“This should never have happened,” he said before she could speak, locking the door as if afraid of interruption. “What I did was wrong. I crossed a line that should not exist.”
Maya stared at him, disbelief mingling with anger. “You realized that two weeks too late,” she replied, her voice steady despite the storm inside her.
He nodded. “I know. I am not asking forgiveness. I am asking to correct what I can.”
He offered her a formal position within the company, a legitimate contract, a role that matched her skills rather than exploiting her desperation, and when she hesitated, he added, “This has nothing to do with what happened. I noticed your work long before that night.”
Maya leaned back, crossing her arms. “I will not accept anything that binds me to silence about abuse,” she said firmly.
“There will be no conditions,” Victor replied. “Only professionalism.”
After reviewing the contract in detail, noting the confidentiality clauses that protected both of them from exposure, she signed with reluctance, unaware that this decision would entangle her in something far more dangerous than personal compromise.