Chapter 2 - THE CORPORATE ASSASSIN
By 7:00 AM,
I was standing in front of the glass towers of Whitman & Associates,
my hair disheveled and my expensive wool coat smelling of cold sweat.
I expected the security guards to greet me with their usual deferential nods,
perhaps even a joke about the early hour.
Instead,
the head of security,
a man I had personally hired five years ago,
stepped in front of the revolving doors.
"I'm sorry,
Mr. Whitman,"
he said,
his voice devoid of its usual warmth,
"your access badge has been deactivated."
I stared at him,
my mouth hanging open like a fool.
"Deactivated?
This is my name on the building,
Marcus!
Move out of the way!"
He didn't move,
and his hand moved subtly toward the radio on his belt.
"The board of directors held an emergency meeting at midnight,
sir.
A whistleblower provided a comprehensive digital trail of embezzlement and personal expenses."
The word "whistleblower" hit me like a physical blow to the stomach.
Hannah.
She hadn't just been a housewife,
she was the person who had set up my filing system,
the person who knew every password I had ever recycled.
She didn't just have the photos,
she had the ledger.
I pushed past Marcus,
desperate to get to my office,
but two other guards intercepted me,
their grips firm and unforgiving.
"Your personal effects will be couriered to a designated address,
Daniel,"
a voice called out from the lobby.
It was Arthur Sterling,
my lead partner and the man who had mentored me since I was twenty-five.
He looked at me with a mixture of disgust and profound disappointment.
"Hannah came to me yesterday afternoon,"
Arthur said,
walking toward me with a slow,
measured pace.
"She didn't come to beg for a settlement,
she came to save the company from the liability you've become."
"Arthur,
wait,
she's emotional,
she's making things up because of a domestic dispute—"
"She brought the forensic audits,
Daniel,"
Arthur interrupted,
his voice cutting through my lies like a knife.
"You've been billing the firm for hotel rooms in Paris,
jewelry in Manhattan,
and even the lease on Olivia Bennett's apartment."
The lobby felt like it was spinning,
the marble floors turning into a vortex of my own making.
Hannah had been the silent partner all along,
the one who understood the books better than the accountants I paid to balance them.
I realized then that the "SOLD" sign on my house was just the beginning of the liquidation.
She was liquidating my entire existence.
"The police have been briefed,
but we're giving you twenty-four hours to surrender before they issue a warrant,"
Arthur said,
turning his back on me.
I stood on the sidewalk,
the commuters of Manhattan rushing past me,
oblivious to the man whose life had just been erased in a single night.
I reached for my phone to call Olivia,
the woman I had destroyed my life for,
hoping for a shred of comfort.
"The number you have dialed is no longer in service,"
the automated voice sang.
Olivia was gone,
too.
May you like
She was a shark,
and she had smelled the blood in the water long before I did.
