Page 108 of Knot Your Sunshine
I click the remote, and the first slide illuminates behind me: a screenshot of his data dump.
"When I reviewed the raw data you provided for the franchise test"—my gaze locks on Chadwick—"I found it to be chaotic. Unstandardized. Almost deliberately obscured."
His jaw tightens and his fingers stop their drumming.
"So I decided to focus on what I know best." Click. "People."
The screen fills with screenshots. Instagram posts with hundreds of comments. Five-star Google reviews that run paragraph after paragraph. Blog features with thousands of shares.
"I examined the actual customer experience." My finger traces toward the screen. "My locations consistently earn glowing reviews across every platform. But the franchisees you selected?" I pause, savoring the moment. "Their satisfaction ratings paint a rather different picture."
Click. Review after review fills the screen. "Satisfactory." "Adequate." "Fine." "Quick service." Each one three stars or less.
"That's quite a contrast, wouldn't you agree?" I tilt my head, studying Chadwick's increasingly rigid posture.
He scoffs, the sound sharp in the quiet room. "Anecdotal evidence means nothing in business metrics."
"Oh, I agree completely."
The smile that spreads across my face feels predatory, like I'm suddenly the big bad wolf in the room.
"Which is why I went directly to my franchisees and got their actual numbers."
A new slide appears. Clean data, devastating in its clarity.
"Second appointment booking rate: 89% versus your reported 24%." Each word drops slowly, deliberately. "Average ticket price: $87 compared to your reported $23. Product sales conversion: 34% against your laughable reported 8%."
I let the numbers hang in the air, watching them sink into Chadwick's increasingly flushed face.
"As you can see, my franchisees demonstrate remarkable profitability while earning stellar reviews. They're building sustainable businesses with loyal customer bases." I tilt my head slightly. "So I'm curious. If my franchisees are actually this profitable, why does your dashboard show them failing so spectacularly?"
His face now looks like someone spilled wine on it.
"Honestly, Chadwick." I meet his eyes directly. "I'm starting to question not just your methodology, but your integrity."
"How dare you?" The words explode from him. "I have an MBA from Harvard! A doctorate in economics from Stanford! What proof do we have that these numbers you're showing are even real?"
"I don't appreciate you questioning Ms. Everly's integrity." Noa's growl makes the windows seem to vibrate.
Chadwick's shoulders hunch, his voice dropping. "Mr. Hale, I'm not implying malicious intent. Perhaps the franchisees provided inaccurate data to make themselves look—"
"Actually." Josh's interruption cuts clean through.
He turns his laptop around, fingers flying across the keyboard.
"We did our own analysis. Mia's right. Your raw data was deliberately obfuscated, but once we cleaned it up..." Spreadsheet after spreadsheet fills his screen. "Same pattern. Her franchisees showing exceptional results, while yours are bleeding money."
He clicks to another tab. "And here's the interesting part: eighty-seven percent of the marketing budget went exclusivelyto your locations, which are vastly unprofitable. Mia's franchisees got the scraps and still outperformed yours."
Josh looks at Chadwick with cold precision. "Either you're incredibly incompetent despite your degrees… or you deliberately rigged this test."
"That's—that's preposterous!" Chadwick slams his hand on the table.
"These are your numbers we're using, man." Keanu leans forward, his usual warmth replaced by ice. "They had no reason to be presented in such a shady way unless you were hiding something."
Chadwick's mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. No sound emerges.
"You're fired." Noa stands slowly, towering over Chadwick even from across the table. "We'll be pursuing legal action for fraud. And even if the case doesn't stick for whatever reason, our network will ensure every potential client of yours knows exactly what kind of 'expert' they'd be hiring."
