Chapter 5 – The Numbers Never Lie
Landen's face lost what little color it still had.
"My company books?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "What are you talking about?"
I took a slow sip of my coffee before setting the mug down.
"The same financial records you asked me to help organize every tax season."
He stared at me.
"You had no right to look through my business."
"I didn't have to look through it."
His brow furrowed.
"I lived with it."
The room remained silent.
Cynthia closed the folder in front of her and folded her hands.
"Mr. Bradley, before Mrs. Bradley authorized a $2.4 million transfer, she exercised her contractual right to request an independent financial review."
"You did what?"
"I requested due diligence," I answered. "That's standard practice for a transaction of that size."
His breathing grew heavier.
"You told me the money would clear immediately."
"It did."
"You never mentioned accountants."
"You never asked."
The words hit him harder than I expected.
For years, Landen had relied on charm instead of preparation. He believed confidence could replace careful reading.
Today, that habit was catching up with him.
Howard stepped forward.
"What exactly did these accountants find?"
Cynthia glanced at me.
"May I?"
I nodded.
She opened another section of her briefcase and removed a thin report.
"This is only a preliminary review," she explained. "Nothing here should be interpreted as a final conclusion."
Landen reached for the report.
She held it back.
"It belongs to my client."
His jaw tightened.
"Then tell me what's in it."
Cynthia looked directly at him.
"The review identified several transactions that require clarification."
"What transactions?"
"Repeated payments to vendors that don't appear to exist."
Naomi looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
"It means money was sent to companies that have no verifiable business operations."
Howard frowned.
"Are you saying someone stole from the company?"
"I didn't say that."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying the records raise questions."
Landen let out a nervous laugh.
"Every business has accounting mistakes."
"Of course," Cynthia replied calmly.
"But accounting mistakes don't usually happen twenty-three times."
The kitchen fell silent.
My husband looked at me.
"You planned this."
I shook my head.
"No."
"You've been trying to destroy me."
"If I wanted to destroy you, I wouldn't have approved the transfer last night."
He didn't answer.
Because he knew I was right.
If my goal had been revenge, I could have simply refused to help.
Instead, I had saved the company.
Now I intended to learn whether it was worth saving.
Cedric quietly walked back into the kitchen holding his toy dinosaur.
He looked around at the tense faces.
"Is everybody mad?"
I knelt beside him.
"No, sweetheart."
"Then why is everyone talking so loud?"
"Because adults sometimes forget how to solve problems calmly."
He thought about that.
"My teacher says yelling doesn't fix anything."
I smiled.
"Your teacher is a very smart person."
He nodded seriously before wandering into the living room, happily making dinosaur sounds to himself.
The innocence of his little voice made the silence in the kitchen even heavier.
Naomi suddenly looked at Landen.
"Those payments..."
He avoided her eyes.
"What about them?"
"Were they real?"
He hesitated.
"They were consulting expenses."
Cynthia glanced at the report.
"Several of the consulting firms share mailing addresses with vacant office buildings."
Landen swallowed.
"That proves nothing."
"It doesn't," she agreed.
"But it's unusual."
Naomi took one slow step backward.
"You told me your business problems were caused by the economy."
"They were."
"You said your employees were loyal."
"They are."
"You said investors walked away."
"They did."
Her voice became quieter.
"You never said there were accounting questions."
He snapped.
"Because there aren't!"
The sudden outburst startled everyone—including Cedric, who looked into the kitchen with frightened eyes.
I immediately walked over to my son.
"It's okay."
He wrapped his arms around my leg.
I gently rubbed his back until he relaxed.
Then I turned to Landen.
"Not in front of him."
For a moment, guilt flashed across my husband's face.
Only for a moment.
His phone suddenly buzzed.
He glanced at the screen.
The confidence disappeared instantly.
"What is it?" Howard asked.
Landen didn't answer.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
"What happened?" Laurel whispered.
He slowly lowered the device.
"Our bank..."
His voice cracked.
"...just froze the company's primary operating account."
Naomi gasped.
"What?"
"They said it's a temporary administrative hold pending document verification."
Cynthia wasn't surprised.
"That's standard procedure when a lender requests additional financial confirmation after a large transfer."
Landen looked directly at me.
"You knew this would happen."
"I knew it was possible."
"You set me up."
"No."
I met his furious stare without flinching.
"I gave you exactly what you asked for."
He laughed bitterly.
"And what's that?"
"A chance."
He frowned.
"A chance to prove your company deserves to survive."
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
The caller ID displayed a name I hadn't expected to see until later that afternoon.
I looked at the screen.
Then at Cynthia.
She recognized the name immediately.
"It's the senior forensic auditor," she said quietly.
I answered the call.
"Hello?"
The man on the other end spoke for nearly a minute.
I listened without interrupting.
When the call ended, I slowly placed the phone back into my purse.
No one dared to speak.
Finally, Landen asked the question everyone was thinking.
"What did he say?"
I looked directly at my husband.
"They found where the missing money went."
May you like
His face turned ghostly white.
"And they know exactly who authorized every single payment."
