Chapter 9 - The red folder
The secondary archive could not simply be opened and played in court.
Evidence had to be handled properly.
Authenticated.
Preserved.
Reviewed.
Richard’s attorneys demanded procedure.
For once, I agreed with them.
I wanted no shortcuts.
No accusations based on corrupted files.
No revenge disguised as justice.
Richard had survived for years by claiming I was irrational.
I would give him nothing irrational to point toward.
Then something else emerged.
Not from the hidden archive.
From Vance Meridian.
A former systems administrator named Noah Grant contacted Arthur.
He had seen news of the contentious hearing through industry contacts.
Noah had worked under me.
After Richard pushed me out, Noah was fired.
Before leaving, he had preserved internal compliance emails because he feared he would be blamed for unauthorized system changes.
Arthur asked:
“What changes?”
Noah answered:
“Executive identity profiles.”
My name was one of them.
My corporate digital identity had been duplicated.
Authentication certificates.
Signature templates.
Authorization tokens.
Richard’s people had effectively created a shadow version of me inside company systems.
Digital Evelyn could approve transactions.
Real Evelyn knew nothing.
That explained the transfers.
The board votes.
The documents.
Possibly even portions of the psychiatric paper trail.
Then Noah mentioned a project name.
RED FOLDER.
Richard slammed his fist against the table.
“No.”
Arthur looked at him.
Richard immediately realized his mistake.
Noah continued.
Red Folder was an internal contingency system.
It contained compromising information on executives, employees, vendors, and business partners.
Material Richard could allegedly use when someone resisted him.
Emails.
Financial weaknesses.
Private disputes.
Embarrassing personal information.
Not all illegal.
Not all even meaningful.
But enough to intimidate.
My name had the largest file.
I asked Noah:
“What was in mine?”
He hesitated.
“Medical records.”
My chest tightened.
“Photographs.”
Arthur looked at me.
“And?”
Noah swallowed.
“Videos.”
Richard stood.
“I WANT THIS HEARING STOPPED!”
Judge Hayes ordered him down.
Then Noah said something that silenced everyone.
“Evelyn wasn’t the only spouse.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“There were other files.”
“Whose?”
“Executives’ wives. Former partners. Employees.”
Arthur’s expression hardened.
May you like
The case was expanding beyond me.
And Richard knew it.
