Nathan stood slowly.
“Why would you ask that?”
The boy’s eyes flicked toward his mother, immediately worried he’d said something wrong.
Emma answered quietly.
“He heard me tell Ms.
Whitmore that if I lost my job, we might lose our apartment.”
For the first time since entering the room, Nathan’s restraint visibly cracked.
He looked at Lauren.
“You conducted a termination conversation with this employee knowing her seven-year-old was sitting twenty feet away?”
“I conducted a private conversation in my office.”
“And then gave her an hour to remove him before senior management saw him.”
Lauren’s face lost a little color.
Emma looked up sharply.
She hadn’t told Nathan that part.
One of the employees outside the door had.
Nathan saw her surprise.
“I asked what happened before I came over here.”
Lauren recovered quickly.
“Then you also know I’ve had concerns for months.
She has missed days, left early, and repeatedly cited childcare or her son’s health.
We have clients paying significant fees.
I cannot run a department around one employee’s personal life.”
Emma’s hands curled at her sides.
Every word was technically connected to something that had happened.
That was what made it sting.
Yes, she had missed work when Ethan had pneumonia.
Yes, she’d once left early when his school called about a fever.
Yes, she’d arrived late after a train delay stranded them during a custody exchange Daniel never appeared for.
But she had also worked nights from her kitchen table, answered emails after Ethan fell asleep, corrected other people’s reports, and taken assignments home without putting the extra hours on anyone’s calendar.
Nathan opened the folder again.
“Emma, were your assignments incomplete because of those absences?”
“No, sir.”
Lauren cut in.
“Completion isn’t the only metric.
Reliability matters.”
“Agreed,” Nathan said.
“Which is why I’m asking questions before making conclusions.”
He studied several pages.
“These invoice discrepancies.
Did you identify them?”
Emma nodded.
“Friday afternoon.
I was going to bring them to Lauren today after checking the supporting reports.”
Lauren’s eyes moved to the folder.
“Those are routine adjustments.”
Nathan glanced at her.
“Then you’ll have no objection to me reviewing them.”
“Of course not.”
But the speed of her answer betrayed her.
Emma noticed.
Nathan noticed Emma noticing.
Nothing more was said about it.
He closed the folder again and handed it back to her.
“Keep this.”
Lauren’s patience finally broke.
“Nathan, with respect, this is becoming disproportionate.
