Mag-log inWhen I hand in my resignation and pack up my things, I make sure to box up my 100,000 dollars' worth of camera equipment. However, my colleague Reed Lanrod, an intern who joined the company after me, immediately throws a tantrum. "What are we supposed to use if you take all that equipment with you? You're already leaving, and you're still leeching off the company? That's not right!" I keep my cool and patiently explain, "I bought every single piece of this gear with my own money. It's got nothing to do with the company." Reed, who's been eyeing my equipment for the longest time, storms off. Not long after, the boss, Karen Halfpenny, calls me into her office. "You've been keeping the equipment in our office, so it's been using our electricity and taking up our office space. That makes it company property. You're not taking a single item with you." I can't help but laugh at the sheer audacity. When I first joined the company, Karen told me to treat the company like home. So, to get the job done right, I gradually spent 100,000 dollars of my own money to buy camera equipment and store it at the office. Now she's calling it company property? Fine. I immediately call the IRS and report the company for tax evasion and fraud. They insist the 100,000-dollar setup is theirs, yet they've never paid a single cent of tax on it. In that case, let's see what the IRS agents think about that.
view moreBill's POVAs the IRS looked into the camera equipment, one thing led to another, and before long, they were combing through the company's financial books from top to bottom.While compiling the company's assets, Karen had lumped all kinds of unrelated items together, which immediately caught the agents' attention. They soon uncovered multiple instances of tax evasion and fraud.The back taxes and late-payment penalties were 465,000 dollars, plus a fine of 530,000 dollars, which came out to a total of 995,000 dollars. Between the taxes owed, penalties, and fines, the nearly one million dollars the company was required to pay was effectively a death sentence.Once it was officially established that my camera equipment wasn't company property, I was allowed to retrieve it. The company was also ordered to release my final paycheck.News of the IRS investigation spread fast.The blacklist Karen had posted in all those industry group chats had now turned into a boomerang, smacking her
Bill's POVI stared at the text message, completely frozen for a good five seconds.Extortion? When had I ever demanded money or property from Karen? The equipment was mine, and I was simply trying to get back what already belonged to me.I'd reported her for tax evasion because she'd insisted the equipment belonged to the company. Those were two entirely separate matters. At no point did I use the report as leverage to get my gear back.But Karen had forcibly linked the two issues together, twisting them into a criminal charge of using the threat of reporting them to extort its assets.If the police formally took up the report, the entire situation would shift from a tax investigation to a criminal case. Even if I were ultimately cleared, the sheer process of being summoned, investigated, or even placed under pretrial restrictions would be more than enough to get me permanently blacklisted by the entire industry.Who would dare hire someone who'd been investigated by the police?
Bill's POVAt 2:00 pm that afternoon, my phone started vibrating nonstop.Text messages, messaging apps, and even social media accounts I hadn't used in ages were all blowing up.I swiped across the screen to take a look.Recruiter A: "Bill, did you piss off your boss, Ms. Halfpenny? She just posted a message in one of the industry group chats calling you out by name, saying you stole company property, filed a malicious report against them, and have serious character issues. I grabbed a screenshot. You should take a look."Recruiter B: "What's going on? Karen Halfpenny posted a blacklist notice about you in at least five industry group chats. I had three clients who were really interested in hiring you, but now they're all having second thoughts."Recruiter C: "Do you need help clearing things up? I can forward your side of the story to a few of the groups."I tapped on the screenshot sent by Recruiter A, containing a message Karen had sent to one of the industry group chats."
Third-Person POV"Who reported us?" Karen asked, squeezing the words through clenched teeth. "Was it Bill Kramer?"Melissa didn't answer her question. She merely pulled a document out of her briefcase."Ms. Halfpenny, are the pieces of equipment listed on this form company property?"A look of sudden realization washed over Karen's face, and she snorted coldly."Go tell Bill to stop obsessing over this gear! They belong to the company!"Melissa nodded. "From 2023 through 2026, your company received a batch of photography equipment with a total value of approximately 100,000 dollars as fixed assets. These assets weren't recorded in the company's accounting books, and the company failed to declare or pay the required corporate income taxes. Is that information accurate?"Karen's face stiffened for a split second before she waved her hand. "No, that's not accurate. Those pieces of equipment are one of our employees' personal property. They have nothing to do with the company's fina












Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.