Kiana stood again. Her attorney remained beside her. "She told me to sign the approval pages, and I signed six even though I knew it was wrong. The rest were already prepared when I got there. She said by Friday everything would be blamed on Maya."
"You little traitor," Shenine hissed.
Kiana flinched but continued. "She said if I didn't finish, she would tell investigators I stole the prototype, and she reminded me about my mother's medicine. I should have refused before I signed anything. I reported it after I signed six pages. I am not asking anyone to pretend that was harmless. I'm telling you who ordered it and why I stopped."
One director leaned forward. "Do you have anything besides your testimony connecting the instruction to Ms. Moore?"
"I do," the independent investigator answered. "We have calendar entries, the room reservation, draft metadata, messages instructing Ms. Foster to complete approval sheets, and the originals preserved before the meeting. The forensic review remains open, but the evidence is consistent across multiple sources."
Shenine rose abruptly. "This is a setup. Ellen was pretending to be poor so she could catch me. Maya has been poisoning everyone against me. Kiana forged documents and is trying to save herself. You have no idea what I've done for this company."
Ellen looked at her. "Then explain the actual work. Name the people who performed it. Show the deliverables that justify the money. We will listen."
Shenine stared at the table. She had spent months filling rooms with words, and for once she could not find a sentence that changed the question. Jamal watched her carefully. He remembered her telling him she was the only person who really understood him, that people criticized her because they were jealous of his success, and that he had to prove his loyalty whenever she felt slighted.
The woman he had defended was now unable to explain the invoices she had demanded he approve.
"I did it for us," Shenine whispered to him. "I wanted to build something of my own. I thought once the launch succeeded, I could replace the money. You know how much pressure I've been under."
Jamal looked at the investigation folder. "You took company funds through your own vendor. You forged or procured false approvals. You tried to make Maya responsible."
"I love you," Shenine said, reaching for him. "Don't let them destroy me."
He moved his hand away. "You did this to yourself."
The words were quiet, but they were not a sudden transformation into wisdom. Jamal knew he had made himself useful to her deception. He had repeated her accusations, ignored people who contradicted her, and treated independent questions as threats to his authority. He could separate himself from Shenine personally without pretending he had no responsibility for what happened under his leadership.
Margaret called a recess while legal counsel prepared recommended actions. Shenine started toward the door, but stopped when Kiana walked past. She grabbed the younger woman's sleeve and pulled her back.
"You think you won?" Shenine whispered. "You are nothing without the job I gave you."
Kiana turned, startled. "Let go of me."