45 Chapter 45 Evidence and Regrat
45 Chapter 45- Evidence and Regret
Damian’s expression grew grim. “Bro, Hazel started working with West today. And honestly? I doubt she’ll come back easily.” He slid another folder across the table. “Especially considering how deep her hurt runs.” (©)
“Meanwhile, we’ll test the loyalty of your remaining presidential staff, Allen continued. I stood so quickly my chair rolled backward. “Tell Bianca I’m stepping out with you. Won’t be long
Allen leaned back in his chair. “We haven’t identified who’s receiving the leaked information yet, but now we know the source. My advice? Keep your enemies close. Don’t unmask your secretary yet. The new coffee service employee has instructions to befriend her, gain her trust. That’s our path to the bigger picture.”
Hazel had spent the entire day orbiting around me like a guilty planet. Coffee appeared at my elbow without request. Snacks materialized when I skipped lunch, my stomach too knotted to consider food. She manufactured reasons to enter my office, her eyes searching my face with something that looked disturbingly like concern.
“What did you find?” The words came out rougher than intended.
“She refused payment?” I could barely form the words.
“What the hell is she thinking? She has a son to consider. She might need that money.” This wasn’t the Hazel I knew – practical, financially responsible. “If she refused payment for her work, earning her forgiveness just became impossible.”
Tobias’s fingers flew across the keyboard. The security feed revealed everything in stark black and white. Bianca, moving through Hazel’s office with furtive glances, checking corners like a thief in the night. The shoe match was unmistakable.
“Allen’s right, Evelyn added. “Firing Bianca now would alert her accomplice. We’d lose our advantage.”
Before I could process the full implications, Tobias cleared his throat. “Mr. Sterling, I managed to salvage one crucial detail from your advisory office camera footage. It’s Just a single frame, passes so fast you’d never notice during normal playback.” He rotated his laptop toward me. “Security already replaced the damaged equipment, but
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I need you to identify this shoe that appears in the image. It’s the only visible evidence from last Monday. Remember, the cameras weren’t installed the previous week.”
“According to the employee who handled delivery, she said she didn’t want a single cent from this company, Damian reported, his concern evident.
“Remember, they observe everything, hear everything. Caution never hurt anyone,” Allen replied, his thoroughness showing.
The folder felt heavy in my hands as I openedce stared back at me. My
Page after page of comparative analysis, highlighted discrepancies, and damning
secretary of fifteen years had betrayed me with surgical precision.
Yesterday dragged by like torture. My skull pounded from the whiskey I’d drowned myself in the night before, and every breath felt like swallowing glass. Evelyn, Allen, Damian, and Owen surrounded me like a protective wall, insisting Hazel couldn’t have sent those damning emails. Their voices hammered at me, demanding I listen, waiting for the audit to reveal what they already believed.
The coffee shop buzzed with afternoon energy, but our corner table felt isolated from the world. I dropped into my chair and ordered coffee with hands that weren’t quite steady.
When Evelyn returned with the documents for the auditors, I felt hollow. Allen had warned me it was cru
to compare his copies with Clairemont’s originals, promising
answers today. But silence stretched between us like a taut wire.
“Excellent. Anything else requiring immediate attention?” I asked, scanning their faces. Everyone at the table watched me with varying degrees of sympathy and expectation. I forced words through my burning throat.
Owen’s expression turned mysteriously satisfied. “We’ve already placed a janitor and coffee server on each floor. It’s been incredibly productive – the janitor channels all office waste to the audit team, and we’re finding treasure troves of evidence. We’ll have infiltrated employees in every department by Friday. Don’t worry, Hugo is cooperating beautifully, placing everyone discreetly without raising suspicions.”
The memory hit me like a physical blow. At that exact moment, Hazel had been in my office. I’d been kissing her lost in the fantasy that we could build something real together.
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They were right, but I wouldn’t waste another minute. I’d find Hazel today and have at very direct conversation with West about appropriate boundaries.
Allen exchanged glances with the others before leaning forward. “Liam, you’ve made a catastrophic mistake. Hazel never leaked anything” He slid a thick folder across the table. “This is my complete analysis. The documents Evelyn retrieved from Clairemont are sophisticated forgeries. They don’t match our Saturday copies at all. But here’s the kicker – just from examining these fakes, we can trace exactly how the embezzlement operation works. We’ll need more time to quantify the full scope, but we’re talking substantial theft. And I can guarantee these documents were altered after Evelyn and Damian set their trap. I had our floor’s coffee service lady make copies before anyone knew to cover their tracks,”
–
I stared at the screen. The shoe was clearly visible low, thick heel, practical design. Nothing like Hazel’s elegant footwear choices.
“Can you pull up footage from my secretary’s office during the same timeframe?” I asked, my voice tight.
“I was a complete idiot.”
“Then what’s my next move?” I felt completely lost, terrified that Hazel would never forgive what I’d done..
Evelyn had ventured into the finance department’s lion’s den to retrieve the documents Clairemont claimed were being verified. While she was gone, that bastard Clairemont called, his voice dripping with manufactured outrage as he spewed excuses into my ear. I was too mentally drained to engage with his theatrics. I cut him off mid–sentence, telling him to hand everything over to Evelyn or start updating his
resume.
“Maintain the status quo, pursue Hazel, and beg for her forgiveness, Evelyn said with quiet certainty. “When the time is right, we’ll remove Bianca and bring Hazel home.” Allen’s voice carried weight. “Liam, Hazel is a woman of exceptional character. You’ll have to work harder than you’ve ever worked if you want her forgiveness. She won’t make anything easy for you.”
“Yeah, my friend, you definitely were,” Damian said without sugar–coating anything.
“Right.” I ran my hands over my face, exhaustion weighing on me like lead. Sleep had
45 Chapter 45 Evidence and Regret
become clusive, and now I felt like the worst kind of fool. “What about the employees we discussed infiltrating?
Chapter 45- Evidence and Regret
1 opened the folder and felt my world tilt sideways. Hazel’s resignation papers, signed with her precise handwriting. But the severance check remained untouched.
Tobias Victor, the digital detective Allen had unleashed on our security footage, remained locked in battle with the damaged camera from my advisory office. No word. my advisory office. No word from him either.
Mid–afternoon, Evelyn slipped into my office like a shadow, closing the door with deliberate care. She approached my desk with the measured steps of someone delivering news that would change everything.
Everyone shook their heads.
Liam’s POV
“So you’re suggesting I walk back in there and pretend nothing happened? How do I bring Hazel back without clearing the air first?” The frustration in my voice was raw.
“It’s just the coffee service and cleaning staff, Allen,” I said, not understanding the scope.
The uncertainty was eating me alive. Every minute without Hazel felt like bleeding out slowly.
My pulse spiked. If they needed to meet outside company walls, they’d discovered something significant. And from Evelyn’s expression, it wasn’t going to destroy Hazel’s reputation.
“Then let’s return, Evelyn. I don’t want my efficient secretary sensing anything unusual,” I concluded, my smile sharp as a blade.
“You’re coming with me for coffee right now,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Everyone’s waiting”
I was a complete fool. I’d humiliated the woman I loved and been manipulated by my own secretary like a amateur. My vision blurred, throat constricting as the magnitude of my mistake crashed over me.
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