Chapter 5
I wanted to drive straight to the records facility.
Danielle stopped me.
"Nia, don't."
I stared at her.
"Marcus is inside a building containing the original documents!"
"And security and the appropriate authorities are already responding."
I looked toward Arthur.
He nodded.
"She's right."
My hands shook.
I hated being forced to remain still.
For months, I had been collecting evidence.
Checking invoices.
Comparing contracts.
Trying to understand why money kept disappearing into unfamiliar accounts.
Now the man responsible might be destroying the records that could explain everything.
Danielle placed her hand over mine.
"We have digital backups and independent copies. The evidence doesn't disappear simply because someone damages a file."
I took a breath.
"Tell me everything."
The records facility was located twenty minutes from headquarters.
Marcus had entered using a credential that should have been deactivated after his executive access was restricted.
Security detected the entry.
An employee recognized him.
The employee called the supervisor instead of confronting him.
By the time officers arrived, Marcus had attempted to remove two storage boxes and a company laptop.
He denied wrongdoing.
He claimed he was collecting personal business materials.
But the boxes contained original contracts connected to Redline Advisory Group.
I listened in disbelief.
"Did they arrest him?"
Danielle shook her head.
"Not at this stage. The situation is being investigated."
I nodded.
I didn't want guesses.
I wanted proof.
Then Arthur asked something unexpected.
"Did he have help?"
Danielle checked her messages.
"The security log shows another person's credential was used shortly before his entry."
My chest tightened.
"Whose?"
She hesitated.
"Calvin Ross."
The assistant security manager.
The man who had accepted an envelope in the hallway.
The man who entered the control room with Marcus and Vanessa.
Arthur closed his eyes.
I felt sick.
This wasn't a desperate husband making one terrible decision.
It was an organized attempt to manipulate records, money, and access.
The next morning, I arrived at headquarters before the emergency board meeting.
I hadn't slept.
My eyes were swollen.
But my mind was clear.
Jasmine Porter, our chief financial officer, met me outside the conference room.
She hugged me.
"I'm sorry, Nia."
I clung to her for a moment.
Jasmine had worked with my father.
After his death, she became one of my closest advisers.
She never treated me like a child.
She challenged my decisions when necessary.
And when I married Marcus, she warned me that sharing a life didn't mean giving away control of my investments.
I had laughed.
I told her Marcus was different.
Now I wished I had listened more carefully.
"Did you find anything else?" I asked.
Her expression tightened.
"Yes."
We entered a small meeting room.
She opened a spreadsheet.
The external auditors had identified a pattern.
Over eighteen months, several related companies received payments approved through Marcus's executive office.
Some payments were legitimate.
Others lacked proper documentation.
Several appeared to be split into smaller amounts.
Some invoices used nearly identical descriptions.
And a group of transactions led to accounts associated with Vanessa's companies.
My stomach tightened.
"How much?"
Jasmine looked at me.
"At least four million dollars in payments are being questioned so far."
I stared at the screen.
Four million dollars.
Not including the blocked twenty-four-million-dollar transfer.
Not including the proposed Redline contract.
Not including any other exposure the auditors might uncover.
I looked at Jasmine.
"How did we miss this?"
She took a breath.
"Some approvals were routed through delegated executive authority. The patterns only became obvious when we reviewed the related vendors together."
I closed my eyes.
Marcus had used his position carefully.
He knew the company's systems.
He knew which managers trusted him.
He knew how to make questionable payments resemble ordinary operating expenses.
And I had trusted him too.
Jasmine touched my shoulder.
"Don't carry his choices as though they were yours."
I opened my eyes.
"I'm responsible for protecting the company."
"Yes."
She nodded.
"And you're doing that now."
At nine, the board meeting began.
Arthur chaired the session.
Danielle explained the findings.
Jasmine presented the financial records.
An independent auditor summarized the document alterations and suspicious transactions.
I listened carefully.
When Marcus's conduct was discussed, my chest tightened.
But I remained calm.
Then Arthur addressed the directors.
"The company cannot operate while these concerns remain unresolved."
The board voted to suspend Marcus from executive duties pending further investigation.
Additional financial controls were approved.
Independent oversight was expanded.
The company authorized appropriate legal action to preserve assets and pursue recovery.
When the meeting ended, I remained seated.
Arthur approached me.
"It's done."
I looked up.
"No."
He seemed surprised.
"The emergency action is complete."
I nodded.
"But the damage isn't."
He sat beside me.
I stared at the polished table.
"Three hundred people watched my husband throw me away last night."
Arthur lowered his eyes.
"I know."
"He called me disloyal."
My voice cracked.
"He was sleeping with another woman while using company money to support her business."
Arthur said nothing.
I continued.
"And somehow, even after everything, part of me still wants to ask what I did wrong."
He looked at me.
"Nia."
I covered my face.
"I loved him."
My voice broke.
"I really loved him."
Arthur reached for my hand.
I let him hold it.
"Your father trusted me with this company," he said quietly.
I looked up.
"And I failed to see what was happening under my own roof."
I shook my head.
"Marcus made his choices."
Arthur nodded.
"So did I. I allowed him too much authority because he was my grandson."
He took a breath.
"Now we both have to repair what we can."
I wiped my tears.
"Then let's start."
That afternoon, Danielle received a message from Vanessa's attorney.
Vanessa wanted to negotiate.
She claimed Marcus had pressured her into participating in the financial arrangements.
She offered information in exchange for favorable treatment.
I stared at the message.
"She's turning on him."
Danielle nodded.
"Possibly."
I thought about Vanessa smiling with her champagne glass.
The way she celebrated my humiliation.
The way she clung to Marcus when the ownership documents appeared.
Now she wanted to blame him.
I looked at Danielle.
"Whatever she says, I want it verified."
"Of course."
Then Jasmine entered.
She looked alarmed.
"Nia, we found another problem."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
She handed me a copy of a loan guarantee.
My personal name appeared on the document.
Beneath it was a signature resembling mine.
I stared at the page.
"I never signed this."
Jasmine's face went pale.
"That's what I was afraid of."
May you like
The document purported to make me personally responsible for a fifteen-million-dollar financing obligation.
And the lender was demanding confirmation.
