Chapter 2

Howard, the finance manager, answered with eager obedience. "I'll bring someone over and check right away."

Less than three minutes later, Howard entered the office with Kevin, the manager for the purchasing department. They closed the door behind them and lowered the blinds.

Jane slammed the forged confession onto the desk and spoke quietly to Howard.

"Transfer fifty thousand dollars into Mavis's account. Mark it as payment for gold so the money trail looks legitimate."

Howard nodded and pulled out his phone. "Understood. I'll use a personal account so it can't be traced back to the company."

Kevin joined as well. "I've prepared two different versions of the contract. Once she puts her thumbprint on the confession, she'll be personally responsible for the entire shortfall. The branch will have nothing to do with this, as it will be treated as her personal actions."

I watched the three of them plot in front of me, stunned by the sheer ridiculousness of it all. "You're forging evidence right in front of me. How bold can you get?"

"Forging it?" Jane laughed. "Once data in the system matches the paperwork, who's going to know this is forged?"

I took a deep breath, then lowered my head as if I had no way out. My shoulders shake a little.

"Fine, but give me a little longer to think..." I sobbed. "I can't hold it anymore. Can I use the restroom first?"

Jane scoffed in disdain and waved me away, telling me to go. She clearly thought I was already under her complete control and no longer worth watching.

I opened the office door and headed for the restroom.

The receptionist was away from her desk. I hurried to the front desk, grabbed the landline, and called the compliance hotline at headquarters. "Hello, is this compliance? I need to report misconduct at the branch..."

A hand reached over and ended the call before I could finish.

As it turned out, Thomas had followed me out in secret. He grabbed my collar and shoved me backward. "Trying to report us, aren't you? Do you still not understand who runs this branch?"

The receiver fell onto the desk, and all we could hear from it was the busy tone.

Meanwhile, I stared at Thomas coldly and pulled his hand off my collar. "Thomas, you used the missing money to buy Jane that Hermes Birkin purse too, didn't you?"

His expression instantly darkened, and his eyes narrowed.

When we were paid at the end of the month, eight hundred dollars had vanished from my overtime reimbursement without explanation.

When I went to finance to ask about it, I saw Jane showing off an orange purse to several interns. It was a limited-edition Hermes Birkin. It cost at least thirty thousand dollars with all the accessories.

How could a department manager at a branch afford that?

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked through gritted teeth.

Red with rage and humiliation, he swung his hand at me. I turned my head, and his hand missed my ear by just a few inches.

"Don't push me and know your place!" Thomas pointed his finger at me, then shouted to Howard inside the office. "Change every step and every listed handler in the system to her name! Don’t leave any trace!"

Howard rushed out with a tablet and swiped through the screens. "Thomas, it's done."

He held the tablet out.

The screen showed the company's internal records.

The five hundred thousand dollar purchasing request had been changed. My employee ID now appeared as both the person who started and completed the inquiry, price comparison, and purchasing stages.

I almost laughed.

I had loved computer programming since childhood and had even won international competitions. However, my father had forced me to study business instead.

He insisted that Gomez Group's only heir needed to understand its core operations, so I had not majored in computer science.

These people knew nothing about programming. They certainly didn't know that the platform's low-level logs couldn't be altered at all. They believed changing the visible records would pin the theft on me for good.

In fact, every change only created more evidence.

Jane came out carrying an ink pad. "We have witnesses and proof. The system names you, and your account shows the transfer. You're signing it today, whether you like to or not!"

I stared at the altered page on the tablet and said nothing.

When Thomas saw that I still would not give in, his face hardened.

He waved to the two security guards outside the door. "Lock her in the records room. Let's see how long she can stand this!"