Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 144

Chapter 14

I paused, letting the weight of my words sink in, watching the way their expressions shifted as the realization began to dawn.

“He could choose to withdraw his funding from Helix,” I said. “And when that happens, we all suffer the consequences. This laboratory shuts down. Every single person in this room loses their job. The research we have been working on for years goes down the drain. All because someone wanted to get a few likes and shares on social media.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd. People exchanged nervous glances.

“But it is not just about Helix,” I added, my voice dropping to a more serious tone. “Mr. Ford could come after the individuals who shared those videos. The ones whose phones recorded the footage. He has more money than all of you and some of the best lawyers in the world. None of you would survive a lawsuit where he is the plaintiff. Even if you were the plaintiff, you would still not survive. And the fines the court would impose for sharing defamatory content against a man of his stature? You would be paying them off for the rest of your lives.”

The room was dead silent. I could see the color draining from some of their faces, could see the way their hands instinctively moved to their pockets, their phones suddenly feeling like lead weights instead of convenient devices.

“I am not threatening you,” I said, softening my voice slightly. “I am warning you. As a colleague. As someone who does not want to see any of you ruin your lives over a moment of entertainment. Delete the videos. All of them. And make sure they never see the light of day.”

For a moment, no one moved. And then, one by one, they pulled out their phones. They scrolled through their galleries. They pressed delete. Some of them even showed me their screens to prove that the footage was gone. Others just nodded and slipped their phones back into their pockets, murmuring words of thanks as they turned away.

“Thank you, Mrs. Fisher,” someone said. “You saved us from making a grave mistake.”

“Thank you for looking out for us.”

“We would have ruined our lives without knowing it.”

I smiled and nodded, accepting their gratitude with grace, and then I turned and walked toward my private office. The door clicked shut behind me and I let out a long, slow breath, the tension of the morning finally beginning to ease from my shoulders. I walked around my desk and was about to lower myself into my chair when I heard the door open behind me.

I turned to see who it was but right at that moment, Pat rushed forward and pulled me into a warm, tight hug.

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