Chapter 3 - THE CORPORATE AUDIT
The following morning at 8:30 a.m., a fleet of four black sedans pulled into the executive parking lot of Hollis Transit Systems' headquarters in Tysons Corner.
Stepping out of the lead vehicle was Marcus Vance—my chief forensic accountant—along with three corporate auditors and two armed security officers. I stepped out behind them, wearing a sharp charcoal-grey suit, my hair pulled back into an elegant, professional bun.
Inside the glass-and-steel lobby, employees were gathered near the reception desk, whispering anxiously as news of yesterday's court hearing spread through the company intranet.
When the elevator doors opened on the executive floor, Adrian was standing inside his corner office, frantically trying to download files from his master desktop computer onto a portable hard drive. Paige was sitting at her desk nearby, crying into a tissue while talking on her cell phone.
"Mr. Hollis," Marcus Vance announced, stepping through the glass doors of the executive suite with two security guards. "Step away from the computer immediately."
Adrian whipped around, holding the USB drive in his hand. "This is my personal computer! You have no authority to touch my files!"
"Actually, Adrian, he has every authority," I said, stepping into the office. "Under the terms of Judge Calder’s order, all digital assets, servers, and executive devices are under court-appointed forensic control."
I nodded to the security guards. They stepped forward and calmly escorted Adrian away from his desk. One of the IT specialists immediately stepped up, pulled the USB drive from Adrian's hand, and locked the terminal.
"Evelyn, please," Adrian pleaded, his voice shifting from anger to a frantic, sweating desperation. "We can work this out! We don't have to destroy the company! Think of the shareholders! Think of our reputation!"
"The shareholders are fine, Adrian," I said, walking behind his wide walnut desk and sitting down in the leather executive chair he had occupied for a decade. "In fact, I spoke with the top three municipal board members this morning. When they learned that the actual designer of the transit routing system was taking over operations, they reinstated the pending twenty-million-dollar expansion contract they had threatened to freeze under your management."
Adrian’s mouth fell open. "They... they talked to you?"
"I built the software, Adrian. I know every line of code, every contract route, and every operational budget. You were spending forty thousand dollars a month on private jets and luxury dinners with Paige, while delaying hardware maintenance for our local bus fleets."
Marcus Vance stepped forward, opening a thick leather ledger on the desk.
"Mrs. Lane," Marcus reported, "our initial scan of the corporate ledger indicates that over the last eighteen months, Mr. Hollis and Ms. Ellison authorized over $1.2 million in unauthorized personal expenditures processed as 'marketing expenses.' This includes jewelry, hotel suites in New York, and a lease on a condo in Arlington registered under Paige Ellison’s name."
I turned my eyes onto Paige, who shrank back against her chair.
"Ms. Ellison," I said quietly. "Your employment as Communications Director is terminated effective immediately for gross misuse of corporate funds and breach of fiduciary duty. Security will escort you from the building. If the stolen funds are not returned within forty-eight hours, we will file formal criminal grand larceny charges with the Commonwealth Attorney."
Paige grabbed her purse, bursting into hysterical sobs as the security guard gestured toward the elevator. She didn't even look at Adrian as she ran out of the room.
Adrian stood frozen in the center of the office, completely alone.
"What about me, Evelyn?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "What am I supposed to do?"
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I looked at the man I had once loved—the man who had stood in a courtroom twenty-four hours ago, ready to leave me penniless and take my sons away without a single drop of remorse.
"You are going to step down as CEO, Adrian," I told him, my voice cold as ice. "And then you are going to prepare for our final divorce settlement."
