored project folders.
A white envelope fell forward.
Her name was written across it in Daniel's handwriting.
ELIZABETH.
She opened it.
Inside was a printed copy of the disputed rights statement.
The one bearing the signature she had never given.
A yellow sticky note was attached.
Vivian's handwriting was unmistakable.
MAKE SURE SHE DOESN'T SEE THE FINAL PAGE.
Elizabeth stared at the note.
Maya whispered behind her.
"Take a picture."
Elizabeth did.
Then she turned the document over.
The final page was missing.
A sound came from the hallway.
May you like
The apartment door opened.
Daniel stepped inside holding the black leather notebook in his hand.
