Chapter 4 - The Audit TrailMark stared at the screen, and the blood drained completely from his face.
The numbers on the display were not his clean, brilliant profit margins. They were red—bleeding, catastrophic deficits.
"What is this?" Mark choked out, his voice cracking. "This isn't my report. Someone tampered with—"
"Nobody tampered with it, Mark," Elena said quietly. She picked up a slim silver tablet and flicked a page. "You shaved four million off the overhead by defaulting on vendor contracts in working-class neighborhoods, routing emergency capital through a shell company registered in the Caymans under your cousin's name. Embezzlement disguised as structural optimization."
The other partners at the table recoiled instantly, leaning away from Mark as if he had suddenly contracted a plague.
Arthur Vance’s face flushed a deep, mottled purple. "Sterling! Is this true?"
"It’s a lie!" Mark shouted, standing up so fast his chair tipped over backward with a deafening crash. "She’s—she’s biased! She’s my—we have a personal history! This is a malicious frame-up!"
"A personal history?" Arthur snarled, his eyes bulging. "You absolute fool! You're accusing our Principal of a personal frame-up over corporate fraud?"
Elena didn't blink. She watched Mark unravel with the detached curiosity of a scientist observing an insect under a microscope.
"You always did lack imagination, Mark," she said, leaning back in her leather chair. "You thought I spent my days painting in the garage because you couldn't fathom that someone might enjoy simplicity while managing a portfolio twenty times larger than your wildest ambitions. You thought my quietness was weakness. You thought my cardigans meant I was poor."
She tapped her fingernail against the mahogany table.
"Security."
The heavy oak doors clicked open instantly. Two broad-shouldered men in dark suits stepped into the room.
"Remove Mr. Sterling’s security badge," Elena commanded, her eyes never leaving his pale, sweating face. "Escort him from the building. And notify the SEC that Vance & Co. is turning over all internal audit files regarding his Ohio division for immediate criminal investigation."
"No!" Mark lunged forward, his hands slamming against the table. "Elena, please! We were married! Five years! You can't do this! You can't ruin my life over a divorce!"
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"You ruined your own life the moment you believed ambition required cruelty," she whispered.
Then, she looked past him, completely dismissing his existence. "Bring in the next candidate."
