Page 114 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

An image came to the forefront of my mind, of myself sitting in the witness stand, being interrogated by some ruthless lawyer, my family looking glum in the courtroom gallery, Max and Veronica at the prosecution table wearing killer suits and killer glares.

"Oh?" Max said. "How so?"

"Well, first of all, I should tell you I put you on speaker, and I have Nina Morgan from HR in the room with me as well as Cordelia Dole aka Annalise Stratton."

Silence, dead silence, took over the room as we all waited to see what the great and powerful Max Sterling might say to that.

"Let me explain further," Veronica said before he could respond. "Annalise, with the help of Nina, has been operating under a false identity as Cordelia Dole. Fake name. Fake credentials."

"Ah, I see," Max said. "And how did you come to learn this?"

"She confessed it to me directly," Veronica said, looking pointedly at me. "It's a fireable offense. And I'd like to terminate both of them, effective immediately."

Nina let out a small, involuntary sound next to me, and I glanced over, guilt twisting in my chest. The fact that she was such a kind soul and would suffer serious repercussions because of something I did made me want to break down and cry.

"Again," I spoke up, desperation giving me courage. "Please don't blame Nina. This was entirely my doing, one-hundred percent my fault."

Veronica's expression remained impassive. "Annalise, the use of a false identity is a serious offense. And if Nina knowingly accepted fake documents, or even worse, fabricated them herself, that's a major violation of company policyandfederal law. This could lead to penalties for tax fraud or falsifying employment records, not to mention how it would affect our impeccable reputation."

I gulped like a five-year-old facing a spanking.

"Veronica," Max spoke up, his tone calm but firm, "I'd like us to take a closer look at Nina's role here. When I went undercover at Insight, Nina was my main support. Her record with the company is spotless, and she's always shown good judgment. It's possible she acted out of compassion for Annalise without realizing the full extent of the situation."

Veronica hesitated, all of us focused intently as Max continued, their corporate speak making everything even worse somehow.

"If she was unaware of the deception and believed the documents were legitimate, this is more a case of misjudgment, not intentional negligence. And as we all know, HR responsibilities are challenging—especially when someone intentionally conceals their identity."

Nina had indeed helped me a bit, but I was going to keep that part to myself. She made a movement beside me, and I shot her a look, a look that hopefully said to not say a word. If I lost this job, I would hardly be destitute. But my privileged situation was extremely rare, and I highly doubted that Nina was in the same boat as me.

"So where does that leave us?" Veronica asked.

I sat up straighter as Max cleared his throat. This was it. Judgment day. Never thought I'd face the music from fucking Max Sterling, the guy I'd given head to just a short time ago. Jesus Christ, what had my life become?

Thirty

Annalise

"Annalise," Max said sternly, "if you're willing to state clearly that Nina didn't create any false documents and that she wasn't aware of the deception, it would help clear up her role in all of this. We could think about additional training for HR on document verification to prevent this from happening again, but I don't think this mistake should end Nina's career here."

Veronica considered this, then nodded slightly. "So you're suggesting additional training for Nina instead of termination?"

"Yes. Exactly. Her record is otherwise flawless, and I'd hate to lose a reliable team member over a single, isolated incident—especially when the primary responsibility falls on Annalise's shoulders."

And now I was truly getting spanked here. But at the same time, I was immensely relieved that Nina would be spared and not even get a reprimand.

"Okay. Nina, you can leave now. We'll work on a training session for next week."

"Thank you, Nina," Max said from the speaker. "From now on, I'd like to be the only one who goes undercover at any of my companies."

It was a much-needed moment of levity that made Nina laugh a little as she shot me a relieved look.

"Thank you," she mouthed, touching my shoulder as she walked past and exited the office.

The air in the room turned even more stifling as the door closed behind her with a soft thud—a sound that stood in stark contrast to the chaos raging in my head and heart.

Veronica pursed her lips as she considered me. "So, Annalise, you're willing to take full responsibility for the deception and state that Nina wasn't involved in any fraudulent documentation?"

"I am. I take full responsibility."

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