Chapter 1

I pushed the papers back to the center of the desk and pointed to the signature in the lower right corner.

"This isn't my handwriting. Even the first stroke is wrong. Five hundred thousand dollars isn't a small amount. The person who took it knows where it goes the best. All we need to do is to check the transaction records, and it'll show you where the money went."

I reached for my phone as soon as I finished.

At the same time, Jane's expression changed. She lunged across the desk and snatched it away. "Mavis, you're nothing but a poor country bumpkin! You still have the nerve to argue with me!"

I tried to grab it back, but her nails dug into the back of my hand. I let go and turned my wrist away from her, using this chance to press the button on the side of my smartwatch.

The audio recording began.

Last Friday night, I stayed late to organize the reports.

When I passed by the office, I caught Thomas and Jane on the sofa with their clothes unkempt. The panic on their faces as they scrambled to fix their clothes told me everything. I had seen too much, and they wanted me gone.

And now, they were trying to pin a five-hundred-thousand-dollar shortfall on an intern with no connections.

As soon as Jane had my phone, she switched it off. "Trying to call the police? Trying to record us? Not a chance!"

Thomas sat behind the desk and took a sip of coffee.

"Mavis, since you have no one backing you, you should just give up and admit what you did. The chairman hates corruption. He's personally leading an inspection this afternoon.

"Sign the confession. Since this is your first offense, the company may be able to help you get a lighter sentence. Refuse, and I'll have the legal department act immediately. I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison."

From my perspective, his feigned anger was almost comical.

Before sending me to the branch, my father had warned me repeatedly not to reveal who I was. He said the only way to understand how the company really operated was to start at the bottom.

I hadn't expected my first lesson to uncover corruption this deep.

"Sir, the legal department needs a complete chain of evidence before it can act against anyone. Do you really think this fake report will fool the legal team at headquarters? Do you think they're that gullible?" I asked.

Jane sneered. "Evidence? I'll show you evidence right now."

She opened her laptop, logged into the company network, and began typing. Two minutes later, an official notice appeared on the office's main screen.

[Companywide Notice Regarding an Intern Suspected of Major Embezzlement]

The notice accused me of using my position to divert five hundred thousand dollars in purchase reserves into gold trading, costing the company a fortune. A second line appeared below it in bold red letters.

[Because of this serious incident, all year-end bonuses at this branch are canceled pending further review.]

That dragged everyone down with me. The employees who were simply watching the drama went berserk as messages raced across the screen.

[Were you so desperate for money?! Why should our bonuses pay for what you stole?]

[She messed us up! I was looking forward to that year-end bonus for my mortgage! She needs to go to prison!]

[Call the police and have her arrested! Make her family sell their house and pay back the money!]

Several coworkers passing the conference room stopped to point at me through the glass.

I said nothing. Nothing I said would matter now. Anger had taken over their minds, and they needed someone to blame.

When Jane saw that I stopped talking, she thought I was getting afraid. She picked up the intercom and called the finance department.

"Hello? Howard? Check the system and see if it shows Mavis's employee ID approving every purchase payment tied to the missing five hundred thousand dollars."