“Do you know how much this meeting costs?” Ethan said tightly. “We don’t have time for interruptions.”
“It’s not an interruption,” Lucas said, opening his notebook. “You multiplied 127,000 by 394, but you wrote the wrong total. You’re short by a hundred thousand.”
The laughter died instantly.
Ethan turned back to the board. His fingers moved quickly over the calculator. His face drained of color.
Lucas continued, voice steady. “And on the operating costs, you left out the administrative fee you used in the earlier draft. I saw it yesterday.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Ethan asked, stunned.
Mr. Tanaka leaned forward. “May we verify?”
They did. Lucas was right. Again and again.
“Do you want me to show you the others?” the boy asked. “There are five more.”
No one laughed this time.
Lucas stepped forward, pointing out where compound interest had been calculated as simple interest, where import costs had been counted twice. Each correction landed like a quiet hammer.
“How did you learn this?” Ethan asked, no longer defensive—only amazed.