The Accountant Who Went Blind (On Purpose)

"What?" Henry Fielder, the intern, froze, then his voice turned sharp. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? If you won't process the reimbursement, just say so. You're just making life hard for everyone. Why fake a headache?"I took a deep breath and didn't bother arguing with him.In the past, I would've patiently explained that reimbursement receipts had to be legal and valid. As the finance team, we were the gatekeepers and held legal responsibility for everything we approved."Rules are rigid, people aren't. Ever heard of flexibility, Ronan?" he snapped at me, wearing the same defiant look.Even then, I stayed professional and walked him through the review process again and again.Just remembering what Henry had said in the restroom left me colder than I'd expected. Since he didn't appreciate it, I had nothing more to say.I grabbed my thermos and turned to leave.Henry frowned and grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going? Feeling guilty?"When I didn't answer

Instead of arguing with Edward, I looked down at my phone. The message I'd sent my boss, Victor Manser, that morning still hadn't gotten a response.The office was loud as more people kept criticizing me."Logistics has a complaint too. You make us submit an itemized breakdown for every reimbursement. What, you think we're trying to rip off the company?""Procurement as well. You're always jumping in to review our contracts. Who exactly don't you trust?""HR has complaints also…"I tuned them out and sent a reminder to Victor, who was on a business trip. "Mr. Manser, could you approve my resignation today?"My phone finally lit up, and Victor's reply came through. "Cut it out! We're in a critical IPO phase. You can't just walk out. Whatever your issue is, wait until I get back. Don't cause me problems!"I stared at the message, and the last of my hesitation was gone. I felt nothing but cold.I'd known for a while that he didn't care about the Finance Department. Otherwise, he w

I smirked and said in a light, upbeat voice, "Mr. Manser, I'm on leave. When it ends, my 30-day notice will be up. By law, I'm entitled to resign whether you approve it or not. From now on, the company no longer concerns me."I tapped the screen and ended the call without hesitation. On the other end, Victor's angry shouting was cut off abruptly.Meanwhile, Janet, who had been acting all high and mighty in the office, froze the second she saw the investigators from the tax department. Before she could react, her phone lit up with back-to-back calls from her husband.She picked up, softened her voice, and said, "Honey—"But Victor cut her off, practically roaring. "What did you have Henry sign off on? Where did the funds in that account go? I want a report right now! Are you out of your mind?"How's the company supposed to operate with an expense this big? And why wasn't I informed?"Janet hesitated, then let out a playful whine. "Honey, didn't you tell me the company was about to

The elevator doors slid shut, sealing off the chaos.On the first day of my leave, I turned off all work chat notifications and set my phone to silent mode. The quiet felt almost unreal.I no longer had to explain why receipts needed to be verified or keep walking people through how to attach them properly.I no longer had to stay up late reconciling a one-cent discrepancy, and I certainly didn't have to cater to Janet, who knew nothing about finance but still barked orders.Those former coworkers mocked me for being unfeeling. I wondered if they had ever considered that if they hadn't kept repeating the same mistakes, I wouldn't have had to keep correcting them.With work off my back, I slept until I woke up on my own. It had been ages since that happened.After I got up, I hit the farmers' market for fresh produce and made myself a full breakfast. My phone lit up now and then with unknown numbers and calls from the office, but I ignored them all.I didn't have to guess. It was

A week later, my former subordinate, Peter Anderson, slipped me a message. The company had been placed under a formal investigation.The outrageous expense reports Henry had approved were merely the trigger.He hadn't just approved things improperly. Investigators found he exploited temporary system access to award himself several bonuses. The sums were small, but the line had been crossed.The tax authorities and the police followed the trail and uncovered more.Edward's sales department had been using fake invoices for years to funnel cash into a slush fund. In total, the amounts rose to a level of serious embezzlement.Janet treated the corporate accounts as her personal ATM, buying bags and jewelry and even charging her home's property fees to the company.As finance director, she demonstrated a lack of basic financial competence and abused her authority. The violations were obvious.By then, all three had already been taken into custody. Anyone could see they were staring d