Janet smiled.
“Can you prove Peterman never asked you to transfer these to their systems?”
“Better. I can show emails where I offered to implement firmwide systems and was told it wasn’t a priority. Jake’s father said—and I quote—‘Why fix what isn’t broken?’”
“It’s broken now,” Martin said. “Nine clients have moved over this week. Thirty-two more have requested proposals. At this rate, Peterman will lose half their corporate practice by Christmas.”
The conference room phone buzzed. Martin’s assistant.
“Mr. Bailey—Jake Peterman is here, demanding to see you immediately.”
Martin looked at me.
“Want to face him?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Send him in,” Martin told his assistant. Then to me: “Remember, let us do the talking.”
The door burst open. Jake Peterman stood there, designer suit wrinkled, hair disheveled, looking nothing like the smug executive who’d fired me two weeks ago.
“You.” He pointed at me, hand shaking. “You destroyed everything. Forty-one clients, Rachel. Forty-one.”
“Mr. Peterman,” Janet interrupted smoothly, “any communication should go through counsel.”
“Screw counsel. She knows what she did. Sabotage. Corporate espionage. I’ll sue you into bankruptcy.”
“Looking forward to discovery,” Janet said. “Particularly the part where we examine why Ms. Miles was terminated and who replaced her—and that person’s qualifications.”
Jake’s face went pale. Discovery would mean depositions under oath about Tori.
“This isn’t over,” he said.
But the threat was hollow.
“Your father built a respectable firm,” Martin stood. “You destroyed it in 6 months. Ms. Miles just refused to go down with the ship. Now, unless you have a valid legal matter to discuss, get out of my office.”
Jake left, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the windows.
Janet turned to me.
“He’s panicking. Panicked people make mistakes. Keep doing exactly what you’re doing.”
That afternoon, three more clients called—not about compliance issues this time. They’d heard about Jake’s meltdown. Heard he’d stormed into Bailey and Lock making threats. Professional services relied on one thing above all: trust.
And Jake Peterman had just shown 41 corporate clients exactly who they’d been trusting with their legal matters.
The emergency board meeting at Peterman Legal started at 8 a.m. sharp on Thursday. I knew because Marcus live-streamed it from the parking lot. Apparently Jake had called an all-hands meeting but forgot the conference room windows faced the street.
“Complete meltdown,” Marcus texted. “Senior partners demanding answers. Jake blaming everyone but himself.”
I was in my Bailey and Lock office preparing for three client meetings when Janet Walsh knocked.
“Thought you’d want to see this.”
She handed me a printout from Legal Industry Daily. The headline read: Peterman Legal hemorrhaging clients amid leadership crisis.
The article was brutal. Anonymous sources discussing the firm’s chaos, clients questioning the sudden departures, and buried in paragraph 6: sources indicate that numerous Fortune 500 companies have received compliance violations potentially costing millions, raising questions about the firm’s competency.
“Did we—”
“We didn’t leak anything,” Janet assured me. “Didn’t have to. When nine major corporations fire their law firm in 2 weeks, people notice.”
My phone buzzed. Patricia Hartley.
“Board meeting in 1 hour. We’re discussing permanent counsel change. Thought you should know.”
I set the phone down carefully. Patricia was being strategic. Boardroom discussions were confidential. But if Hartley Industries was considering a change, she’d need options ready. Smart executives didn’t fire their lawyers without replacements lined up.
At 10:30, I was reviewing contracts when Martin appeared in my doorway with someone I didn’t recognize—a distinguished woman in her 60s.
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