His Secret Addiction

Chapter Twenty-Five

Damien's POV

The board meeting started exactly at nine.

All ten members were present. Sterling at one end of the table, me at the other. Victoria and Marcus flanking me. Sophie took notes because that was her job, and I still had no proof she was anything other than what she appeared to be.

"Thank you all for coming on short notice," I said. "We've discovered additional issues related to the Maya Patel investigation that require immediate disclosure."

Sterling leaned back in his chair. "More issues. Wonderful."

I ignored him and pulled up the presentation Marcus had prepared. "Our internal audit has identified a network of shell vendors created by Maya over the past eight years. Total funds moved through these fake companies: eight point three million dollars."

The room went silent.

"Eight million," Henderson repeated. "How did this go undetected?"

"Maya controlled the vendor approval system. She created the checks and balances she was supposed to be monitored by." I clicked to the next slide. "We've closed all identified shell accounts. We've implemented new oversight protocols. And we've brought in external auditors to verify our findings."

"When did you discover this?" Sterling asked.

"Four days ago."

"And you're just telling us now?"

"We needed to verify the scope before bringing it to the board. If I'd disclosed incomplete information, you would have rightly criticized that too."

Sterling's jaw tightened. "What else?"

This was the part I'd been dreading. "Three payments were made to these shell accounts after Maya's arrest. Small amounts. Thirty to fifty thousand dollars each. Made by someone who still has system access."

The room erupted.

"Someone else is involved?" Park said.

"You're saying there's another criminal inside this company?" Henderson's voice rose.

"We're saying someone made payments using old authorization codes. We don't know if they're aware the accounts are connected to Maya's network or if they're actively participating." I kept my voice level. "We're investigating."

"Who has access?" Sterling demanded.

"Twelve people. All senior staff in finance or operations. We're conducting background checks and financial reviews on all of them."

"This is unacceptable," Sterling said. "You've known for four days that someone inside this company might be laundering money and you didn't immediately notify this board?"

"I notified you as soon as we had actionable information."

"Actionable? Three payments happened on your watch, Damien. Under the new protocols you supposedly implemented. How is that acceptable leadership?"

Victoria cut in. "The payments were discovered because of those new protocols. The old system would have missed them entirely. Damien did exactly what he should have done."

"He covered up an eight million dollar fraud for four days while he decided how to spin it," Sterling shot back. "That's not leadership. That's damage control."

Marcus pulled up financial projections. "The company can absorb the eight million dollar loss without significant impact to operations. Our quarterly earnings are still strong. Client retention is stable. The rebranding campaign is outperforming projections by forty percent."

"None of that matters if we have an active criminal on staff," Sterling said.

He wasn't wrong.

Sophie spoke up for the first time. "I've drafted a recommendation to bring in federal investigators immediately. Full access to all systems, all personnel files, everything. We stop trying to handle this internally and we let the authorities do their job."

I looked at her. She met my eyes steadily, no trace of guilt or nervousness. Either she was innocent or she was very good at lying.

"I agree," I said. "I'll call Chen today. Full disclosure, full cooperation."

Sterling shook his head. "Too little, too late. I'm calling for a vote of no confidence."

"You did that last week," Victoria reminded him. "You lost."

"That was before we knew about eight million dollars in fraud and an active accomplice." Sterling looked around the table. "How many of you are comfortable with Damien's leadership given what we now know?"

Silence.

Henderson spoke first. "I think we need time to process this information before making any decisions about leadership."

"We don't have time," Sterling said. "Every day Damien remains CEO is another day this company's reputation deteriorates."

"And every day you push for removal without a succession plan is another day we create instability," Marcus countered. "You want Damien out? Fine. Tell us who you think should run the company instead. Because if you don't have an answer, you're just creating chaos."

Sterling didn't have an answer. I could see it in his face.

Park cleared his throat. "I propose we table the leadership question for one week. Give Damien time to bring in federal investigators and provide us with a full report on the ongoing payments. Then we reconvene and make an informed decision."

"Seconded," Henderson said.

The vote was seven to three. One week.

Sterling stood. "One week, Damien. If you haven't solved this by then, I'm coming for your position and I won't lose this time."

He left. The others filed out slowly. Victoria squeezed my shoulder as she passed.

Only Sophie remained.

"You thought it was me," she said.

I looked at her. "We considered everyone with access."

"You considered me more than everyone else. I saw how you looked at me during the meeting." She closed her laptop. "For the record, I understand why. Maya was my colleague for twelve years. If I were in your position, I'd suspect me too."

"Are you involved?"

"No. But I can't prove a negative." She stood. "I've already started drafting the federal disclosure. It'll be ready by this afternoon. You'll need to sign it before I submit."

She left before I could respond.

Marcus waited until the room was empty. "One week. Can you find who's making the payments in one week?"

"I have to."

---

Alex was waiting in my office.

"I watched from the hallway," he said. "Sterling's really trying to destroy you."

"He's been trying for years. Now he has ammunition." I sat down heavily. "One week, Alex. If I don't find answers in one week, I'm done."

"Then we find answers."

"We?"

"You think I'm sitting this out?" He pulled a chair over. "Marcus gave me access to the employee files this morning. I've been cross-referencing everyone on the list with Maya's known associates. Looking for any connection, no matter how small."

"And?"

"Nothing yet. But I'm not stopping." He opened his laptop. "We have a week. Let's use it."

I looked at him. Still here. Still fighting. Even when the smart move would have been to distance himself from me weeks ago.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked.

"Because you'd do it for me." He said it simply. Like it was obvious. "And because I meant what I said. I'm staying."