A voice cut through the room from the doorway. The door swung open, and a man in a tailored suit walked in. He was holding a document, wearing the smile of someone who'd already won.
Bob, my oldest friend, the company's head of legal.
My first thought was that he'd come to help me. "Bob—" I started to speak.
He walked straight past me without slowing down and stopped at Laura's side. He handed the document to Marta. "Have him sign this one." Bob tilted his chin toward me. "Along with the stock transfer, he needs to hand over the factory outside of town, too."
I stood there like someone had cracked me across the skull. My vision went white at the edges.
Bob, my closest friend for decades. Back when his parents couldn't afford his tuition and he was about to drop out of high school, I'd handed him my entire month's living expenses, ate nothing but plain bread for two months so he could finish school. When the company finally got off the ground, he was the first person I brought in. I put him in charge of the legal department, gave him the highest salary, made sure his workload was easy. He was single, so I bought him an apartment. Whatever car he wanted, I got it. Whenever his family hit trouble, I handed over cash, no questions asked. I'd believed that no matter who else betrayed me, he never would.
And here he was, standing next to Laura, asking for my factory.
I found myself thinking back to that trial. After Laura's accusation, I'd gone looking for a lawyer, but by then my name was mud. Nobody would touch a case with a rapist attached to it. Bob was the only one who stepped forward. He took my case while everyone else turned their backs on him for doing it. He argued for me in court. He fought hard enough to get my sentence reduced. The day of the verdict, he clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, "Andre, three years goes fast. When you're out, we'll start fresh." During those three years inside, he came every single month: brought cigarettes, food, news from the outside. I thought that was what a real friend looked like.
But now... I snapped my head up. My eyes were bloodshot. "Bob, the evidence in my case back then... you tampered with it, didn't you?"
Bob paused for a fraction of a second. Then a cold smile spread across his face. "You're only figuring that out now?" He raised an eyebrow. "Too late."
I clenched my fist and slammed it down on the desk. The impact sent papers jumping across the surface.