The Executive Lie

Chapter 13: Neck Deep

Chapter 13

I spent all week after the dinner fighting the urge to look at Elias. The new VTI reports for the integration sat on my desk, demanding every bit of attention from me.

It was a big project. And a sign of the deep professional authority Elias had given me. But every time I tried to focus on the integration reports, the small anomaly of the account hidden in the Vance ledgers pulled my focus away.

That evening, I was finally safe in my apartment. I didn't dare use the Thorne laptop. I opened my personal computer and waited for Avery’s line to connect.

"You sound tired," Avery's voice sounded through my laptop speaker. "What exactly is in this VTI report? Is it really that bad?"

"It stands for Vance and Thorne Integration. It’s the reports I have to work on since both companies are under Elias now. And it’s big" I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "It’s going to be weeks of focused work. I can see why he needs my attention completely dedicated to it."

"And yet, here you are," Avery stated.

"I can’t ignore the anomaly, Avery. The numbers are lying. And I have to find the truth. I need to find out what the problem is."

"Hmm" Avery replied.

“Any update with the accounts I sent?”

“Well, you flagged about 80 accounts that could help us get closer to identifying the beneficiary of the secret account. So it’s still taking a while to narrow down. I’m still running my traces”

"The money has definitely been leaving the general Vance operating budget, but it’s routed through three shell companies that only exist to muddy the trail," Avery narrated.

I watched the screen, seeing the complex charts of money. "Who designed this, Avery? It's too specific to be an accident."

Avery went quiet for a full minute, working her system. "Okay, here it is. The account itself was established six years ago and authorized by the former Vance CFO."

"Vance CFO?"

"Yeah, Clara. It doesn’t go through any automated internal audit flag, and it pulls money in small, inconsistent chunks from different operating sectors. It was an intentional, clever structure designed to hide a massive, long-term payment."

I felt a wave of frustration as I heard Avery’s words. I wasn't just bad at accounting. I was fighting bad management. This confirmed my worst fears about Vance's practices.

"So, the payment is real, and it was deliberately hidden by the old Vance management," I summarized. "That means someone is receiving a huge sum of money that the current balance sheet thinks is a pension fund liability."

"Exactly," Avery confirmed. " So far, no beneficiary in the flagged accounts attached to the secret account is on any of the former employee records as far as I’ve seen."

I stared at the screen. “Alright then. We’ll just have to wait till we’ve gone through all the flagged accounts then”

“Yeah, most likely.” Avery replied.

My professional suspicion was now fully confirmed. Something was terribly wrong here, and I knew I had to find the truth, regardless of how overwhelming the official workload was.