I tapped the screen.
The digital payload launched.
It started as a single sharp ping from a board member’s pocket. Then another chime. Within three seconds, the entire VIP circle erupted into a chaotic symphony of notification alerts. The executives pulled out their phones, opening the highly encrypted emails. Curiosity instantly morphed into absolute, unadulterated shock as they scrolled through the meticulous forensic accounting Harrison and I had compiled, proving their trusted SVP was systematically stealing their money.
The Chairman of the Board lowered his phone, his face a mask of volcanic fury. The execution was flawlessly executed.
Chapter 5: The Spoils of War
The Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Pierce, stepped into the center of the circle, his voice carrying a terrifyingly quiet authority. “Veronica. Gavin. My private suite is down the hall. Move. Now.”
Panic-stricken, Veronica turned to her ultimate shield. “Harrison,” she demanded, her voice trembling. “We are leaving. Come with me right now.”
Harrison didn’t move an inch. With his free hand, he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a thick manila envelope, tossing it so it landed with a heavy thud directly at her champagne-soaked shoes.
“I am not going anywhere with you,” Harrison stated with absolute finality. “You have been formally served with divorce papers. Every commercial lease your firm relies upon through my holding company is currently under review for immediate termination. Every personal account you thought you had access to is permanently frozen. You are completely on your own.”
He turned his head, a warm smile replacing his cold fury as he looked at me. “Shall we go, Bethany?”
“I would love to,” I replied.
We turned our backs on the wreckage, walking slowly through the parted sea of corporate elites. The immediate fallout was swifter than my most optimistic projections. By eight the next morning, Veronica was unceremoniously stripped of all titles and escorted out through the loading dock. Facing severe federal charges for wire fraud, and completely cut off from Harrison’s wealth, she was transformed overnight into a radioactive pariah.
Gavin suffered an equally devastating ruin. Stripped of his badge and blacklisted from the consulting industry, he attempted to execute his original escape plan. Standing on the freezing Chicago sidewalk, he opened his banking app to wire the funds for the condo. I can only imagine the sheer, suffocating terror that gripped him when he stared at the screen and saw a balance of exactly $4,000.
