Chapter 4 - The Hidden LedgerAdrian closed the distance between them, his voice dropping into a fierce, urgent whisper.
“My cousin Blake runs our procurement division,” Adrian said tightly. “He’s family. The board trusts him. What are you talking about, Maya?”
Maya didn't blink. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a flash drive, and placed it gently on the edge of the mahogany desk, right beside his coffee mug.
“Before my father passed away and left us with crippling medical debt, I was two semesters away from defending my master’s thesis in forensic accounting at MIT,” Maya said steadily. “I didn't take this job as a housemaid because I lacked options. I took it because Sterling House was the only estate in Boston where my father’s former business partner worked—and where I knew I could find the paper trail.”
Adrian stared at the flash drive, then looked up into her dark, unyielding eyes. “You’ve been auditing my company from below stairs?”
“I’ve been watching your family get robbed from the inside,” Maya corrected softly. “Blake isn't acting alone. He has a partner—someone high up in the social circles, someone who visits this mansion regularly and meets him in the guest wing after midnight.”
Adrian’s breath caught. “Serena.”
“Serena Vale,” Maya confirmed. “Her family’s textile firm is the primary beneficiary of Blake’s inflated supply contracts. They’re laundering corporate capital through fake catering invoices to fund Serena’s lifestyle and Blake’s gambling debts.”
Adrian gripped the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning white as rage surged through him. For months, he had suspected a leak within the executive ranks, but he never imagined the treachery was happening inside his own family.
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“If this data is real,” Adrian whispered, his voice shaking with restrained fury, “Blake and Serena are looking at federal prison for grand larceny and corporate conspiracy.”
“It’s real down to the last penny,” Maya replied. “And I have the audio recordings to prove they’re planning to stage a hostile takeover of your hotel chain before the end of the month.”
