Samuel’s warning.
Lena crouched beside her in the aisle.
Then Maya closed the folder and pushed it back.
“No.”
Douglas’s expression cooled.
“I’m sorry?”
“No. I will not sign your NDA.”
“I will not ask anyone to remove evidence.”
“And I will not let you call this small.”
The legal officer leaned forward.
“Miss Williams, before you reject this offer, you should know that once public allegations escalate, the company will need to protect itself.”
Maya almost smiled.
“You are still doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Threatening me politely.”
Douglas looked impatient now.
“Miss Williams, what exactly do you want?”
Maya looked at the screen full of board members.
Then at Douglas.
“I want the truth put on the table before I decide what happens at 9:00 a.m.”
Douglas frowned.
“What happens at nine?”
Maya did not answer yet.
Instead, she took her tablet from her bag and placed it facedown beside the closed folder.
“Call your full board,” she said.
“Call legal.”
“Call investor relations.”
“Call whoever was planning to celebrate tomorrow’s signing.”
Douglas stared at her.
“They are already here.”
“Good.”
Maya’s phone buzzed.
Naomi had arrived in the virtual waiting room with counsel.
Maya looked at Douglas.
“Then let’s begin properly.”
Three months later, Maya Williams boarded another Crestline Airways flight.
This time, there were no cameras waiting at the gate.
No Corporate Security officers in dark suits.
No emergency phone calls from Naomi.
No passengers whispering her name from a viral video.
Just the ordinary noise of an afternoon flight from New York to Atlanta.
Rolling suitcases.
Boarding groups.
Tired parents.
Business travelers.
A grandfather trying to fit a gift bag into the overhead bin without crushing it.
Maya stood in the jet bridge for one quiet second before stepping onto the aircraft.
She had not flown Crestline since Flight 608.
The airline had asked her to return sooner.
Quietly.
Privately.
With photographers if she wanted.
With executives if she preferred.
She had refused all of it.
She did not want a staged apology.
She did not want a smiling chairman beside her seat.
She wanted to see whether the system worked when no one important was performing for a camera.
The flight attendant at the door looked at her boarding pass and smiled.
“Good afternoon, Miss Williams. Welcome aboard.”
Maya watched her face carefully.
The smile was professional, but not stiff.
The greeting was simple.
No flinch.
No panic.
No overdone apology.