Chapter 6 - The Federal Net Tightens
Three days after the bail hearing, I returned to work at my company’s corporate headquarters in downtown Minneapolis.
Walking through the glass doors of the executive suite, I felt a heavy weight lift off my shoulders. Here, I wasn't the submissive daughter-in-law who stayed quiet to keep the peace. Here, I was Valerie Vance—Vice President of Marketing, a woman who managed a fifty-person team and oversaw thirty million dollars in annual ad spend.
My CEO, Arthur Pendelton, called me into his corner office the moment I walked in. He was a silver-haired man in his sixties who had been a mentor to me for five years.
"Valerie," Arthur said, coming out from behind his mahogany desk to give me a gentle hug. "I read the police reports. I saw the news headlines. My God, child, are you and the baby alright?"
"We are safe, Arthur," I said, taking a seat across from him. "Evelyn has locked down my assets, and the police have both of them in custody."
Arthur sat down, his face growing serious. "Good. Because yesterday afternoon, two special agents from the FBI’s Financial Crimes Division paid a visit to our HR and legal departments."
I froze. "The FBI?"
"They were investigating Apex Dynasty LLC," Arthur revealed, leaning forward. "It turns out Charles and Brian didn't just steal two million dollars from your penthouse mortgage. They were using your corporate credentials—which Brian stole from your home laptop—to access our secure vendor portal."
Cold sweat broke out across my neck. "They breached company data?"
"They attempted to," Arthur corrected immediately. "Our cloud-security infrastructure caught the breach instantly. Brian was trying to route fraudulent invoices from a fake security firm he created straight into our accounts payable system. He was attempting to embezzle three million dollars directly from our corporate treasury."
I leaned back in my chair, completely stunned. The level of greed was astronomical. Brian hadn't just been stealing my personal money; he was willing to commit corporate espionage and ruin my entire executive career to get his hands on millions.
"We gave the FBI full access to our server logs," Arthur said smoothly. "The IP address used for the attempted wire transfer came directly from the desktop computer in your penthouse office—logged in under Brian’s personal user profile on your home network."
"He framed himself," I whispered, a bitter laugh escaping my lips.
"He tried to play in a league he wasn't smart enough for," Arthur said dryly. "The federal prosecutors are adding wire fraud, corporate embezzlement, and identity theft to his indictment. Brian isn't just going to state prison for assault, Valerie. He’s going to federal penitentiary for twenty years."
Arthur reached across the desk, placing a warm hand over mine. "Take all the time off you need, Valerie. Your job is safe. Your equity is safe. We stand behind you one hundred percent."
"Thank you, Arthur," I said, feeling a wave of deep relief wash over me. "But I don't want time off. Working is what keeps me sane."
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I walked back to my office, sat down at my desk, and opened my laptop. I pulled up my personal calendar. In three months, my daughter would be born.
By the time she took her first breath, her father and grandfather would be behind bars, their financial empire burnt to ashes, and I would be standing on top of the world alone.
