Chapter 22: The Resolution
At 10:30 AM, I got the summons.
Jessica Pearson's office. Immediately. Louis Litt will be present.
Here we go.
I walked to the executive floor, found Louis already outside Jessica's office. He gave me a small nod—nervous but determined.
Harvey was inside when we entered. Of course he was. His case, his leak, his reputation on the line.
Jessica sat behind her desk, expression unreadable.
Louis cleared his throat.
"I made a serious error."
Harvey's eyebrow raised. Louis admitting mistakes wasn't typical.
"I accused Scott Roden of the leak based on circumstantial access and... personal panic. I was wrong."
He pulled out his tablet, played the recording.
Kyle's voice filled Jessica's office—the confession, the payments, the three separate leaks. All of it.
Harvey's expression darkened with each revelation. Jessica listened without interruption, taking notes on her tablet.
When it finished, she looked up.
"And how exactly did Mr. Roden obtain this confession?"
I stepped forward.
"I investigated systematically. Kyle Durant's spending patterns changed dramatically three weeks ago—new watch, expensive lunches, living beyond his salary. I cross-referenced access logs with the leak timing and found he'd accessed the merger documents six hours before publication."
"So you confronted him?"
"I presented him with the circumstantial evidence and gave him the option to confess. He did."
Harvey spoke for the first time.
"You investigated this in thirty-six hours?"
"I was motivated. It was my career."
Jessica studied me carefully, then dismissed Louis and Harvey with a gesture.
"Mr. Roden stays."
They left. The door closed.
Jessica stood, walked to her window.
"You solved an internal investigation in thirty-six hours that would have taken our security team a week. That's impressive."
"Thank you."
"Most associates would have hired a lawyer and gone defensive. Demanded formal hearings, made noise, protected themselves through procedure."
She turned back to face me.
"You went offensive. Found the real culprit. And then—most interestingly—you handed Louis the evidence to clear you himself rather than going directly to me."
She noticed.
"That's either mercy or calculated relationship management. Which was it?"
I chose honesty.
"Both. Louis betrayed me, but destroying him publicly doesn't help me. Making him owe me does. And honestly? I think he's better than his worst moment. He deserves the chance to prove that."
Jessica's smile was small and sharp.
"Ruthlessly pragmatic wrapped in compassion. That's a rare combination, Mr. Roden."
She returned to her desk.
"You're cleared completely. Formal apology on firm record. Louis will be sending a memo to all relevant parties taking responsibility for the false accusation."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. You did the work."
She tapped her tablet.
"Kyle Durant will be resigning effective immediately. I offered him the choice between public termination with ethics charges or quiet resignation with neutral reference. He chose quiet."
Mercy for him too. Good.
"Dismissed, Mr. Roden. And for what it's worth—well played."
I left her office, legs slightly unsteady from exhaustion and relief.
[CASE RESOLUTION: SUCCESSFUL]
[REPUTATION: ENHANCED]
[RELATIONSHIP: LOUIS LITT - LOYALTY SECURED]
[MENTAL FATIGUE: 32%]
[RECOMMENDED: IMMEDIATE REST CYCLE]
That afternoon, Kyle packed his desk.
Associates whispered as he loaded his personal items into a box—everyone knew now. The leak had been found. Scott Roden had cleared himself through systematic investigation.
Mike Ross approached my desk while I was reviewing the Morrison Financial brief I'd been neglecting.
"That was impressive detective work."
"Just thoroughness."
"Louis was really wrong about you."
I looked up.
"Louis was scared and made a bad choice. We've all been there."
Mike studied me curiously.
"You're not angry?"
I'm furious. But anger doesn't help.
"Anger is expensive. Results matter more."
Mike nodded slowly, and something in his expression suggested he didn't quite understand my philosophy.
He operates on loyalty and emotion. I operate on calculation and outcomes.
Neither of us is wrong. We're just different.
"Thanks for saying that," Mike said. "About Harvey, I mean. That we've all made bad choices."
He walked back to his desk, and I returned to my work.
Evening came. The bullpen emptied. I stayed at my desk, too exhausted to move but too wired to go home yet.
Louis appeared.
He stood there, awkward and uncertain, hands in his pockets.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
"I need to. You could have destroyed me. You chose not to."
I looked up at him.
"Just don't do it again."
Louis nodded seriously.
"I won't. To you."
It was honest—Louis might betray others in the future, but he understood debt. He understood that I'd given him something valuable: the chance to be better.
"That's all I ask."
He walked away, and I slumped in my chair.
Donna appeared five minutes later.
"Heard you're officially innocent. Celebratory dinner?"
I looked at her—professional armor slightly lowered, genuine concern in her expression.
"Is that a date or sympathy?"
"Can't it be both?"
I smiled despite my exhaustion.
"Both sounds good."
We left together. Harvey was still in his office, visible through the glass walls, watching us leave.
His expression was calculating—not angry exactly, but evaluating.
Scott Roden just turned a potential career-ending accusation into a loyal ally through strategic mercy.
That's not associate-level maneuvering.
I caught Harvey's eye as we passed. Held his gaze for a moment.
Then Donna took my hand and we headed for the elevator.
And for the first time in seventy days at Pearson Hardman, I felt like I'd actually built something that couldn't be taken away by one bad case or one insecure partner's panic.
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