Page 57 of Below the Deck

Subject:Following up

Rory,

I’ve still not had confirmation of my place on the sail around French Polynesia – and I’ve already got my suitcase out!

You do remember what we talked about, don’t you? Thatfor me to keep this quiet, I’m going against my morals, for you – and for the company. It’s quite a sacrifice to make. A sacrifice that deserves the reward you promised me.

I don’t want to sound like I’m making a fuss over nothing. I’m very happy to show you exactly what I’ve been putting together.

I’ll give you a week. It’s your call.

•

Date:30 March 2026

Sender:[email protected]

Recipient:[email protected]

Subject:You left me no choice

Here’s the link to the secure folder, with:

– Audio clips (the recorded conversations I told you about)

– Testimony notes from four employees who don’t want their names used

– The details of my contact at The Mirror.

In my next email, I’ll be pasting the transcript from those audio clips. Just to give you a gentle reminder of exactly what we’re working with here.

If you want it done the easy way: the bonus trip will be confirmed by the end of tomorrow. The hard way? In just over a day, everyone at Ashworth – and in the press – will know exactly who their CEO is.

The folder goes live in 24 hours if this isn’t resolved.

You’ve got one more day.

SAM

Sam watched Talia walk to the bathroom, unsteady on her feet, and lock the door behind her. He had a good idea what she’d seen on Rory’s phone; why she’d been on the verge of tears after a few minutes of scrolling.

He had only ever meant well – at least, in the beginning. He’d meant to protect women who needed protecting; to be a voice for the voiceless, like he’d failed to do for Anna. He could hardly take all the blame for things spiralling out of control the way they did. And besides, the only person who was supposed to end up suffering was Rory – and if anyone deserved punishment, he did.

His concern for Sarah from marketing had been genuine. That night in the pub in January, three glasses of red in, when she’d told Sam how she’d overheard Rory in a meeting room where they were about to discuss tweaks to the digital comms plan. Rory was chatting to Tim, the chief financial officer – they clearly didn’t realize she was right outside the room – when Sarah heard Rory say they’d ‘better be careful’ when she arrived,because ‘everyone knows what those muff-divers are like’ and she ‘really just needed a good battering with a firm todger’.

Sam was horrified. He would never speak that way about his colleagues – aboutanywomen. It was vile; it was beyond unacceptable. Sarah had been so appalled, she’d cancelled the meeting and feigned sickness; she’d gone home and sobbed her way through a bottle of vodka on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Then she’d come back to work the next day wearing a brave face and planning her resignation.

He had felt bad for her – and angry. It wasn’t okay that Sarah felt forced to leave a job she’d only just started, and where she was doing well – through no fault of her own, but because of Rory’s complete lack of workplace boundaries. And then Claire gave him some food for thought. She’d said these things were bound to be happening to other women – worse, maybe. Men like Rory had a pattern; it was who theywere.

Sam mulled it over for a few days, then took up the mantle: it was his duty as a man to work out exactly who else Rory had made suffer. And to find that out, he had to get his colleagues to trust him enough to reveal it. So he turned up his nice guy charm; befriended everyone; took an interest in their lives, and their feelings about work and Ashworth. And it wasn’tallan act – whatever Claire thought in the end.

But she’d got him wrong, when she said she hadn’t known him at all – when she found out about his blackmail of Rory, and said he was behaving like a different person. This was always who Sam was.

Because Samdidcare about the women around him.

But at the end of the day, he cared about himself more.

Sam got up and used the railings to help him walk to the toilets. He waited outside the door for a beat, then gave it a gentle rap with his knuckles.