Chapter 153 The End

Chapter 153 The End
She sat in her tiny office and stared at her phone. She had Rhys's number. She hadn't deleted it. She told herself it was because she might need his team someday, technically his contract has not been formally terminated. That was a lie. She kept it because sometimes late at night she would open her contacts and look at his name and remember what it felt like to not be alone.

She couldn't call him.

She couldn't sit in this small room and do nothing either.

She called Albridge back.

"Find me another option," she said.

"Chloe, there isn't.."

"Then find me a forensic accountant who works fast."

"I already told you, the good ones have waiting lists. We're looking at weeks before.."

"Then find me a bad one who works fast."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Albridge. I can't call Rhys. Find me something else."

Albridge was quiet for a moment. "Can I ask why?"

"Because I told him to stay away from me and now I might sound weak if I call him back."

The words came out honest. She pressed her lips together.

Albridge didn't react. "Okay," he said. "I'll make some calls. But Chloe, listen to me. Whatever you decide, you need to move fast. If Julian knows you're looking into this, he'll start destroying records. He'll accelerate whatever he's doing. You might have days, not weeks."

"I know."

"Do you? Because right now you're choosing your pride over your company."

It wasn't often that Albridge spoke to her like that. She didn't like it. But she didn't argue.

"I'll handle it," she said.

She hung up and spent the next four hours doing everything she could do without access to the company systems. She called old employees who had been let go. She talked to vendors. She asked questions about contracts and payments and who they had been dealing with for the last three months.

Most of them didn't want to talk. Some of them were afraid. A few of them gave her pieces.

A woman named Patty from procurement told her that Julian had changed the payment system. All vendor payments now went through a new portal. A portal that only Julian and Daniel Reed had access to.

A man named Glen from shipping told her that three company trucks had been sold. The money didn't go into the company account. He didn't know where it went.

A former accountant named Sandra told her that the books had been audited twice in three months. Both times by the same firm. A firm Sandra had never heard of.

Chloe wrote everything down in a notebook. Names. Dates. Numbers. She filled twelve pages.

By the end of the day, she had a picture. Not a complete one. More like a puzzle with most of the pieces missing. But she could see the shape of it. Julian had been systematic. He had replaced key people. Changed systems. Created new processes that only he controlled. He had built a wall around the money and given himself the only key.

She leaned back and rubbed her eyes. She was tired. She picked up her phone. She opened her contacts. She scrolled to R.

Rhys Thorne.

She stared at the name for a long time.

She thought about what she would say. She practiced it in her head. Hi. I know I told you to stay away. I know I didn't call when I should have. I know you're probably angry. I need your help. It sounded pathetic. It sounded like exactly what she was. A woman who had destroyed the only good thing in her life and now wanted it back because it was useful.

She closed her contacts and put the phone down.

She opened her notebook instead. She read through her notes again. She looked at the gaps. The missing pieces. The things she couldn't find without access, without tools, without someone who knew how to follow money through a system designed to hide it.

She needed Aegis.

She needed Rhys.

She turned to a fresh page in the notebook and wrote at the top:

What I can do tomorrow.

She made a list.

1\. Get access to the server room
2\. Copy the financial records before Julian locks them
3\. Find out who the fake consulting companies are
4\. Talk to the two board members Julian didn't replace
5\. Get a court order freezing the company accounts

It was a good list. It was also a list she couldn't execute. She didn't have the authority anymore. Julian had made sure of that. The board had given him power. The systems were in his control. The people reported to him. She was a name on a door that didn't exist anymore.

She crossed out the list and wrote a new one.

1\. Find a way to remove Julian as acting CEO
2\. Everything else comes after that

She stared at the second list. It was honest. It was also impossible without help.

She closed the notebook and put it in her bag. She turned off the desk lamp. The room went dark except for the light from the parking lot window.

She walked out of the office. The hallway was empty. The cleaning crew had already been through. The floor was quiet.

She passed the elevator and stopped. She looked down the hall toward the stairs. The stairs led to the fourth floor. The fourth floor had the server room. The server room had the records she needed.

She walked to the stairs.

The door to the fourth floor was locked. She pulled on it anyway. It didn't move. She stood there for a moment, then turned around and went back down.

Even the stairs were locked now.

She left the building and got in her car. She sat in the parking lot for a few minutes. Her hands were on the steering wheel. She wasn't moving. She wasn't thinking. She was just sitting.

Her phone buzzed. A text from Rhys. Divorce papers have been emailed to you. City hall tomorrow.