Chapter 4

I texted back quietly, "My head hurts. I can't review any reports."

A little after 4:00 pm, someone was already singing Henry's praises in the team chat.

"Henry really gets things done fast!"

"This is how it should've been. Certain rule-quoting fossils who act like robots should've stepped aside ages ago!"

Basking in the empty praise, Henry got carried away. He tagged me in the company-wide channel.

"Ronan, from where I sit, you're the one who made reimbursements complicated. Everyone's been thrilled since I took over."

I ignored him.

When I didn't bite, Henry got irritated. For a while after that, he made a point of sending me his progress updates every day.

Unlike prior practice, he signed off on every advance payment request from the sales and operations department and even threw in a few extra advances.

"Approved East Coast Sales Team's one-million-dollar team-building budget for Q3 and Q4."

I looked at the message he sent me and said nothing. That sales team had been losing money for two consecutive quarters, and Victor had already been considering layoffs.

On top of that, Janet showed up every day in a new outfit with a new bag, parading them in front of me.

When our eyes met, she lifted her chin and said, "Some watchdogs get uppity when they're guarding someone else's purse strings. If the dog won't heel, you replace it."

Henry fell into step behind her, siding with her. "Ms. Walker, that's a new crocodile skin bag, right? Name a number and I'll reimburse you right away."

Suddenly, a coworker from another department came over. "Ronan, the account is short a dollar. Do you want to get everyone to double-check?"

I rubbed my temples. "My eyes hurt. I can't do this anymore."

Henry shouldered him aside. "Double-check what? What a hassle. It's just a dollar. I'll cover it."

Then, another coworker approached. "Ronan, the tax filing deadline is right around the corner. What should we do?"

Henry rolled his eyes. "File what? Ronan just doesn't have the chops. After all these years, he still can't handle taxes. I'll take the auditors out for dinner, grease the wheels, and save our company a ton of money!"

I watched them as if I were watching a ship go under. This time, I refused to play along.

…

Soon enough, the month-end close arrived. After I confirmed all backups and handovers were done, I opened the HR system and cashed out my remaining paid time off.

A second later, I got Janet's reply. "Your leave is approved. You're an eyesore here, so leave early!"

I wasn't surprised. I shut down my computer with a satisfied click and got ready to head out. But the moment I stood, my phone rang.

Victor sounded awful, voice tight with panic. "Ronan, what the hell are you trying to pull? Where's the money in the company account? Dozens of transfers were made, totaling nearly 80 million dollars! Where's my money?"

I kept my tone even. "Mr. Manser, the company account is under Henry Fielder's management. Ms. Walker personally appointed him, with authorization from several department heads. I'm not clear on what was approved or how."

Suddenly, I heard footsteps echoing in the hall, and a coworker burst in, clearly panicked. "People from the tax department are here! They received a system risk flag and are conducting an audit!"