All Chapters of HIS SECRET ADDICTION: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

39 Chapters

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Damien's POVThe deposition request arrived Wednesday morning.Federal investigators wanted to interview me about Maya's network, my knowledge of company finances, and any suspicious activity I might have witnessed over the past five years. Standard procedure, Sophie said. Nothing to worry about unless I had something to hide.I didn't. But the request came with a subpoena for financial records dating back eight years, which meant they were looking for something specific.Marcus came to my office after lunch."They're digging into the Chicago deal," he said, closing the door behind him. "The acquisition we made four years ago. Maya processed the paperwork.""That deal was clean.""The deal was clean. The financing wasn't." Marcus pulled up documents on his laptop. "I went back through everything last night. Three of the investors who backed us were shell corporations. They've since been dissolved. No paper trail, no beneficial owners listed anywhere."I sat down. "How much money are w

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Alex's POVThe board meeting started at eight.I wasn't invited, but Victoria texted me updates from inside the room. Sterling had prepared a presentation. Graphs showing stock volatility. Articles about the investigation. A timeline of events that made it look like Damien had been asleep at the wheel for years.*He's calling for a vote of no confidence,* Victoria texted at eight thirty.I stared at my phone. Chen had warned us this might happen. Sophie had prepared counterarguments. But seeing it actually unfold was different.*How's it looking?* I texted back.*Close. Marcus is handling it.*I couldn't sit still. Walked to the break room, made coffee I didn't want, walked back. Jordan passed me in the hallway."Heard about the board meeting," he said."News travels fast.""Sterling's been talking to people for days. Building support." Jordan stopped. "For what it's worth, most of the junior executives think he's full of shit. Cross didn't create this mess. He's just the one dealing

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Damien's POVThe subpoena for company records arrived Thursday morning.Every financial transaction for the past decade. Every contract Maya had processed. Every vendor relationship she'd approved. The scope was massive, and Sophie estimated it would take three weeks minimum to compile everything."They're building a case," she said in my office. "Not against you specifically. Against the company. They want to see how deep the network went.""And if it went deeper than Maya?""Then we have a bigger problem." She set down her briefcase. "I need to bring in a forensic accounting team. Full audit. We need to find problems before the investigators do."I approved it. Marcus started coordinating with accounting. By noon we had a team of six auditors setting up in the conference room, boxes of files already stacked against the walls.Alex stopped by at lunch."This is going to get expensive," he said, looking at the auditors through the glass."Already is. Sophie's billing two hundred an ho

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Alex's POVDamien spent Sunday locked in his home office with Marcus and Victoria on video calls.I stayed out of it until three in the afternoon when he emerged looking like he hadn't slept. He probably hadn't."We found two more payments," he said, dropping onto the couch. "Both in the last month. Both to shell companies we thought were closed.""How much?""Thirty thousand total. Small enough to slip through if you're not looking for them." He rubbed his face. "Whoever's doing this knows the system intimately. They know which accounts get flagged and which don't. They know the approval thresholds. They've been here long enough to understand how everything works.""That could be fifty people.""I know." He looked at me. "The board meeting is tomorrow at nine. I'm disclosing everything. The shadow vendors, the recent payments, the fact that someone's still active inside the company.""Sterling's going to destroy you.""Probably." He said it without emotion. Just fact. "But it's the r

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Damien's POVThe board meeting started exactly at nine.All ten members were present. Sterling at one end of the table, me at the other. Victoria and Marcus flanking me. Sophie took notes because that was her job, and I still had no proof she was anything other than what she appeared to be."Thank you all for coming on short notice," I said. "We've discovered additional issues related to the Maya Patel investigation that require immediate disclosure."Sterling leaned back in his chair. "More issues. Wonderful."I ignored him and pulled up the presentation Marcus had prepared. "Our internal audit has identified a network of shell vendors created by Maya over the past eight years. Total funds moved through these fake companies: eight point three million dollars."The room went silent."Eight million," Henderson repeated. "How did this go undetected?""Maya controlled the vendor approval system. She created the checks and balances she was supposed to be monitored by." I clicked to the ne

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Alex's POVBy Wednesday we'd eliminated eight names from the list.Background checks came back clean. Financial records showed nothing suspicious. No connections to Maya beyond normal work interactions. That left four people: two senior accountants, one operations manager, and Sophie.Damien still couldn't let go of his suspicion about Sophie, even though every piece of evidence said she was clean."She has motive," he said Wednesday night. We were spread out across his living room floor with printouts and laptops. "Legal sees everything. She'd know exactly how to move money without getting caught.""She'd also know that eventually someone would find it," I countered. "Sophie's too smart to leave a trail this obvious if she was actually involved.""Unless the trail is intentionally obvious. Pointing us away from something bigger."I set down the file I was reading. "Damien, you need to stop. You're spiraling.""I'm being thorough.""You're fixating because you can't accept that you mi

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Damien's POVChen arrested David Reeves at six in the morning.I got the call at six fifteen while Alex was still asleep. They'd picked him up at his apartment with a warrant. Found fifty thousand dollars in cash hidden in a closet safe. He'd lawyered up immediately and wasn't talking.By seven, the story was on three business news sites. By eight, Sterling had called an emergency board meeting for ten.Alex woke up to me sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed."It's happening," he said. Not a question."Board meeting at ten. Sterling's calling the vote. Chen arrested Reeves an hour ago." I stood. "This is it."He got up without another word. We moved around each other in the bathroom, getting ready in silence. There wasn't much to say that we hadn't already said.In the car, he reached for my hand."Whatever happens today," he said, "we figure out what comes next together."I nodded. Couldn't quite manage words yet.**************,****The board room was packed by nine forty

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Alex's POVI submitted my resignation an hour after the vote.Damien didn't ask me to. Didn't even know I was doing it until I handed him a copy of the letter I'd sent to HR. We were back at his apartment, sitting in the wreckage of everything that had just happened."What did you do?" he asked, reading it."What I should have done in the board room. Removed myself from the situation." I sat across from him. "Sterling can't use our relationship against you anymore if I don't work there.""I don't work there either.""Not officially. But Victoria and Marcus are already planning how to get you back. I heard them on the phone in the car." I leaned forward. "They can't do that if Sterling keeps pointing to me as evidence of your poor judgment. So I'm gone. Clean break.""You loved that job.""I loved the work. The company?" I shrugged. "It's just a company. There are others."He set the letter down. "You're doing it again.""Doing what?""Building an exit strategy. Making yourself expenda

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Damien's POVSecurity caught Sophie before she reached the server room.Chen arrested her at seven. By eight, the story was everywhere. By nine, Sterling called me."You were right about Sophie," he said. No apology in his voice. Just acknowledgement. "The board is meeting tomorrow to discuss reinstating you.""I don't want to be reinstated."Silence on the other end. "What?""You heard me. I'm done, Richard. Find someone else to run the company." I hung up before he could respond.Alex looked up from his laptop. "You just turned down your company.""I turned down Sterling's company. There's a difference." I sat next to him on the couch. "He'll fight me for months. Undermine every decision. Make my life miserable because I proved him wrong about Sophie. I don't have the energy for that anymore.""What do you have energy for?""This." I gestured between us. "Figuring out what comes next without a board breathing down my neck."He closed his laptop. "Are you sure? Because Victoria calle

CHAPTER THIRTY

Alex's POVThursday morning I woke up to Damien making breakfast.Actual breakfast. Not coffee and whatever was in the fridge. He was standing at the stove with a spatula, concentrating on eggs like they were a quarterly report."You're cooking," I said from the doorway."Attempting to cook. There's a difference." He flipped an egg. It broke. "Damn."I came over and took the spatula from him. "Lower heat. You're rushing it.""I cook everything on high.""I know. That's why everything you make tastes burned." I adjusted the burner and fixed the broken egg as best I could. "What brought this on?""I don't know. I felt like doing something normal." He leaned against the counter. "We've been eating takeout for three months. I thought I should learn to make actual food.""Very domestic of you.""Is that bad?""No. Just unexpected." I plated the eggs and handed him one. "Good unexpected."We ate at the counter. The eggs were mediocre but edible. Damien looked unreasonably proud of himself f

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