Chapter 4: The Woman in White
"She has no authority in this building."
Celeste addressed that to the directors and looked at me for the whole sentence.
Anneke Sørensen had cleared the atrium in nine minutes. The guests went out through the north doors with their coats over their arms; the reporters were walked to the lobby, where they immediately arranged themselves against the glass and went on filming. Staff rolled the acoustic partitions closed around the board table, which achieved very little except to make everyone inside them feel observed.
The crown was still on my sister's head. I don't think she had remembered it was there.
My father stood in the middle of the enclosure as though walls could return something to him.
"Evelyn has not worked at Sterling Biotech in five years," he said. "She is employed by a competitor and she has an obvious personal grievance."
"One of those is accurate," Julian said, coming through the partition.
Black dinner jacket, no tie, nothing whatsoever in his hands. Rhea Malik beside him with two document cases and the expression of a woman who bills for interruptions and is being interrupted.
Every director in that room knew Julian's face. Mercer Nova has spent seven years becoming the company Sterling executives claim not to track and check the filings of on Sunday nights. Smaller. Slower. Considerably harder to dismiss than it was.
Celeste laughed, and it came out with an edge on it.
"There he is. I did wonder how long we'd have to wait for the man funding her revenge."
Julian looked at me. Not at her.
"Would you like me to answer that?"
Four words, and they rearranged the room, and I don't think anyone else at that table understood why.
Nathan used to answer for me. It took me two years to notice he was doing it and another to work out that he did it fastest whenever the answer might have been inconvenient for him. My father still believes permission is a thing he issues after he's decided.
Julian asked, and then waited, and would have gone on waiting.
"Just confirm my position," I said.
He turned to the board.
"Dr. Evelyn Sterling is chief scientific officer of Mercer Nova Therapeutics. She was appointed eleven months ago following an independent review of her research record, commissioned by our board and conducted by people I do not employ. She directs our AURORA-adjacent programme under an external safety board with authority to halt it."
The table moved.
"AURORA-adjacent," Celeste repeated.
"We don't use names we don't own," Julian said, pleasantly.
Rhea set the first case on the table.
"I act for the Helena Research Trust. Not for Mercer Nova, not for Sterling Biotech, and not for Dr. Sterling personally. The trust authorized tonight's notices and I'll take questions about that and nothing else."
My father studied her. "The trust has used the same firm for eleven years."
"That firm resigned last month, over a conflict."
Nathan's attention came round. "What conflict?"
"Your office asked them to certify Sterling's ownership of rights they were unable to verify. They asked twice for the underlying documents. They were not provided. So they resigned."
Anneke put her hand out. Rhea gave her the authorization.
Celeste moved to stand at Nathan's shoulder. "This is staging. She found a rival chief executive, installed friendly counsel, and timed a regulatory notice to detonate on the night I was appointed."
"The agency chose the timing," Rhea said. "It has its own calendar and it is not sentimental about yours."
"And Mercer Nova collects the licence when Sterling loses it."
"A limited development licence is under independent review. Mr. Mercer has recused himself from that decision in writing, and the writing is dated eight days ago."
Julian took a chair against the wall instead of one at the table, and stayed in it for the next six hours, and said nothing further unless someone asked him a direct question.
He did exactly what I asked him to do. No speech about protecting me, no threat to dismantle my family, no conversion of my return into a demonstration of his own reach. And I watched that unsettle my sister far more than arrogance would have, because arrogance she can work with. Arrogance she can quote.
My father had the authorization open at the signature page.
"You're the trust's designated scientific representative."
"For the compliance review."
"You arranged all of this before you came home."
"I didn't come home. I came to a board meeting."
Anneke Sørensen very nearly smiled.
Nathan was already sorting through Rhea's documents in the particular way he sorts things, squaring edges he doesn't need to square. "Even if the trust retains some historical interest, Sterling funded every subsequent stage. The improvements are ours. The data is ours. The programme is ours."
"That's one available argument," Rhea said.
"It's the agreement."
I walked to the dark screen and put my hand flat on the table underneath it, where the gold lettering had been an hour earlier.
"Then let's start with the simplest question in the room."
Celeste folded her arms. "Which is?"
"Who owns the patent?"