Rachel nodded approvingly. “Keep watching.”
When they reconvened, the gap hadn’t narrowed. Beatrice guided them through another round of proposals, and Miller could see the frustration bunching up in Valerie’s shoulders and the evenness hardening in Gerald’s voice.
And next to Gerald, Astoria remained unchanged, her face still unreadable.
Then, Gerald made a mistake.
It was small, a reference to a timeline that didn’t match the documents she’d memorized. Gerald placed Valerie’s departure from the acquisition team in early March, but the internal memos Valerie had given them had shown her leading the Harbor Point negotiations well into April.
Miller glanced at Rachel, who gave a tiny nod.
“If I may,” Miller said, her voice cutting into the exchange.
Astoria’s gaze shifted to her. It was the first time those gray-blue eyes had focused on Miller specifically, and the weight of that attention was heavier than she’d anticipated.
Miller didn’t flinch. “Mr. Bracks, you referenced early March as when Ms. Shepry-Dane stepped back from the acquisition team, but the internal memos we received in discovery show her leading the Harbor Point negotiations through mid-April.” Sheflipped to the relevant page and slid it across the table. “That's six weeks of documented strategic involvement after the date you cited.”
Gerald didn’t fluster. He reached into his own folder, produced a document, and slid it beside hers. "The company's project management records show Ms. Shepry-Dane's last logged involvement with Harbor Point as March third. She attended no meetings after that date and was copied on no correspondence."
Miller looked at the two documents side by side. The dates didn’t match, neither did the signatures, which meant one of these records was wrong.
“It seems,” Beatrice said slowly, “that there’s a discrepancy in the documentation.”
“So it seems,” Gerald agreed, his tone mild.
Miller kept her face neutral, but something cold slid through her stomach. She’d reviewed Valerie’s files thoroughly and had taken them as fact, but looking at the document Gerald had produced—the clean formatting, the systematic dating, the project management stamps—it didn’t look fabricated. On the contrary, it looked like exactly the kind of meticulous record-keeping a company like Shepry Global would maintain.
Which meant either Gerald’s side had doctored evidence, or?—
She didn’t finish the thought.
Astoria picked up both documents and studied them as if she were dismantling the text word by word. When she looked up, she met Miller’s gaze directly. “Ms. Scott.” Her voice was lower than Miller had expected. “I’d be very interested to know the provenance of your version. Who provided it and when?”
It was a direct challenge for Miller, as if Rachel or the mediator weren’t even in the room.
Miller met her gaze. “Discovery documents are discovery documents, Ms. Shepry. I’m sure your team is as interested in accuracy as we are.”
Astoria tilted her head a fraction of an inch, the way someone might when a minor player suddenly becomes interesting. “Accuracy,” she repeated. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m interested in.”
“Then I’m sure we can resolve the discrepancy,” Miller said, holding her ground even as her mind raced with explanations: a clerical error or version control problem or something else easily explainable.
Gerald cleared his throat. "Perhaps this is something both teams can investigate before the next session.”
“Agreed,” Rachel said, and the moment passed.
But…it hadn’t passed. Not really. Miller could feel it stirring in her chest, that cold uncertainty and question she wasn’t ready to ask.
The mediation continued for another forty minutes, but the dynamic had shifted. When Gerald spoke, Miller found herself listening differently, searching for other inconsistencies. When Rachel made a point, Miller felt Astoria’s gaze on her, as if waiting to see what else might not add up.
“The truth,” Astoria said quietly, almost to herself, during a lull. “Let’s hope someone’s interested in finding it.”
Miller couldn’t discern if it was aimed at her or not, and she couldn’t stop thinking about those two documents side by side. It should’ve been a strong showing. She’d spoken up and held her ground, determined to show she wasn’t intimidated by Astoria Shepry or her expensive lawyer. Yet she still felt off-balance in a way she couldn’t explain.
By four o’clock, Beatrice called it. “We’re not going to reach a resolution today. I’d encourage both parties to reviewwhat’s been discussed and consider whether there’s room for movement before we proceed to litigation.”
There wouldn’t be. Miller knew it, and from the set of Gerald’s jaw, he knew it too. This had been a mere formality, a required step before the real battle began.
They exchanged handshakes all around, and then, Astoria was in front of her.
