The day he first discovered the concealed prior damage, the day Dorian asked him to leave it out of the official record. The day Vivien demanded the interior redesign. The day Dorian approved the additional charges in writing. The day every ground test was successfully completed. And finally, the day Vivien tore the invoice apart and refused to authorize final inspection.
Each accusation she raised against him was answered by an email, a photograph, or a signed record sitting directly in front of the board. Thaddius asked Rowan what would happen if he as chairman simply signed the return to service authorization himself at that very moment. Rowan told him plainly that he did not hold the authority to do so regardless of his position within the company. Vivien offered Rowan a personal check on the spot, hoping to end the entire matter immediately and privately. Rowan told her the issue had moved well beyond a simple payment dispute and that before he would sign anything, Blackthorne needed to settle the outstanding balance in full, pay the contractual penalties tied to the delay, formally withdraw every threatening letter sent by their attorney, confirm in writing that he had played no role in the pilot's independent decision to refuse the flight, permit an independent party to observe the final inspection process and open a formal investigation into Dorian's attempt to conceal the aircraft's original damage.
Vivien's anger flared again, insisting that a mechanic had no standing to place conditions on a chief executive. That cut her off firmly, reminding her that Rowan was not inventing new conditions out of thin air. He was simply enforcing terms she herself had already agreed to and signed months earlier. The board soon uncovered that Dorian had planned to withhold Rowan's final payment well before the project was even complete and had already begun drafting a fabricated report designed to blame the entire delay on Hail Arrow Restoration. When confronted, Dorian attempted to shift responsibility onto Vivien, claiming she had personally instructed him to squeeze the price down by any means necessary.
Their mutual fingerpointing playing out in real time in front of the full board exposed just how corrosive the company's internal culture had become over the years. Thaddius offered Rowan additional compensation in exchange for keeping the entire episode quiet, an offer Rowan declined without hesitation. He did not ask for Vivien's removal from the company, nor did he request any position of influence within Blackthorne's leadership structure. His demands remained exactly what they had been from the very beginning, fair payment, an accurate record, and assurance that no one on the flight crew would face retaliation for refusing an unsafe departure. His unwavering composure throughout the entire meeting made Vivien appear smaller with every passing minute, even seated within the walls of her own company's boardroom.