The morning sun streamed through his office windows as he pored over the IT report Maya had compiled. Every line of code, every timestamp, every digital fingerprint pointed to one person: Marcus Webb. But something did not add up—spoofing an executive’s email and forging digital signatures required access to systems far beyond what a marketing director should have.
“Lost in thought again, audit boy?”
He looked up to find Eric leaning against the doorframe, Charlotte just behind him carrying a large coffee and a stack of blueprints.
“Could you not call me that in front of my team?” he said, though there was no real bite to his words.
“Sorry, sorry—Mr. Head of Auditing Extraordinaire.” Eric grinned, moving to drop a folder on his desk. “Charlotte found something in the construction permits—looks like Veridian Solutions listed the same address as a shell company Webb’s brother used five years ago.”
Charlotte set the coffee down in front of him—black, exactly how he liked it. “I also pulled the bidding records from when we won the Orion contract. Webb Construction had the lowest bid, but we got the project because our design was more sustainable. They filed an appeal that got rejected two weeks before Marcus joined Stellar Crest.”
“Interesting timing.” He took a sip of coffee, then frowned. “This is from the café three blocks away. How did you know—”
“Let’s just say I’ve been asking around.” She smiled, and he noticed the way her green eyes lit up when she looked at him. “Plus, Maya mentioned you refuse to drink the office coffee because you say it tastes like ‘burnt cardboard mixed with regret.’”
He nodded his thanks and turned back to his screen, his attention already returning to the data. He did not register the way she lingered for a moment, or how her fingers brushed lightly against the edge of his desk before she moved to sit across from him. Eric, however, noticed everything—he shot him a knowing look and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Focus,” he muttered, tapping his silver pen against the desk. “Charlotte, you said you had blueprints to show me?”
“Right.” She spread them out across his desk, leaning forward to point at a section of the development. “See this? The smart grid infrastructure—we’ve got fiber optic cables running through every building. But according to the invoices from Veridian, they supplied us with copper wiring instead. If that’s true, the entire system will fail within six months.”
“Which would cost the company hundreds of millions in repairs.” He made a note in his notebook. “Did you receive the materials yourself?”
“No—they were delivered directly to the site while I was out of town for a conference. Marcus signed for them.”
“Of course he did.” Eric flopped down on the couch in the corner of the office. “So Webb sets us up with fake materials, falsifies the paperwork to make it look like I did it, and then tips off the SEC to cover his tracks. Seems pretty cut and dry.”
“Too cut and dry.” He stood and walked to the window, looking down at the city below. “Webb has the motive, but does he have the means? Someone had to approve the transfer of funds—his authorization level would not be high enough.”
Charlotte stood too, moving to stand beside him. “What if he had help? Someone higher up who wanted Orion to fail.”
“Like Hayes?” Eric asked from the couch. “But why would he sabotage his own company’s biggest project?”
“Maybe he is not the one benefiting.” He turned away from the window, his mind racing. “If Orion fails, Stellar Crest’s stock will drop. Someone who shorted our stock could make a fortune.”
“Or someone who wants to buy us out at a discount.” Charlotte’s voice was thoughtful. “There has been talk of a merger with Global Tech Solutions for months now.”
His phone buzzed. Maya’s name appeared on the screen.
“Boss,” she said urgently. “I just got access to Hayes’s personal financial records. He has been transferring large sums to an account in Switzerland—same bank as the Veridian offshore fund. The trail leads straight back to him.”
“Okay,” he said, slipping his phone into his pocket. “We go to Hayes now. Not to accuse him—we deliver a preliminary update. Let him think we are reporting progress, then lay everything out.”
As they hurried toward the elevator, Eric nodded. “Clever. He will be off guard, expecting us to pin it all on me.”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out into the sleek, quiet executive floor. Charlotte walked a step closer to him, her hand brushing against his arm for just a moment.
“I know this is a lot,” she said softly. “But you are handling it really well. Most people would be panicking.”
The sudden warmth caught him off guard. His thumb slipped against the side of his silver pen, and it dropped. The metallic clatter against the marble floor felt incredibly loud in the quiet hallway. He knelt to pick it up, his pulse spiking at a rate that defied his usual baseline.
“I prefer to focus on facts,” he said, his voice a fraction tighter than usual as he stood back up and adjusted his jacket. “They are consistent and verifiable. Emotions are not.”
Behind them, Eric suppressed a laugh. “Facts are reliable, sure. But they are also not nearly as fun as, say, noticing when a talented engineer has been bringing you coffee just to spend a few minutes talking.”
Charlotte’s cheeks flushed pink, but she stood her ground. “He is not wrong—I do think you are impressive. And I enjoy working with you.”
He nodded, turning toward Hayes’s office. “This is not the time for personal conversations. We have a report to deliver.”
They reached Hayes’s door and knocked once before entering. The CEO looked up from his desk, a practiced, confident smile on his face.
“Ah, there you are. I trust you have made progress? I assume you have found evidence confirming Eric’s mismanagement?”
“We have made progress,” he said, stepping further into the room and placing his folder on the desk. “But the facts do not point where you expect.”
Hayes’s smile faltered slightly. “Is that so?”
“Let us begin with the physical evidence.” He nodded to Charlotte, who stepped forward and laid out material samples and test results. “Veridian Solutions was contracted to supply high-grade fiber optic cable. Testing confirms what our site inspections found: they delivered low-quality copper wire, which will degrade rapidly and cause widespread system failure. This was not a mistake—it was a deliberate substitution.”
He turned back to the folder, opening it to show spreadsheets and transfer records.
“Now the financial trail. Twenty-seven million dollars was paid to Veridian over three months. IT confirmed the digital certificates authorizing those payments were generated from inside this building. And thanks to Maya’s work, we have traced the full flow: the funds went from Stellar Crest to the offshore account, then through a series of shell companies, and finally into a private account registered to you in Switzerland. The timestamps, the routing numbers, the amounts—they all match. There is no discrepancy.”
Hayes’s face had gone pale, his fingers tightening around the edge of his desk. “You have no right to access my personal accounts—”
“I have full authority under the board’s investigation mandate,” he cut in, his voice steady and precise. “And numbers do not lie. Every transfer aligns perfectly with the payments to Veridian. Marcus Webb was the one who signed for materials and planted the initial tip, but he was acting on your instructions. You needed Orion to fail so you could drive down the stock price and profit from the planned merger with Global Tech Solutions.”
Hayes sank back into his chair, the fight draining out of him as he realized the trap had been laid with undeniable logic.
“You underestimated how thoroughly we would follow the trail,” he said, closing his folder. “You thought it would be simpler to blame the project manager and close the case. But you built your scheme on paper—and paper leaves a traceable path.”
An hour later, they sat in the company cafeteria—Eric with a cheeseburger, Charlotte with a salad, and him with a cup of tea he had made himself.
“So,” Eric said, taking a huge bite of his burger. “Now that we have saved the company, cleared my name, and probably got Hayes facing serious charges… can we talk about what happened in the hallway earlier?”
“Eric!” Charlotte’s cheeks were bright red, but she laughed despite herself.
“It is not relevant to the project,” he said, stirring his tea with precise movements. “She is a competent engineer, and I appreciate her contributions. That is all.”
“All?” Eric leaned back in his chair, grinning. “Come on, man. I saw you fumble your pen. You never fumble anything.”
Charlotte set down her fork and looked directly at him. “It is okay, really. I know you are focused on your work, and that is fine. I just think… maybe one day you will see that there is more to life than spreadsheets and timelines.”
She stood up, gathering her things. “I will see you both tomorrow. We have got a lot to do to get ready for groundbreaking next week.”
As she walked away, Eric nudged him with his elbow. “You know she is perfect for you, right? Smart, can handle herself, does not let you get away with being too rigid.”
He picked up his tea cup, his eyes briefly lingering on the water bottle she had left behind before turning back to the stack of reports beside him. “She is a valuable member of the team. That is what matters.”
Eric grinned, finishing his burger. “Sure, sure. ‘Valuable team member.’ I will remember that when she is designing your office space after you finally realize what you are missing.”
He did not respond, but as he reached for his silver pen, his fingers brushed over the spot where it had slipped from his grasp earlier. He set the water bottle aside carefully, intending to return it. Facts and efficiency were still his foundation—but for a moment, he found himself remembering the warmth of that brief touch, and the way his pulse had quickened. He pushed the thought aside, but it lingered, faint and unspoken, beneath the numbers on the page.