Chapter 4 - THE MASK CRACKS
The chairman of the board,
Arthur Vance,
looked at the envelope with a mixture of confusion and dread.
He had known Levi since he was a junior associate,
he had mentored him,
paved the way for his rise.
“Hannah, what is this?” Arthur asked,
his voice gravelly.
“It’s a comprehensive audit of the marketing expansion fund,” I replied.
I took a seat at the end of the table,
the power in the room shifting toward me.
“I suggest you look at the reconciliation reports on page twelve.”
The other five board members exchanged glances.
One of them,
a woman named Evelyn,
reached for the envelope.
Just as she touched it,
the doors burst open.
Levi was there,
out of breath,
his hair disheveled.
“Don’t open that!” he shouted.
The room went silent.
Levi looked at me,
his eyes filled with a desperate,
white-hot rage.
“Arthur, Hannah is... she’s going through a mental health crisis,” Levi lied,
his voice shaking.
“We had a fight last night, and she’s trying to lash out. It’s personal.”
I didn’t blink.
I didn’t move.
I simply waited for the board to decide.
Arthur looked from Levi to the envelope,
then back to me.
“Personal fights don't usually involve thirty pages of financial documentation, Levi,” Arthur said quietly.
“This is nonsense!” Levi stepped forward,
trying to reach for the papers.
“Sit down, Levi,” Evelyn said,
her voice like iron.
She began to flip through the pages.
The sound of paper rustling was the only thing heard in the room.
I watched Levi’s face.
The "Boardroom Smile" was gone,
replaced by the look of a man who had just realized the floor was a trapdoor.
“Who is Claire Montgomery?” Evelyn asked,
looking up from a copy of a wire transfer.
Levi opened his mouth,
but no words came out.
“She’s the lead consultant for the new branding initiative,” I answered for him.
“She also happens to be his mistress.”
The room gasped,
a collective intake of breath that signaled the end of his reputation.
“The payments to her were funneled through L&C Holdings,” I continued,
my voice clinical.
“A company registered to a P.O. box in the Caymans.”
“Levi?” Arthur’s voice was a whisper now,
heavy with disappointment.
“I can explain,” Levi stammered.
“The offshore account was for... for tax purposes. It was a strategy.”
“And the ten-thousand-dollar monthly retainer?” Evelyn asked,
holding up a photo of a receipt from a Tiffany’s in Paris.
“Was the diamond necklace a business strategy too?”
Levi looked at me,
and for the first time,
I saw fear.
Real,
paralyzing fear.
He knew he couldn’t charm his way out of this.
Numbers don’t have feelings,
they don’t care about excuses,
and they don’t accept apologies.
“I want a full internal investigation,” Arthur announced,
slamming his hand on the table.
“Levi, you are suspended effective immediately. Hand over your keys and your phone.”
“Arthur, please!”
“Now, Levi!”
I stood up,
smoothing my skirt.
“I’ve already sent a digital copy to the SEC,” I said calmly.
Levi’s head snapped toward me.
“You did what?”
“I followed the law, Levi. Just like you told me to.”
I walked toward the door,
the board members already calling their legal counsel.
As I passed Levi,
he grabbed my shoulder,
his grip tight and painful.
“You destroyed me,” he hissed.
I looked at his hand until he let go.
“No, Levi,” I said.
“I just walked away.”
May you like
I left the room,
the sound of his world collapsing behind me.
