They Forced Me to Take the Fall…Then a Billionaire Heir Chose Me!
Chapter 1
The first thing Ava Bennett noticed when she walked into the conference room was that nobody would look at her.
Not her manager.
Not the company’s lawyers.
Not even the three executives sitting at the far end of the polished glass table.
They all stared at the documents in front of them as if the papers were more interesting than the woman standing in the doorway.
Ava knew immediately that something was wrong.
She had worked at Hawthorne Financial for six years.
She knew how corporate investigations worked.
She knew how people behaved when someone was about to be fired.
And she knew the difference between an investigation and a setup.
This was a setup.
“Sit down, Ms. Bennett,” the senior attorney said.
Ava pulled out a chair.
“What’s this about?”
Nobody answered.
The attorney pushed a folder across the table.
Ava opened it.
Her heart stopped.
Inside were transaction records from an account she had never seen.
Millions of dollars had been transferred through a series of shell companies.
At the bottom of every transaction was her employee authorization code.
Her code.
Her digital signature.
Her credentials.
Ava looked up.
“This isn’t me.”
The CFO finally looked at her.
“Your credentials were used.”
“Then someone stole them.”
“We have evidence that you authorized the transfers.”
“I didn’t.”
The attorney folded his hands.
“The money is gone.”
Ava stared at the documents.
“How much?”
The CFO answered quietly.
“Twenty-eight million dollars.”
Ava felt the room tilt.
Twenty-eight million.
She was a junior compliance analyst.
She earned enough to pay rent, help her mother with medical bills, and keep an aging car running.
There was no universe in which she could steal twenty-eight million dollars.
Then the CEO spoke.
“We need someone responsible.”
Ava looked at him.
“Then find the person who actually did it.”
Silence.
The attorney closed the folder.
“Your credentials were used.”
“But I didn’t authorize anything.”
“We understand that this is difficult.”
Ava almost laughed.
“Difficult?”
Her voice shook.
“You’re accusing me of stealing twenty-eight million dollars.”
The CEO looked away.
Ava suddenly understood.
They weren’t trying to discover who did it.
They had already chosen.
Her.
She was the perfect person to sacrifice.
Low enough to blame.
Unknown enough that the public wouldn’t care.
And expendable enough that the company’s powerful executives could walk away untouched.
Ava stood.
“I’m not taking responsibility for something I didn’t do.”
The attorney’s expression hardened.
“You may not have a choice.”
Then he slid one final document toward her.
Ava read the heading.
TERMINATION AND LIABILITY AGREEMENT.
Underneath was a confession.
They wanted her to sign it.
She looked at the CEO.
“Who told you to blame me?”
Nobody answered.
Then her phone vibrated.
One message appeared.
DON’T SIGN ANYTHING.
Ava looked around the room.
Nobody else had seen it.
She opened the message.
A second one appeared.
I KNOW WHO REALLY STOLE THE MONEY.
Then another.
AND THEY’RE GOING TO KILL YOU BEFORE YOU CAN PROVE IT.
Ava’s blood ran cold.
She looked toward the conference room door.
Someone was standing outside.
A tall man in a dark suit.
He wasn’t a company employee.
And he was watching her.
