Chapter Three – Cracks in the Foundation
Two weeks later...
Federal investigators arrived.
Not because Elena called them.
Because mandatory disclosures required it once the internal audit uncovered evidence suggesting potential financial misconduct.
Conference rooms transformed into evidence centers.
Hard drives.
Invoices.
Archived emails.
Contract files.
Forensic accountants worked around the clock.
Every answer uncovered three new questions.
Rebecca entered Elena's office carrying another report.
"I wish I had better news."
Elena accepted it.
"What now?"
"There are more shell vendors than we expected."
She opened the folder.
Forty-two companies.
Nearly all shared the same mailing address.
Payments totaling hundreds of millions over eight years.
Each trail eventually circled back to entities connected to Damian and a handful of former executives.
Elena closed the folder.
"Then we keep following the facts."
Across town...
Veronica sat alone in her apartment.
Her phone hadn't stopped ringing since the board meeting.
Friends.
Journalists.
Former colleagues.
She ignored them all.
Instead she stared at a single flash drive resting on her kitchen table.
She had copied it months earlier.
Insurance.
At the time she thought it would protect her.
Now it might be the only thing separating her from prosecution.
She picked up the phone.
"Rebecca Lin?"
"This is Veronica Ellis."
A pause.
"I'd like to cooperate."
That same evening, Damian watched another news report.
His face appeared beside words he had never imagined would accompany his name.
Corporate Fraud Investigation Expands.
He muted the television.
For the first time since his removal...
He understood something that had nothing to do with losing money.
He had spent years believing the company belonged to him simply because everyone treated him that way.
But ownership had never changed.
May you like
Only the illusion had.
And illusions always end.
