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All Chapters of The Night I Took It Back: Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

18 Chapters

Chapter 11 The Shipment That Backfired

The material looked wrong the moment I saw it, and it felt wrong when I handled it. The color was dull, impurities were scattered throughout the batch, and the granules had almost no resilience when I pressed them between my fingers. I didn't need a lab report to know what I was looking at. This was old, degraded stock that had likely been sitting around for more than three years. There was no chance it would pass a proper quality inspection. I brushed the dust from my hands and turned toward Kevin. "Don't accept this shipment." Then, I looked at Ricky. My expression turned cold. "How dare you bring scrap like this into a public assistance project!" Ricky's face changed for a second, but he quickly forced himself to stay calm. "Mike, don't make accusations you can't prove. These materials came from a legitimate supplier and passed inspection before delivery. "You just became Chief Engineer. What do you know about raw materials? This looks more like you're using your pos

Chapter 12 Someone Broke In

Sharon got straight to the point. "Someone has filed a formal complaint against you. He claims you abused your authority to target his company after he refused to pay you a kickback. "Prepare any relevant documents. Internal Compliance will meet with you tomorrow afternoon to verify the allegation." I stared at the screen, a mocking smile slowly forming on my face. 'Ricky, you really are getting desperate. You got caught taking kickbacks, and your answer is to accuse me of the same thing? Fine. If you're determined to hand me another chance to expose you, I'll gladly take it.' ... The next afternoon, Sharon arrived at my office with two colleagues from Internal Compliance. The atmosphere turned solemn as soon as the door clicked shut behind them. Sharon sat across from me and got straight to the point. "Mike, Ricky has formally accused you of demanding a kickback and retaliating against his company when he refused. We need your account of what happened." I stayed calm

Chapter 13 A Bribe in My Mother's Account

Ricky breaking into my apartment and stealing the USB drive told me one thing. He was desperate. He had a 100,000-dollar kickback to repay and gambling debts closing in on him. So, he was trying to destroy the evidence I had against him before making one last move. I immediately pulled out my phone and called my parents. "Mom, Dad, I need you to keep an eye on your bank accounts for the next few days." My voice turned grave as I asserted, "Don't touch the money if you notice any large transfer comes in from someone you don't recognize. Call me immediately." They were confused, but they could tell from my tone that I wasn't playing around. I ended the call and walked over to the window once I made sure that they knew the stakes. Night had already fallen upon the city. In my previous life, Ricky had embezzled 500,000 dollars in supplier advance payments to cover his gambling debts. He lost the money, tried to flee the country, and was later arrested. I had backed him in

Chapter 14 Money Never Lies

"Since Ricky claims I accepted a bribe, then where's his proof?" I asked. "Does he have a recording of me asking for money? A signed agreement? Anything that shows I demanded payment from him?" The lead investigator frowned at my questions. "What we do know is that 300,000 dollars was transferred into your mother's account." "Yes, that part is true." I reached inside my jacket and pulled out a stack of documents. "The money did go into her account, but it wasn't a bribe. Ricky embezzled supplier advance payments and transferred the money there to frame me." The investigator's expression sharpened. I slid a printed copy of my mom's bank statement across the table. "This is the transaction record from her account. The 300,000 dollars came in at 10 a.m. today. Neither my mother nor I had any prior dealings with the account that sent it." Then, I placed another document beside it. "This is the police report from the break-in at my apartment three days ago. Ricky broke in and stol

Chapter 15 Now It Was Her Turn to Pay

Internal Compliance followed the trail of the 300,000-dollar advance payment. They quickly confirmed that Ricky had embezzled the money and transferred it to my mother's account in an attempt to frame me. That was only the beginning. As investigators dug deeper into his financial records, they discovered that Ricky had repeatedly used his position to falsify procurement expenses over the past six months. Eventually, they learned that he had pocketed more than 800,000 dollars in total. Combined with his earlier attempt to frame me for leaking confidential documents and the evidence linking him to illegal gambling, the case against him grew far more serious. Ricky was placed in criminal detention pending further proceedings. The person who had used his connections to get Ricky into the partner company was also implicated in the investigation and received severe disciplinary action. Now that the investigation was finally complete, my name was cleared once and for all. The R&

Chapter 16 The Life She Chose

"You're about to face a mountain of debt and repayment claims," I told her coldly. "So, enjoy your roses of debt." Then, I turned and walked away without looking back. Andrea's desperate scream echoed behind me. She remained on the ground for several moments, watching me disappear into the distance. However, it seemed that she was far from done. She scrambled to her feet and rushed after me, as if something inside her had snapped in her desperation to be free of her nightmare of a reality. "Mike! You can't leave!" She grabbed my arm again and held on desperately. Her remaining hand moved protectively over the slight curve of her stomach as tears streamed down her face. "I know I made mistakes, but the baby is innocent! This is your child, Mike. Can you really stand by and let your own baby be born with a father in prison?" She tightened her grip on my arm. "Ricky could get a lighter sentence if you write a letter pleading for leniency. Then, the three of us could still

Chapter 17 Everything I Once Lost

The selection process went more smoothly than I had expected. I had the support of everyone on the selection committee, what with my technical background, project management experience, and the reputation I had earned from handling the assistance project crisis. I was unanimously appointed Deputy Technical Director of the R&D Center. The assistance project I had overseen also produced outstanding results and received the company's annual Innovation Award. My career was moving exactly where I wanted it to go ever since I was promoted. My personal life was also experiencing a welcome change. Sharon's work on Ricky's corruption case earned her recognition within Internal Compliance, along with a well-deserved promotion. Our work continued to bring us together. We often traveled to partner companies for inspections and investigations. As we spent so much time working side by side, the distance between us gradually disappeared. There was no dramatic confession or grand dec

Chapter 18 One Last Meeting

"Mike! Please! I was wrong! I really regret everything!" Ricky's voice cracked through the phone as tears streamed down his face. He pressed himself against the glass, completely stripped of the arrogance he once carried. "I can't take it in here anymore. I'm barely holding on. Andrea got rid of the baby and disappeared. She left all the debts behind for me. My parents are too ashamed to even visit me. "Mike, please. For the sake of everything we used to have, help me. Find someone who can reduce my sentence. Please. I'm begging you." I watched him quietly. I found myself feeling bereft of any satisfaction in seeing him in this state. I also felt no vindictive anger either. Somewhere along the way, even the hatred I'd once harbored for him had disappeared. Ricky no longer mattered enough for me to hate him. I picked up the phone and said, "Ricky, you made your own choices. You didn't care about our friendship when you framed me. You certainly didn't care about the conse

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