Chapter 1: An Unexpected Letter
Three months after the scholarship program launched, my assistant knocked gently on my office door.
"Claire," she said, "this arrived for you."
It was an ordinary white envelope.
No return address.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Claire,
You owe me nothing, and I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But before I leave this city forever, I wanted you to know the truth.
I knew Vanessa stole your work.
I helped hide it.
I was too afraid to lose my job.
I'm sorry.
—Thomas Reed
I folded the letter carefully.
It wasn't the first apology I had received.
It wouldn't be the last.
Truth had a strange way of freeing people years after lies had imprisoned them.
That afternoon, Adrian looked over the letter.
"Will you answer him?"
I smiled faintly.
"No."
"But I'll keep building the kind of company where no one has to choose between honesty and their paycheck."
May you like
Adrian nodded.
"That's a better reply than words."
