"If he's willing to speak with us, yes," she said. "We will contact him through an appropriate process, listen, and review what happened. I can't promise an outcome before we know the facts. I can promise that his account won't disappear into a folder marked resolved without anyone checking."
Gerald studied her. "That's better than last time," he said, and sat down.
Daniel had not intended to attend. He was a former employee and a shareholder whose role in the investigation was already controversial. But Frances asked if he would answer questions about Northstar's proposed financial support and the independent review of his own conduct. He agreed on the condition that he would not be given a special introduction. When he entered the training hall, Priya waved him toward an empty chair beside the back wall.
Some employees greeted him warmly. Others watched with visible suspicion. Daniel understood both reactions. He had arrived at Hale Meridian years earlier seeking a chance to understand the company without his wealth shaping every encounter. Now that hidden wealth had become the only thing some people could see.
Near the end of the forum, Priya stood and asked the question others had been circling. "Daniel, were we part of an experiment?"
The room went silent. Victoria remained beside the microphone, but Daniel approached from the back rather than letting her answer for him. He looked at Priya, the person who had stayed late with him to check invoices long before anyone suspected the figures mattered.
"I can see why it feels that way," he said. "I joined because I wanted to understand the operations of a company in which I had a financial interest. I worked under my real name and did the job I was hired to do. I didn't ask you to behave differently for me or report anything you didn't independently find. But I concealed how much influence I had outside the job, and that meant you couldn't decide for yourself how to feel about it. I owe you an apology for that."
Someone near the wall asked, "Did you know we'd be fired if we complained?"
"I knew people were afraid of retaliation. I did not know every case. I should have pushed harder for independent protection sooner."
"You could've saved jobs," another voice said.
Daniel nodded. "Perhaps I could have. I can't prove I would have succeeded, but I had more options than most people in this building. I am not going to pretend otherwise."
Priya watched him without smiling. "Then what are you going to do now?"
"Make sure the safeguards don't depend on whether I'm in the room," Daniel said. "If we improve anything, it needs to survive the day the powerful people are absent."
He explained the financing process in plain language. Northstar was offering capital under market-tested terms, subject to independent approvals. The shareholders would consider a plan to create a meaningful employee ownership program, but that plan required valuation work, legal structure, and a vote. He refused to promise overnight wealth or guaranteed bonuses. What he could promise was to support a proposal that gave long-term employees a real stake and transparent information about what that stake meant.