Page 62 of Faking it with my Bad Boy Crush

"Terrified. You?"

"Same." She set down her coffee, turning to face me. "Ethan, if the survey somehow doesn't confirm the fraud—if it supports Hutchins's boundary claims—"

"It won't." I said it with more confidence than I felt. "The original surveys are clear. The falsified baseline is documented. Any independent surveyor will see what we saw."

"But if they don't—"

"Then we appeal. We fight harder. We find another way." I reached for her hand. "I didn't sacrifice my career for nothing, Maya. The fraud is real. We proved it. This survey will confirm it."

My phone rang, shattering the tense silence. Marcus Campbell. Again.

I'd ignored seventeen calls from him over the weekend. Apparently, he wasn't giving up.

"Don't answer it," Maya said.

"I should. Get it over with." I answered on speaker, my voice flat. "What do you want, Marcus?"

"To offer you one last chance to salvage your career." His voice was calm, controlled—the negotiator's tone he used when he thought he had leverage. "Drop the fraud allegations. Publicly apologize for the unauthorized disclosure of privileged communications. Settle the civil suit for one hundred thousand dollars and agree to a confidentiality clause. Do all that, and I'll recommend the state bar show leniency."

"You want me to apologize for exposing fraud?"

"I want you to apologize for stealing confidential documents and using them in open court." Marcus's voice hardened. "That's a crime, Ethan. Theft of trade secrets. And the ethics violation is undeniable—you took those documents before you had a client, before you had justification for the disclosure. That's not whistleblowing. That's theft."

"The documents proved coordinated fraud—"

"After you stole them. The timing matters. You know this." Marcus paused. "The state bar investigation starts next week. If you settle with me now, publicly acknowledge wrongdoing, and agree to penalties, I'll testify that you've shown remorse and taken responsibility. That might be enough to avoid permanent disbarment."

I looked at Maya, saw the conflict in her honey-brown eyes. She knew what Marcus was offering—a way out, a chance to salvage something from the wreckage of my career.

"And if I refuse?" I asked.

"Then I pursue maximum penalties. Permanent disbarment, criminal charges for theft, civil damages that will bankrupt you." His voice was ice now. "I will destroy you, Ethan. Completely. Professionally, financially, reputationally. You'll never practice law again. You'll never work in any professional capacity. You'llbe a cautionary tale about what happens when you betray your firm. You want to be a martyr? Fine. But understand the cost. You'll lose everything—your license, your savings, your future. And for what? To protect some small-town bakery that would have survived anyway? To play hero for a woman you barely know?"

Maya's hand tightened on mine, her expression furious.

"The offer expires in one hour," Marcus continued. "At 10 AM, I file the paperwork with the state bar recommending maximum penalties. This is your last chance to minimize the damage. Take it."

He hung up before I could respond.

Maya and I sat in silence for a long moment, processing the ultimatum.

"He's scared," Maya said finally. "If he wasn't scared, he wouldn't be offering deals. He'd just pursue the ethics complaint and the civil suit without negotiation."

"Maybe. Or maybe he's just trying to get me to settle before the survey results come out." I checked my laptop—8:47 AM. Thirteen minutes until we'd know. "If the survey confirms fraud, his civil suit becomes much harder to justify. But if I settle now, admit wrongdoing, and agree to penalties, the fraud exposure gets overshadowed by my ethics violation."

"So he's trying to control the narrative."

"Exactly." I refreshed the county clerk's website again. Still nothing. "He wants me branded as the lawyer who stole documents and violated ethics rules, not as the whistleblower who exposed fraud. If I apologize publicly and settle, that's the story that sticks."

"Don't do it." Maya's voice was fierce. "Don't let him rewrite what actually happened. You exposed fraud. You protected my bakery. You did the right thing, even knowing the cost. That's the truth, Ethan. Don't apologize for it."

"Even if refusing means losing everything?"

"Especially then." She moved closer, her hand cupping my face. "Because if you settle, if you apologize and admit wrongdoing, you're saying the fraud exposure wasn't worth it. That protecting what's right matters less than protecting your career. And I know you don't believe that."

She was right. I didn't believe that. I'd made my choice on Friday in that courtroom, and I'd make the same choice again.

But the weight of what that choice would cost was settling in now—permanent disbarment, financial ruin, a future with no clear direction. All because I'd taken documents before I had legal justification, because my timing was wrong even though my intentions were right.