Part 3
Dad grabbed the back of a chair.
“What file?” he asked, though his expression showed he already knew.
I placed my phone on the table.
“The one your company submitted last month,” I said. “The one listing a retired Navy consultant who never existed. The one using language copied from restricted procurement guidance.”
Nathan became completely still.
Caroline whispered, “Dad?”
My father glanced around the room, searching for someone to defend him.
No one did.
Even Mom now looked frightened of him.
“I didn’t know it was restricted,” he said.
“That is why I recused myself from the review and sent it to ethics,” I replied. “Weeks ago.”
His mouth fell open.
For the first time, he understood that my distance from the family had never meant I was insignificant.
I had been protecting my integrity from people who viewed it as something they could use.
Nathan quietly removed the ring from Caroline’s finger himself.
There was no shouting.
No dramatic scene.
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