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Chapter 11

Author: Arab Wood
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-19 20:13:52

Alejandro looked at the numbers until his eyes hurt. Something was wrong. He had been checking the bills for the children's hospital for hours. The small light on his desk made long shadows across his office as night came over the city. The more he looked, the clearer the pattern became.

"This can't be by chance," he said quietly, running his hand through his messy hair.

He drew a red circle around another odd number and added it to his growing list of problems. The same pattern showed up all through the money records, building costs raised by almost exactly forty percent, work taking too long, and workers he never said yes to suddenly getting paid.

Sofia knocked softly before coming into his office. She carried two cups of coffee. Dark circles showed under her eyes, just like his.

"Find anything?" she asked, putting a hot cup next to him.

Alejandro pushed the building plans toward her. "Look at the first plans we sent in versus what's being built now. Someone has changed our designs.
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