Carefully qualified.
And far less dramatic than the rumors spreading online.
But that was precisely why the report mattered.
It replaced confident promises with information investors could examine.
And it made clear which uncertainties remained unresolved.
Luc Moreau's role in preparing the disputed materials became the subject of a separate investigation.
The review found evidence that certain classifications had been changed without adequate support and that concerns raised by junior staff had not been escalated properly.
Additional questions involved an intermediary arrangement that could have created undisclosed financial interests.
Those findings were referred to the appropriate legal and regulatory channels for further consideration.
No one responsible for the independent research declared Luc guilty of every possible allegation.
That wasn't their job.
Their job was to document what the evidence supported.
Antoine's board took action based on the governance failures it could establish.
Luc was removed from his financial leadership position while the necessary processes continued.
Antoine also faced consequences.
Several investors questioned his oversight.
The company's financing timetable was disrupted.
And he was required to accept stronger independent review of material disclosures.
For a man accustomed to controlling every room, the changes were painful.
But there was no credible path forward that involved returning to the old presentation and pretending the problems hadn't existed.
Inés Valcárcel reviewed the revised project.
She spent weeks examining the corrected assumptions.
Then proposed a smaller initial investment tied to verifiable milestones and transparent commercial commitments.
The consortium did not simply hand Delcourt another blank check.
It required evidence.
That meant the expansion moved more slowly.
Some facilities were delayed.
Certain commercial arrangements had to be renegotiated.
But the surviving project was more realistic.
And the communities whose infrastructure and resources would be affected had a stronger basis for understanding the proposed commitments.
Elena watched the process from her university office.
She didn't take credit for decisions made by investors, lawyers, engineers, or public authorities.
She knew how much work lay behind them.
But she also knew her analysis had contributed to a broader demand for accuracy.
And for the first time in her life, she could see a direct path between the skills she'd spent years developing and the kind of work she wanted to do.
At the end of the academic term, Professor Ibarra called Elena into her office.
The professor was smiling.
That alone made Elena suspicious.
Camila rarely smiled before delivering ordinary news.