“I Fixed My CEO’s Broken Fence — Then She Personally Thanked Me Over Dinner”
Chapter 3
Victoria didn’t explain immediately.
Instead, she walked toward the windows and closed the curtains.
Every instinct told me something was wrong.
“Is someone outside?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You said someone was watching your property.”
She looked at me.
“Who told you that?”
“My supervisor.”
She nodded.
“He shouldn’t have.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want my employees frightened.”
I stood.
“Should I leave?”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
She walked back to the table.
“Daniel, what I’m about to tell you cannot leave this room.”
I waited.
“My company has been losing money.”
I frowned.
“Whitmore Industries made three billion dollars last year.”
“On paper.”
That changed things.
She explained that several subsidiaries had been quietly losing money for nearly eighteen months.
The losses weren’t obvious because profits from other divisions covered them.
But someone was moving money through shell companies.
“I hired auditors,” she said.
“And?”
“Three quit.”
“Why?”
“One wouldn’t tell me.”
“The other two?”
“One disappeared.”
I stared at her.
“Disappeared?”
She nodded.
“The police say he left the country.”
“You don’t believe them.”
“No.”
She showed me a folder.
Inside were financial reports.
At first glance, they were meaningless.
But I recognized the structure.
I had studied similar systems in college.
I looked closer.
“These transactions.”
“What about them?”
“They’re circular.”
Victoria leaned toward me.
“Explain.”
“Money leaves one subsidiary, passes through an external company, then returns through another account.”
“Why?”
“To make losses appear legitimate.”
She stared at me.
“You understand this?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I studied financial engineering.”
Victoria sat back.
“Why didn’t your résumé mention that?”
“I didn’t put much of my education on it.”
“Why?”
I hesitated.
“Because my previous employer didn’t care.”
She studied me.
Then smiled.
“I think I made the right decision inviting you tonight.”
I looked at the folder again.
“Who do you suspect?”
She didn’t answer.
That told me enough.
“Someone close to you.”
She nodded.
“Someone who has access to everything.”
“Your CFO?”
“No.”
“COO?”
“No.”
“Board member?”
She looked at me.
“One of them.”
I frowned.
“Then why involve me?”
“Because you’re outside the executive circle.”
“That doesn’t explain it.”
She hesitated.
“There’s another reason.”
“What?”
She walked to a cabinet and opened it.
Inside was a stack of old photographs.
She handed me one.
It showed a man standing beside a younger Victoria.
He looked familiar.
I stared.
“Who is this?”
“My father.”
I looked at the photograph again.
Then at her.
“He died?”
“Four years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
I waited.
She whispered:
“I don’t think it was an accident.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because three days before he died, he sent me an email.”
“What did it say?”
She handed me a printed copy.
There were only six words.
Trust no one inside the company.
I looked up.
“Did you investigate?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I found nothing.”
“Until now?”
She nodded.
“Until now.”
I returned the paper.
“Why tell me?”
Victoria’s eyes met mine.
“Because last night, someone broke through my fence.”
I looked toward the window.
“The same fence I repaired.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t security catch them?”
“Because they didn’t come through the gate.”
“Where?”
She pointed toward the backyard.
“The exact section you repaired.”
A chill moved through me.
“Then you invited me here because—”
“Because whoever came onto my property last night may have left something behind.”
She opened another folder.
Inside was a photograph of the broken fence.
There was something scratched into one of the posts.
A symbol.
I recognized it.
My father had used that symbol.
I hadn’t seen it since I was a child.
Victoria noticed my expression.
“Daniel?”
I stared at the photograph.
“I’ve seen that mark before.”
“Where?”
I swallowed.
“At my father’s house.”
