Chapter 3: The Audit of Sins
Chapter 3: The Audit of Sins
The morning sun rose over the city, but for Marcus, the darkness was only deepening. By 8:00 AM, the story had broken across every major financial news outlet. Headlines screamed: Croft Hospitality Empire a Myth: Vance Heiress Reveals True Ownership Amid Executive Scandal.
Marcus was confined to the holding area of the executive wing. He was trapped in a bureaucratic purgatory. He couldn't leave the building because his personal assets, including his luxury vehicles parked in the VIP bay, had been flagged as corporate property and locked down.
Vanessa had already tried to slip out the back entrance at dawn, carrying three designer bags stuffed with clothes she had purchased with Marcus’s corporate card. She didn't make it past the lobby. Two female security officers had politely but firmly intercepted her, confiscating the bags and, most importantly, detaching the antique sapphire brooch from her lapel.
Isabella sat in her new office—the master executive suite that Marcus had occupied for years. She looked down at her mother’s brooch, resting safely on her desk. A knock at the door revealed Mr. Sterling, accompanied by a team of forensic accountants.
"Ma'am," Sterling said, bowing his head respectfully. "The preliminary audit of Mr. Croft's personal and professional accounts is complete. It’s far worse than we anticipated."
Isabella picked up the brooch, pinning it carefully over her heart. "Show me."
The accountant stepped forward, opening a laptop. "Over the last three years, Marcus has funneled over twelve million dollars of corporate development funds into private offshore accounts. He used hotel capital to buy a luxury villa in the South of France, registered entirely under Vanessa’s name. Furthermore, he has been taking kickbacks from subpar construction contractors, compromising the structural integrity of our upcoming Tokyo resort to line his own pockets."
Isabella’s expression hardened. She had tolerated his arrogance, and she had even tried to look past his growing emotional distance over the years, thinking it was just the stress of the business. But embezzlement, fraud, and endangering lives for profit? That crossed a line from personal betrayal to criminal malice.
"Does he know we have this?" Isabella asked.
"Not yet," Sterling replied. "He thinks this is a standard hostile takeover. He thinks he can still walk away with a multi-million-dollar severance package based on his contract."
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Isabella stood up, walking to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city square. Below, paparazzi were gathering like vultures. "Let him think that. Let him prepare his lawyers for a civil dispute. We won't be suing him for his contract, Mr. Sterling. We will be handing this file directly to the federal prosecutors."
She turned back around, a brilliant, decisive smile on her face. "Bring Marcus to me. Let's see how much his pride is worth when it's traded for a prison jumpsuit."
