Chapter 4 - Unraveling the Web
"Grant... I'm not sure what you mean," Sterling said, his tone shifting instantly from cheerful to cautious. "Phantom inventory? Are you talking about the audit issue from last month? The Monroe woman?"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Grant replied, keeping his voice dead even. "I want full access to the raw ledger files for the Akron facility. Unredacted. From two years ago to today."
"Grant, that audit was closed," Sterling said quickly, a faint edge of desperation creeping into his words. "The legal team reviewed it. Clara Monroe was diverting shipments to a third-party fence in Cleveland. We cut our losses and handled it quietly so it wouldn't impact the stock price before the board meeting. If you reopen this now, it could create massive compliance issues—"
"I don't care about the board meeting, Richard," Grant interrupted coldly. "Send the raw files to my private server within the hour. Or I'll have an independent forensic accounting firm walk into the Akron facility with federal marshals at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."
Grant ended the call without waiting for an answer.
Twenty minutes later, the flashing lights of a private medical transport unit illuminated the snow-covered street outside. Two paramedics hurried up the stairs with a stretcher.
Clara was too weak to protest as they gently lifted her onto the gurney. Sadie held her mother's hand the entire way down the stairs, refusing to let go.
Grant walked down beside them. When they reached the ambulance, Grant knelt down in front of Sadie.
"I'm going to the hospital with you," Grant told the little girl. "Your mother is going to get the best care possible. Nobody is going to throw you out, and nobody is going to hurt you."
Sadie looked at him with wide brown eyes. The terror that had been there in the diner was slowly giving way to a cautious, fragile trust. "Are you going to fix it?" she asked.
Grant looked at his hands—hands that had built an empire, but had been completely blind to the rot inside it.
"Yes," Grant said. "I'm going to fix it."
At St. Jude Medical Center, Clara was immediately admitted to a private VIP suite on the top floor. Specialists rushed in to administer intravenous antibiotics and fluids. Within two hours, her fever began to break, her labored breathing easing into a steady, peaceful sleep.
Grant sat in the corner of the room, working on his laptop while Sadie slept wrapped in a soft blanket on the plush sofa nearby.
By midnight, Grant’s private email inbox lit up. A contact inside the state banking authority—a man who owed Grant a massive favor—had sent over a confidential trace report on the third-party logistics company associated with the Akron inventory shortages.
The company was called Apex Global Logistics.
Grant opened the corporate registration documents for Apex Global. His blood ran cold.
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The registered owner of Apex Global was not Richard Sterling.
It was Brenda Vance—Grant's executive secretary of twelve years. The woman who sat outside his office door every single day, managing his calendar, screening his calls, and deciding who was allowed to speak to him.
