“I Needed a Fake Girlfriend for the Office Party,” the CEO Muttered—Then She Slid Me a Note That Said “Pick Me”
Chapter 6
By midnight, the executive conference room was full.
Board members.
Legal counsel.
Financial executives.
Security personnel.
Everyone had copies of the same documents.
The accusation was simple.
Lena Brooks had allegedly manipulated financial projections before the Westbridge acquisition.
The changes had supposedly caused the company to overpay by nearly eighty million dollars.
If true, Lena could lose her job.
Worse, she could face criminal charges.
Lena sat silently at the end of the table.
Ethan stood beside her.
“Who discovered this?”
The CFO answered.
“Internal audit.”
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
Ethan looked at the documents.
Something didn’t feel right.
The formatting was correct.
The digital signatures appeared legitimate.
But Lena was too careful to make a mistake this obvious.
“Give me the original files.”
The legal counsel hesitated.
“They’re encrypted.”
“Then decrypt them.”
“Security is working on it.”
Ethan looked at Lena.
“Did you create these projections?”
“Yes.”
“Did you change the figures?”
“No.”
“Did anyone have access to your workstation?”
She thought.
“Three people.”
“Names?”
She gave them.
One was her supervisor.
One was an IT administrator.
The third was a senior analyst who had been transferred to another division.
Ethan ordered a complete security audit.
Then he looked at the board.
“No one touches Lena until we know what happened.”
One board member frowned.
“She’s your girlfriend.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“Perhaps it does.”
Ethan turned.
“What are you suggesting?”
“That you are protecting her because of your relationship.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“I’m protecting an employee because there is no evidence she committed a crime.”
Silence.
Lena looked at him.
She had never seen anyone defend her like that.
Hours passed.
At three in the morning, the IT team found something.
One of Lena’s files had been opened from a remote device two days before the alleged manipulation.
The device belonged to a senior executive.
Richard Hale.
The same executive who had opposed Ethan’s Westbridge acquisition.
Ethan called him immediately.
Richard answered sleepily.
“What is it?”
“We know you accessed Lena’s files.”
Silence.
Then:
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You have ten minutes to explain.”
Richard hung up.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Lena approached.
“Ethan.”
He turned.
“I didn’t do it.”
“I know.”
“But everyone thinks I did.”
“I don’t.”
“Why?”
He looked at her.
“Because I know you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
She looked away.
“I don’t want you to lose your company because of me.”
Ethan shook his head.
“This isn’t about you.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“This is about someone trying to manipulate my company.”
Lena whispered:
“And what about us?”
Ethan stopped.
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
Lena continued.
“Are we still pretending?”
Ethan looked at her.
“No.”
“Then what are we?”
He took a breath.
“I don’t know yet.”
She smiled sadly.
“Neither do I.”
They stood there in silence.
For the first time, there was no fake relationship.
No prepared story.
No performance.
Just two people standing in the middle of a crisis, unsure whether what they had found between them could survive it.
Then Ethan’s phone rang again.
Richard Hale had sent a message.
If you want to know who changed those numbers, check the old acquisition server.
Ethan looked at Lena.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“To find the truth.”
