The Mafia Boss Walked In as His Supervisor Whipped the Shy Employee—Then the Entire Office Froze!
Chapter 4
Clara’s new desk was in Matteo’s administrative office.
She hated it.
Not because the office was uncomfortable.
It was beautiful.
Dark wood.
Large windows.
Leather chairs.
A city view.
But every person who passed the doorway looked at her differently.
Some were jealous.
Some were afraid.
Some assumed she had become Matteo’s favorite.
Clara wished she could explain that she hadn’t asked for any of it.
She wanted her old desk.
She wanted anonymity.
Most of all, she wanted to stop feeling like the center of a story she didn’t understand.
Matteo gave her a stack of documents.
“Review these.”
Clara looked at them.
“What am I looking for?”
“Anything inconsistent.”
She began.
Within thirty minutes, she found three discrepancies.
Matteo watched her silently.
She marked each one.
“This number doesn’t match the loading receipt.”
“Continue.”
She did.
Another discrepancy.
Then another.
By late afternoon, Clara had identified eleven irregularities.
Matteo leaned back.
“How did you notice them?”
She shrugged.
“I enter the numbers every day.”
“You notice patterns.”
“I suppose.”
Matteo looked at the documents.
“You’re not careless.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“Dawson called you careless.”
“Oh.”
“You aren’t.”
She looked down.
“He said I was.”
“Dawson lies.”
The words were simple.
But Clara wasn’t used to hearing someone say them without hesitation.
That evening, Matteo asked her to stay.
She stiffened.
“Why?”
“I want you to see something.”
He led her downstairs to a locked records room.
Inside were boxes dating back several years.
Clara recognized many of the shipping documents.
Matteo handed her a folder.
“Read page twelve.”
She did.
Her face changed.
The figures matched the documents Dawson had forced her to sign.
Except they showed something different.
Large shipments had been recorded as damaged.
The company had claimed losses.
But the warehouse receipts showed the goods had actually left the building.
Clara whispered:
“Someone is stealing.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“Dawson?”
“Probably not alone.”
Matteo placed another folder beside it.
“These transactions have been hidden for four years.”
Clara turned another page.
Her name appeared.
Her signature.
Her handwriting.
But she hadn’t authorized the transactions.
Someone had copied her signature.
She felt cold.
“They used me.”
Matteo nodded.
“That is why I needed you here.”
Clara looked at him.
“You think I know something?”
“I think you noticed something without realizing how important it was.”
“What?”
Matteo handed her another document.
It was an old shipment record.
A handwritten note appeared in the margin.
Clara recognized the handwriting immediately.
It belonged to her father.
Her father had died six years earlier.
Her fingers began to shake.
Matteo saw it.
“What did he write?”
Clara read the note.
Her face went pale.
“He knew.”
“Knew what?”
She looked up.
“My father knew someone was stealing from this company.”
