Alle Kapitel von Ex-Boss Wants My Gear? Enjoy the Audit: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 9

Bill's POV"But I'm still taking my equipment with me," I cut Karen off.Then I turned, opened the office door, and walked out.Behind me came the sound of her slamming her hand hard on the desk."Just you try!"Fine. I would. I wasn't going to leave a single thing of mine behind.…The moment I walked out of Karen's office, I clearly noticed a difference in the way my colleagues looked at me. Before, they'd at least nod or say hello, but now, they went out of their way to avoid me.I crouched down next to my desk and continued packing my equipment into boxes when I noticed movement near the break room.Three colleagues were gathered around Reed. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but phrases such as "company property", "taking advantage", and "shameless" drifted over every so often.He was likely doing this on purpose. His voice was just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, but not so loud that I'd have an excuse to confront him directly. It was a level of malice th

Bill's POVI shook with pure rage.Fine. If that was how they wanted to play it, then I'd just have to play along.I whipped out my phone and dialed 911. "Hello? I'd like to report a crime."…The police soon arrived."Who called the police?" Officer McKellan, the older officer, asked as he surveyed the scene.I raised my hand and stepped forward."I did. Officer, I work for this company, and today is my last day. I was packing up my personal belongings, but the company has forcibly seized my private property worth 100,000 dollars."Officer McKellan ordered Karen to retrieve the boxes."Officer, he's lying!" Reed exclaimed, rushing forward."Those items clearly belong to the company. He's trying to take advantage of us. Now that he's leaving, he wants to take the company's equipment along with him. Our CEO, Ms. Halfpenny, is kind enough not to argue with him, and this is how he repays her—by turning around and accusing us!"Officer McKellan looked at Reed. "You said the equ

Third-Person POV"Who reported us?" Karen asked, squeezing the words through clenched teeth. "Was it Bill Kramer?"Melissa didn't answer her question. She merely pulled a document out of her briefcase."Ms. Halfpenny, are the pieces of equipment listed on this form company property?"A look of sudden realization washed over Karen's face, and she snorted coldly."Go tell Bill to stop obsessing over this gear! They belong to the company!"Melissa nodded. "From 2023 through 2026, your company received a batch of photography equipment with a total value of approximately 100,000 dollars as fixed assets. These assets weren't recorded in the company's accounting books, and the company failed to declare or pay the required corporate income taxes. Is that information accurate?"Karen's face stiffened for a split second before she waved her hand. "No, that's not accurate. Those pieces of equipment are one of our employees' personal property. They have nothing to do with the company's fina

Bill's POVI stared at the text message, completely frozen for a good five seconds.Extortion? When had I ever demanded money or property from Karen? The equipment was mine, and I was simply trying to get back what already belonged to me.I'd reported her for tax evasion because she'd insisted the equipment belonged to the company. Those were two entirely separate matters. At no point did I use the report as leverage to get my gear back.But Karen had forcibly linked the two issues together, twisting them into a criminal charge of using the threat of reporting them to extort its assets.If the police formally took up the report, the entire situation would shift from a tax investigation to a criminal case. Even if I were ultimately cleared, the sheer process of being summoned, investigated, or even placed under pretrial restrictions would be more than enough to get me permanently blacklisted by the entire industry.Who would dare hire someone who'd been investigated by the police?