Georgia’s POV
We didn’t stay long at the hospital. As soon as Oscar and Keira finished jotting down our requests and headed out, we did too.
Wendy needed rest, and with Katie bouncing beside her, showering her with stories and requests, it was clear she wasn’t getting any.
Nick insisted on driving to the office while Prudence and Katie went ho with the driver and the bodyguards he assigned to them. It was a quiet ride, one of those stretches of silence that felt almost too still after a long morning.
By the ti I arrived, lanie and the accountant Oliver recomnded, were already in the eting room. Stacks of folders and an open laptop covered the table, like they had unearthed sothing too important to leave waiting.
"Thank God, you’re here," lanie said as soon as she saw . "You’re going to be shocked by what we found."
I raised a brow, setting my bag down. "Can we eat first? I’ve been running around since I woke up, and I’m getting dizzy already."
lanie sighed, then smiled knowingly and pointed toward the end of the table. "I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I played it safe—chicken and mashed potatoes."
A small laugh escaped . "You know too well. That’s perfect. Let’s eat first," I said, taking my seat. "It’s always easier to deal with problems on a full stomach."
And lanie was right. The mont they showed the docunts, I felt my stomach sink. The two accounts weren’t just ghost entries—they’d been quietly draining the company’s funds for years.
Frank had done a good job covering his tracks. Being the finance manager back then gave him every opportunity to hide it too well.
"Now, what we need to figure out is who actually owns these accounts—and if any of the money is still there," Ken, the accountant, said with a calm but sharp tone.
I exhaled slowly, leaning back in my chair. "That’s going to be tough. Banks won’t release details like that easily," I said, already sensing the uphill battle.
Ken nodded. "I’ll talk to Oliver about it. Maybe he can file a petition—fraud, money laundering, sothing that’ll open those records up. I’m sure he’ll know the best route."
"Alright," I said, giving him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Ken. It’s because of your work that the company’s finances are finally stabilizing."
He waved off my gratitude with an easy grin as he gathered his docunts. "Just doing my job, ma’am. I’ll drop by Oliver’s office now and hand this over. It might help with the case against your forr employees."
As he left, I watched the door close behind him. The truth was finally coming to light, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the shadows still ran deeper than we thought.
"Enough of the office drama," lanie said suddenly, hopping onto the edge of the table and blocking my view of the door. Her shift from serious to bubbly was almost whiplash-inducing. "Now, tell , how’s the wedding prep going?" she asked, her eyes bright with curiosity.
I shook my head with a small laugh. "You really can switch moods like a light, can’t you?" Still, her energy was contagious. "We already have the venue. Later, Nick and I are eting the wedding planner and heading to the cake shop for a cake and dessert tasting."
lanie clasped her hands together, nearly bouncing in excitent. "Oh, that sounds so fun! I wish I could tag along. What about your dress?"
I chuckled softly. "Still nothing. Honestly, I don’t want to spend much on it—it’s just one day, and you know , I’m not big on parties. If I could, I’d keep it small—just close friends and family. But Nick’s family loves grand things." I sighed. "The venue’s far though, so maybe that’ll discourage half the guest list from coming."
lanie burst into laughter. "That’s one way to handle it! But seriously, I hope everything goes smoothly. You deserve this, Georgia."
Before I could reply, a knock sounded on the door. lanie opened it—and I couldn’t help but grin. "Steven! What a surprise."
I stood up and hugged him warmly.
"Yeah, and I didn’t want to et you like this. I wanted to take you and Nick out to dinner with Evelyn, kind of a double date, but Captain Nicholas decided to bury in work in my first week," Steven said with a dramatic sigh.
I laughed at that. "Captain Nicholas, huh? Looks like you haven’t quite adjusted to calling him ’sir’ yet."
"Guilty," he admitted with a grin. "Anyway, I’m here about the final manpower allocation. There’ve been a few changes. We’ll need more crew since the new ships are ahead of schedule. I think the captain scared the life out of the shipyard team—they’re working faster than ever."
"Well, perfect timing then." I gestured between them. "Steven, et lanie—our operations manager. lanie, this is Steven. He works for Nick and is handling the new ships."
They shook hands as I stood. "I’ll call Bella, our recruitnt manager, so she can join us for the eting. I just need to run to the restroom real quick."
Once outside, I called Bella to join them. I’d barely finished washing my hands when my phone rang—Evelyn’s na flashed on the screen.
"Hey," I answered, smiling. "Guess who just showed up at my office?"
[Is Steven still there?] Evelyn asked quickly.
"Yeah, we’re about to start the eting. Why? You sound tense."
[Thank God. Sothing happened at work, and the boss just canceled your cake and dessert tasting for tonight.]
I stopped mid-step. "What? Why? What happened?"
Evelyn’s sigh ca through the line, soft but heavy. [I can’t really tell you right now—it’s confidential, at least for now.]
My heart sank a little. "Confidential? Evelyn, you’re making nervous. Is he alright?"
[He’s fine, don’t worry.] Her tone was reassuring, but there was sothing in the way she said it that didn’t quite convince . [It’s just... sothing ca up at the office, and he won’t be able to pick you up tonight. He asked if you could head ho with Steven after your eting since Steven’s heading back here anyway. I was trying to call him, but I couldn’t reach him.]
I exhaled, a mix of relief and curiosity settling in. "Alright. If it’s that important, I understand. I’ll just go with Steven after work, then."
[Good. Please don’t overthink it, okay? You know how things can get with their kind of business.]
"Yeah, I know," I said quietly, though a small knot of worry still ford in my chest. "Just tell Nick to text when he can, so I don’t end up imagining worst-case scenarios."
[I will. Talk to you soon.]
The line went dead, leaving standing there, calm on the outside, but with questions swirling behind my eyes.
********
Thank you for the gift BOO_TZ!
Thanks for the Golden Tickets!
Noni_Byz
Kelly_Cornetto
Kris_K16
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