Chapter 2 - The Sudden Audit
Daniel lunged forward, snatching the papers out of Miranda’s hands before she could read the highlighted metadata. His face had turned the color of chalk, the arrogant company-man posture completely shattered. "Where did you get these server logs? Accessing executive folders is an immediate violation of your non-disclosure agreement! You just committed corporate espionage!"
"I didn't access any restricted servers, Daniel," I replied calmly, watching him frantically scan the lines of code. "That report was routed directly to my company inbox with a mandatory signature request attached to my employee ID. When you assign an administrative assistant to audit inventory logs, you give her administrative permissions to verify discrepancies. You were both so busy assuming I was too timid to notice that you forgot I have a master’s degree in forensic accounting."
Miranda stared at me as if seeing me for the very first time. The quiet, plain-dressed woman who brought extra folders to budget meetings and stayed late cleaning up vendor discrepancies was suddenly speaking fluent legal jargon. For thirty-six months, she had treated me like disposable furniture, assuming that my modesty was born of helplessness.
"Forensic accounting?" Miranda murmured, her voice losing its icy sharpness and sinking into hollow shock. "You told the hiring panel your background was in regional customer relations."
"I told you I was willing to work anywhere to rebuild my life after a painful divorce," I answered evenly. "You saw someone vulnerable, so you offered me half of market value and treated me like your personal servant. And when you realized I noticed the phantom shipping containers in the southern port division, you tried to bankrupt me on my way out the door."
Before Daniel could shred the document, the heavy double doors of the executive suite swung wide open. A tall woman in a charcoal wool suit stepped into the room, followed by two men carrying corporate hardware cases. It wasn't the regional security team Miranda had threatened to summon.
It was Evelyn Ross, the Senior Vice President of Global Integrity from the corporate headquarters in Chicago.
"Good morning, Miranda," Evelyn said, her voice cutting through the office air like a razor blade. "I believe your office called my executive assistant twenty minutes ago, but as you can see, our team was already in the building."
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Miranda backed away from her desk, her knees visibly knocking against the edge of her executive chair. "Evelyn... what a surprise. We were just handling a minor internal personnel issue."
"This isn't a personnel issue, Miranda," Evelyn replied, pulling out an official folder stamped with the corporate seal. "This is an emergency asset seizure."
