CHAPTER TEN: THE DOOR THAT STAYED OPEN
The event manager approached Trevor and asked whether his group intended to disrupt the remainder of the presentation.
Trevor answered that they would leave if the room was closed to public questions.
Nadine said she wanted the slide about Caleb removed immediately.
The manager spoke quietly with Jonah, who was now standing beside the screen.
Jonah argued that the example had been modified enough to protect the client.
Nadine stepped forward.
“You can’t protect him by repeating what happened to him in front of strangers,” she said.
“He’s a person, not a conversion rate.”
The reporter asked whether she might interview Nadine after the presentation.
Nadine declined.
She wanted to protect Caleb’s privacy more than she wanted a headline.
The reporter respected the answer and turned toward the company instead.
One investor gathered his coat.
Another remained seated and requested written clarification about how the correspondence was collected.
Jonah tried to redirect the room toward a demonstration of conversation exercises.
He asked two volunteers to pretend they were neighbors arguing about a late delivery.
Nobody volunteered.
At the back, Mr. Hsu stood carefully using his cane.
“You should know what a late notice cost me,” he said.
Jonah looked tired for the first time.
Mr. Hsu explained the missed shuttle enrollment and the taxi fares he had paid.
He described sitting outside a medical center in the heat because a driver was running late.
“I could pay,” he said.
“Some people cannot.”
He held up the printed confirmation he had eventually received after appealing through the proper office.
“The service itself helped me,
” he said.
“Your company did not.”
Jonah turned off the projector.
The sudden blank screen made the room appear larger.
He told the audience that the firm would suspend the demonstration pending review.
An investor asked whether the company had already charged families affected by diverted mail.
Jonah said some clients had paid voluntarily.
Farah answered from her chair.
“People can pay voluntarily for a service and still have been misled about why they needed it.”
The temporary worker opened the door to let departing guests out.
Jonah approached Nadine near the exit.
“Your son’s case is complicated,” he said quietly.
“You don’t get to make it more complicated,” Nadine answered.
She walked past him without showing the letter.
Trevor followed the group into the hotel lobby.
The elevator opened, and Reva stepped out carrying a slim folder of her own employment records.
She had arranged to speak with the reporter only about her firsthand experience and her own resignation.
She saw Nadine and stopped.
“Was the presentation canceled?” she asked.
“He stopped it,” Trevor said.
“That doesn’t mean he’ll stop the business.”
Reva nodded.
“I know.”
Nadine looked at her for a long moment.
“Please don’t make my son the center of your story,” she said.
“I won’t,” Reva promised.
It was the first promise Nadine had heard from anyone connected with Jonah’s company that sounded like it might be kept.
