Employees were recorded as receiving their full salaries.
But someone was taking the difference.
Someone had created a hidden pipeline.
Someone had been stealing from people who trusted my name.
I kept scrolling.
My heartbeat grew heavier.
Then I opened the authorization section.
And saw the approval signature.
My thumb stopped.
I recognized that signature.
Everyone in my company recognized it.
The man behind it wasn’t some random accountant.
He wasn’t a junior employee.
He was the person I trusted more than almost anyone alive.
The man who sat beside me during board meetings.
The man who handled negotiations when billions were involved.
The man who knew every vulnerable point in my empire.
Ethan Caldwell.
My right hand.
My closest friend.
The man who had helped me rebuild my life after my wife died.
The man I had trusted with everything.
And now his name was glowing on my phone.
Connected to stolen wages.
Connected to years of betrayal.
June noticed my expression.
“Mr. Blackwell?”
I looked at her.
She was still sitting on the floor.
Still clutching a plate of leftovers.
Still terrified that she had somehow done something wrong.
And suddenly, the betrayal felt much bigger than money.
Because Ethan hadn’t stolen from a corporation.
He had stolen from people like June.
