Chapter 33 - Harvey

The meeting for my hearing starts in 15 minutes but I'm still in my office, looking out the window and trying to come up with a way to get out of it. I even considered faking a stroke, but they will run the drug tests in the hospital either way.

"Harvey..." Ana's voice surprises me from behind.

I turn away from the window and look at the door to make sure I heard her voice right. Her expression betrays her sadness.

"Ana, what are you doing here?" I ask, as I step closer to check on her.

She looks up for a moment and takes a breath. "I got worried when I saw your text this morning, so I tried to have Daniel back off" she reveals

"You didn't need to do that"

"I know. But I wanted to try, at the very least"

"And?"

"I couldn't change his mind. I even offered to forgive him for everything he's done to me, my mother and you. But he still wants to go through with the hearing"

"Why would you even--" I stop myself from raising my voice. "He doesn't deserve your forgiveness. So I'd rather go through the hearing than watch you struggle with him" I insist

"And I'd rather not watch you lose your job because of me" she snaps back

"It's not because of you. And, trust me, it's better that he didn't agree to trade your forgiveness for my job. If he did, he would have held it over your head forever, asking you for more and more favors in order not to fire me" I explain

"Well, he almost agreed to it" she admits

"Almost...?" I questioned

"He asked me to break up with you, and then he'd stop coming for you" she reveals

"And what did you say?!"

"I stormed out of there and came straight here".

I nod and swallow the wave of rage that threatens to take over me. "If I get fired, I swear I will break his face off" I threaten

"He's not worth you getting prison time" she reminds me

"No, but you are" I caress her cheek

"But I would rather you stay out of prison and close to me" she says as she plays with my tie

"When you put it like that..." I chuckle.

She smiles and I kiss her.

"Don't worry about me, ok? I have Mike working on something as we speak. And I won't let Hardman have the upper hand again" I reassure her as I hold her

"But if something goes wrong, we'll figure it out, right?" she sounds uncertain

"Of course" I reply immediately.

"Guys..." Donna steps in, "The partners are ready" she informs us.

Without another word, I take Ana's hand and we walk us to the conference room where the hearing is being held.

"I'll kick his ass and then take you out to celebrate" I tell her, confidently

"Alright" she chuckles.

I kiss her one more time before I go inside the conference room. She stays right outside, looking through the soundproof glass. Daniel sees us, but has no choice than to swallow whatever reaction he's having. I sit right across from him, having a perfect view of his punchable face. I call Ana and keep the phone in my pocket, in order for her to be able to listen to what's going on in the room, instead of pacing stressed.

"The kid better get here fast" Jessica whispers to me

"He'll come through" I reply

"And you brought your girlfriend because...?"

"To rub some salt in Daniel's wounds after this meeting" I state.

As I say this, he stands from his seat. "I will begin this meeting by telling everyone that Harvey Specter has refused to take a mandatory drսg test, leaving me no choice but to terminate his employment. And as is his right, he has requested a hearing to dispute this" he explains

"Thank you, Daniel" I stand too, "But I'm not here to dispute anything. After all, I was high" I confess, and watch Ana's eyes widen. "I was high because I was being forced to work for you. A man who, it turns out, knew CM was negligent before I ever even took the case" I explain

"Uh, this is not the time--" Louis intervenes

"Shut up, Louis" Jessica cuts him off.

"Do you deny knowing about the defects?" I ask Hardman, point-blank

"Unequivocally" he answers immediately

"And you deny writing this memo?" I take the paper out of my front pocket and set it on the table. "You sent it to Tanner, knowing that he would come after this entire firm. Then you told him it wouldn't hold up, and that's why he settled without an explanation"

"That's wild conjecture" he claims

"Why did he settle after a single meeting with you?" I ask

"He settled because I did what I do" he replies

"That is not an answer" I insist

"Yes, it is. And this ends here. You have now slandered me, which violates the morality clause of the partners' agreement" he argues

"It's not slander if it's the truth" Jessica reminds him.

"Unfortunately, you don't have a shred of evidence, because the evidence doesn't exist" he smiles.

"Well, actually, it does" Mike says as he walks in the conference room with the signed -I hope- affidavit

"This is a partners-only meeting" Louis tells him

"So have Tanner sue me. But in the meantime, I think the rest of the partners are gonna want to see this" he throws the file in the middle of the table. "It's a signed affidavit from Lawrence Kemp, stating that he told Daniel Hardman about the defects in the CM hood six years ago. May 7th was the date of that meeting, per your calendar, to be exact" he explains before anyone touches the file.

I immediately read into it. He didn't get the signature, he's bluffing. So I don't allow a pause, that would give at least one of the partners the opportunity to reach for the file and see that it's not really signed.

"You just denied knowing anything about that, unequivocally" I remind everyone. "I guess you were just lying to cover up the fact that you were behind this entire suit in the first place".

"Is that the basis of this? A coerced lie from a man trying to say, 'my lawyer made me do it'. No way that holds up in court" he claims

"It doesn't have to. It just has to make these Harvard-educated lawyers understand that you made each and every one of them spend $100,000 of their own money to buy you control of my firm" Jessica explains to everyone.

"I'm not the reason why we're here. Harvey has admitted to violating the drսg policy. All those in favor of his dismissal?" he asks.

4 out of the 13 partners in the room raise their hands, not including Louis.

"Looks like you lost" Jessica tells him. "And I'm glad you brought up the bylaws. Fraudulently suing your own firm is grounds for firing"

"You have no proof of that" he insists

"All those in favor of Daniel Hardman's dismissal?" she asks

"Hey, Harvey, I know I'm not a partner, but do you mind?" Mike asks

"Go ahead" I tell him

"Nice".

Mike raises his hand, along with the rest of the 12 out of the 13 partners in the conference room.

"Daniel, that $3 million of our money you spent on yourself. Consider your partnership bought out. You can see yourself to the exit" Jessica says and ends the meeting there.

I wink at Ana as I leave my chair. She smiles as she puts her phone away.

I notice Mike grabbing the file with the affidavit from the table. I lean to him for a moment. "What is on this thing anyway?" I whisper

"What I said was on it" he insists

"You realize it's a felony to sign someone else's name to a sworn document"

"I didn't sign someone else's name. I signed my own. And I never said that Lawrence Kemp signed it" he points out.

I exhale and chuckle. "Thanks man" I pat his shoulder before I walk off.

Ana jumps in my arms as soon as I step out of the room. And that alone is enough to bring my spiking heartrate back to normal.

"You really had me stressing in the beginning" she admits

"I told you I'll put him in his place".

Her smile softens.

"Congratulations" Daniel interrupts us, "You brought the world upside down but you managed to kick me out. Was it truly worth it?"

"Yes" I answer immediately

"So you're ok with all the troubles you've caused?"

"Yes" I smile

"And you don't care about the other people that you effected with your actions?" he is referring to Louis

"Not at all" I admit.

He shakes his head. "How do you sleep at night?"

I lean to him and whisper, "Naked, next to your daughter".