Chapter 34 : Numbers Don't Lie

Chapter 34 : Numbers Don't Lie
Emma sat at her desk with the reports spread in front of her. Her pencil tapped against the paper, her eyes narrowing as she went back and forth between two spreadsheets. The numbers weren’t matching up. They hadn’t matched up all morning, no matter how many times she recalculated them.

“Emma?” James’ voice made her flinch. He was leaning against the cubicle wall with his usual coffee in hand.

She forced a smile. “Hey. What’s up?”

“You’ve been staring at those numbers for, what, three hours? Thought I’d check if you’re still alive.” He grinned.

Emma sighed. “Barely.” She flipped the page toward him. “Do you see this? The Cooper account, last month’s expense breakdown doesn’t add up with the invoice record. There’s a gap of nearly ten thousand dollars.”

James leaned closer, squinting at the columns. “That yeah, that’s weird, it's could be a clerical error.”

“Ten thousand isn’t clerical.” Her voice was sharper than she meant it to be. She lowered it quickly. “It looks deliberate.”

James frowned. “Deliberate how?”

Emma lowered her pencil and pressed her hand over the papers. “Someone’s been pulling information out of these accounts. I don’t know who yet, but if I follow the trail, it leads back inside the company.”

“Inside?” James lowered his voice too. “You mean like, an employee?”

She nodded. “Someone’s feeding confidential data outside and if it’s Cooper’s account they’re touching, that means it isn’t random. Whoever it is knows exactly where to look.”

James blinked at her. “That’s serious. Are you going to tell Cole?”

Emma hesitated, her stomach tight. “Not yet. I need to be sure before I bring this to him.”

“That's a big accusation though.” James said.

“I know.” She leaned back, rubbing her forehead. “That’s why I haven’t told anyone yet. I need to be sure before I even think about taking it to Cole.”

He hesitated, then asked, “You think Chloe could be involved?”

Emma’s head snapped up. “Chloe doesn’t even work here.”

“Yeah, but she’s close to the company.” He made a vague gesture. “She knows people and she shows up. If someone wanted to slip her something…”

Emma’s stomach tightened. The thought had crossed her mind, but hearing it said aloud made it heavier. “It would mean someone here is willingly handing things over.”

James looked uneasy. “That’s not the kind of thing you or I should be poking around in. It could blow back on us.”

“Then what do you suggest? Pretend I didn’t see it?”

“I’m saying, maybe you should let Cole deal with it.”

Emma gave a bitter laugh. “Cole doesn’t even know I exist half the time. You think he’d believe me if I walked in with this?”

James opened his mouth, closed it, then shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know, maybe. He does watch you more than you realize.”

Her chest tightened, but she ignored the comment. She stacked the papers neatly and tucked them into a folder. “Either way, this doesn’t leave here, not yet.”

“Got it.” James raised his hands in surrender. “Mum’s the word.”

She tried to smile but it didn’t reach her eyes.



By lunchtime, Emma’s mind was still spinning. She pushed her tray around in the cafeteria, not really eating. Across from her, Tessa raised an eyebrow.

“You look like someone ran over your cat.”

Emma glanced up. “It’s nothing.”

Tessa stabbed her fork into a salad leaf. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Emma leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Fine, but you can’t repeat this, not to anyone.”

“Cross my heart.”

“There’s something wrong with the Cooper accounts. Like… wrong-wrong. Information going missing.”

Tessa frowned. “Missing how?”

“Like someone inside is leaking it out and every time it happens, Chloe shows up around the company. Always smiling like she knows more than she should.” Emma said.

Tessa whistled softly. “That’s huge. Have you told Cole?”

Emma shook her head. “Not until I know for sure. I needsolid proof.”

“And how exactly are you planning to get that proof? Hack into the system? Go through everyone’s desk drawers?”

Emma’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I’ll figure it out.”

Tessa leaned back. “You know, you’re either very brave or very stupid.”

Emma gave a humorless laugh. “Maybe both.”



Later that afternoon, Emma carried the folder down the hall, her steps slow. She was on her way to Cole’s office, not to hand him the findings, but because he had called her in for an update on Cooper’s reports.

When she pushed the door open, he was already behind his desk, jacket off, tie loose. His eyes flicked up immediately. “You’re late.”

“Sorry,” she murmured, holding the folder tight.

He studied her for a moment, then leaned back in his chair. “Something you want to tell me?”

Her pulse quickened. She swallowed. “No. Everything is fine.”

“Mm. You look like you have something to say.” His gaze lingered before he said, “Close the door.”

She did, her hand trembling slightly on the handle. When she turned back, Cole was watching her carefully.

“Sit,” he said.

She sat, placing the folder in front of her.

“Cooper’s numbers,” he prompted.

Emma opened the folder and slid one report forward. “Here are the summaries you asked for. Everything looks stable.”

Cole’s brow furrowed as he scanned her face rather than the paper. “You hesitated before you said that.”

Her mouth went dry. “Did I?”

“Yes.” He tapped the report. “Don’t waste my time with half-truths, Emma. What’s wrong with these numbers?”

Her chest tightened. She could lie. She could say it was nothing but his eyes pinned her, sharp and unrelenting.

“There’s irregularities,” she admitted finally. “Gaps that don’t make sense.”

“How big?” Cole asked.

“Large enough to notice.” i answered.

Cole leaned back, steepling his hands. “And your conclusion?”

She hesitated. “It might not be an accident, I guess. I've been trying to figure things out.”

For a long moment, the only sound was the quiet ticking of the clock on the wall. Then Cole said, “Show me.”

Emma blinked. “What?”

“Show me the irregularities, don’t dance around it.” Cole said.

Her hands shook as she spread the papers out, pointing to the mismatched entries. “Here, and here, the timing, it lines up with when Cooper’s competitors launched their campaign. It’s too exact.”

Cole’s eyes moved across the papers, his face unreadable. Finally, he looked up. “You think we're having a leak?"

Emma’s throat tightened. “Yes.”

He studied her in silence for what felt like forever. Then he said, “Leave the folder.”

Her heart skipped. “What will you do?”

“That’s not your concern.”

Emma bit her lip. “But if Chloe..” She stopped too late.

His gaze sharpened. “Chloe what?”

“Nothing,” Emma said quickly. “Forget I said that.”

His eyes lingered on her face before he leaned back again. “Leave now!"

She rose, her legs unsteady, and left the office.

When the door clicked shut behind her, she let out a shaky breath. The numbers had spoken, and now Cole knew, but as she walked back down the hall, a chill settled in her stomach.

If someone inside the company really was feeding Chloe information, then the betrayal was closer than she dared to imagine.