A Signature That Bound Us

Chapter Seven

Aurelia’s POV

By ten fifteen, I was back at my desk, reviewing the access instructions Finance had sent again, I opened the request page and entered the reference number associated with the third payment. A notification appeared, “RECORD NOT AVAILABLE.”

I frowned and checked the number on my notes, I had entered it correctly, so I tried again but the

same notification appeared. For a moment, I considered whether I had misunderstood the reference format. I checked the instructions, copied the number directly from the document, and submitted the request a third time. Again, the record was unavailable, I leaned back in my chair.

“Seriously?”

The employee at the desk beside mine glanced over, “is there a problem?”

“I’m trying to access an archived approval record, but the system keeps rejecting the reference.”

She turned slightly toward my screen, “is it giving you an error code?”

“No, it says the record isn’t available.”

She studied the message, “some of the acquisition files are restricted. You might need someone from Records Management to check it.”

“That’s what I’m trying to establish,” she smiled sympathetically before returning to her work. I sent a message to the records administrator, explaining the problem and including the reference number. Then I opened the other payment files while I waited, the first invoice matched the amount listed in the payment voucher. The vendor’s details were consistent across the documents, and the approval date fell within the stated quarter.The second payment was less straightforward, the payment voucher referred to a service description that differed from the one in the acquisition summary. There was no invoice attached to the file I had received, but that didn’t necessarily mean one had never existed. It might have been stored separately, filed under a different reference, or omitted from the documents provided for review, I made a note to check.

The third payment brought me back to the archived record, when I compared the reference number in the summary with the one on the approval trail, they were identical. I examined the surrounding entries, looking for a related number or an alternative reference that might lead me to the same document but nothing obvious appeared. I wasn’t going to assume the record had been deliberately removed simply because I couldn’t access it, corporate record systems were complicated, and restricted documents could be moved, archived or temporarily unavailable for ordinary administrative reasons. Still, I needed to understand what had happened.

At eleven twenty, the records administrator replied, “the reference provided does not currently resolve to an accessible document in the acquisition file. Please contact the department that supplied the original reference for confirmation.” I read the message twice, it didn’t explain anything. I forwarded the response to Lior’s assistant and requested confirmation that the authorization for the archived record had been processed, then I returned to my work.

I was halfway through comparing the payment dates when a message appeared on my computer,

Mr. Vale’s Office: “Mr. Vale would like you to attend the acquisition review meeting at 12:30 p.m, please bring your preliminary findings and supporting notes.” I stared at the screen, a meeting? With whom? I sent a brief reply asking whether I should prepare anything beyond the report and supporting documents.

The response came a few minutes later, “the existing report and notes will be sufficient.” I looked down at the papers spread across my desk, this was my first time attending an acquisition review meeting at Vale Enterprises. I didn’t know who would be present, what questions they would ask, or whether Lior intended to have me explain my findings in front of the people responsible for the records. My stomach tightened, I could handle questions, I could defend my work but what I couldn’t afford was being caught unprepared. For the next hour, I organized the report, checked every figure, and marked the pages containing the discrepancies. I wrote down the questions I could answer and the ones that remained unresolved, I wasn’t going to pretend to know more than I did.

At twelve twenty-five, I picked up my folder and headed for the conference room. There were six people seated around the long table when I arrived, two were members of the finance team. Another was a woman whose title, according to the nameplate in front of her, identified her as part of the legal department. A man in a dark suit sat near the far end, speaking quietly with a colleague.

Lior stood beside the screen at the front of the room, he looked at me as I entered. “Miss Laurent, you’re late.”

I checked the clock on the wall, it was twelve twenty-seven. “The meeting was scheduled for twelve thirty, Mr. Vale.”

His expression didn’t change, “then take your seat.” Which I did, I could feel the attention of the others as I settled into the chair, placed my folder on the table, and opened it to the first page. Lior began with a brief overview of the acquisition and the questions the company needed answered before moving forward. He spoke with the confidence of someone accustomed to having an entire room listen when he opened his mouth, I understood why people found him intimidating. He didn’t need to raise his voice, he simply spoke as though the discussion had already been decided and everyone else was there to catch up.

When he reached the section concerning the payment discrepancies, he turned toward me.

“Miss Laurent has reviewed the available records, she’ll explain what she found.”

My heart started beating faster but I stood, I described the three payments, the different classifications, I was careful to distinguish between a missing document in the available file and proof that the document did not exist. When I finished, the man in the dark suit leaned forward.

“So are you suggesting the payments were improperly authorized?”

“No,” I answered. “I’m saying the documentation available to me is insufficient to establish that they were all properly supported, I would need to examine the original approval records before reaching a conclusion.”

He exchanged a glance with the finance manager, “and you couldn’t find those records?”

“I requested access, the reference for the third payment doesn’t currently resolve to an accessible document in the acquisition file.” I answered.

The legal representative made a note, Lior watched me without speaking. The finance manager cleared his throat, “some records are held separately from the acquisition summary. That doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem.”

“I agree,” I said. “That’s why I’ve requested confirmation from Records Management rather than assuming the document is entirely missing.”

The man in the dark suit studied me for a moment, “that’s a cautious answer.”

“I think caution is appropriate when the evidence is incomplete.”

A brief silence followed, then he nodded. “Fair enough.”

I sat down, my hands were slightly damp, and I pressed them on the sides of my folder beneath the table. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until the immediate pressure of speaking in front of the group passed, I had expected Lior to criticize me for not providing a definitive answer. Instead, he turned back to the screen and moved the meeting to the next item, I listened, taking notes when relevant information came up. The discussion shifted toward projected costs, operational risks, and the timeline for the acquisition. I didn’t contribute unless I had something useful to add.

When the meeting ended, the others began gathering their papers, as I was sliding my report back into its folder when Lior spoke. “Miss Laurent, stay.”

The words made my stomach tighten again, I waited until the others had left before looking at him.

“What is it, Mr. Vale?”

He stood at the head of the table, one hand resting on the back of a chair. “Who told you the archived record was unavailable?”

“Records Management confirmed that the reference doesn’t resolve to an accessible document in the acquisition file.”

“Did you speak to anyone about the contents of the record?”

“No sir, I haven’t seen the record, so I couldn’t discuss its contents.”

“Did you tell anyone you suspected wrongdoing?”

“No.”

His eyes remained fixed on mine, “are you certain?”

I was irritated by that question but I decided to act cool, “yes, I’m certain. I explained that the documentation was incomplete and that further review was necessary, I didn’t accuse any one of anything.”

He said nothing for a moment, “give me the reference number.” He stretched his hand, I opened my folder and handed it to him. He read the number, something changed in his expression. Though, it was subtle, there was a tightening around his eyes, a stillness that hadn’t been there before but I noticed it because until that moment, he had seemed irritated with me rather than concerned about the information itself. “Where did you get this?”

“From the approval trail attached to the third payment, it’s also listed in the acquisition summary.”

He looked at me, “show me.” I opened the report to the relevant page and placed it on the table, he examined the reference in the summary, then the one in the supporting document. They matched, he

took out his phone and made a call. “Get Records Management to verify an archived approval reference for the acquisition file,” he said when someone answered. “I’m sending the number now, I want to know whether the record was transferred, restricted, or removed from the accessible file, and when that status changed.” He listened briefly, “no, don’t speculate. Check the record history and report back to me.”

He ended the call while I stood quietly, waiting. “What is it?” I asked at last.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with at this stage.”

I frowned, “but it’s part of the assignment you’ve given me.”

“And I’ve taken responsibility for checking the access issue.”

“I thought you wanted me to trace the approval process.”

“I want you to do what I’ve assigned you, I don’t want you wasting time chasing a technical issue that Records Management can resolve.”

I felt my frustration returning, “you could have said that without making it sound as though I’ve done something wrong.”

His gaze sharpened, “are you telling me how to speak to my employees now?”

“No, Mr. Vale. I’m telling you that I’ve followed your instructions, and I’d appreciate being treated accordingly.”

For several seconds, he stared at me. I could hear the faint sound of conversation from the corridor outside the conference room, he picked up my report and closed it. “Return to your desk and continue reviewing the other supporting documents. I’ll inform you when the archived record has been located.”

“And if it hasn’t been located?”

His expression became unreadable again, “then we’ll deal with that when we have the facts, until this matter is resolved, you will not discuss that reference with anyone outside the authorized team. Is that clear?”

I gathered my folder, “understood sir.”

“Good, you may go.” I walked out of the conference room with my heart beating harder than it should have, I had expected Lior to be difficult. I had expected him to challenge my work, demand more, and make me question whether I was capable of meeting his standards but I hadn’t expected him to react to a reference number as though it meant something beyond a missing document. Perhaps it was an ordinary administrative problem, or perhaps he knew that certain records were sensitive and wanted to ensure the acquisition was handled correctly, they were reasonable explanations.

I sat down and opened my notes, before I resumed working, I got an email from the records administrator. It was explained that the reference number was valid in an older acquisition documentation, but the corresponding record was no longer linked to the current file. A request had been submitted to verify its location and access history, I read the message again, emphasizing the final sentence. The record’s current status differs from the status shown in the earlier acquisition index, that didn’t prove that anyone had deliberately removed anything though. Records could be transferred, reclassified, or restricted for legitimate reasons but someone would have to explain the difference.

I printed the email and placed it beside my report, then I forwarded it to Lior’s office, as instructed, without adding any speculation. A few minutes later, my desk phone rang.

“Miss Laurent,” Lior’s assistant said, “Mr. Vale wants you in his office immediately.”

“Did he say why?”

“No, he simply asked that you come now.”

I hung up slowly, wondering whether the problem wasn’t that Lior expected me to find answers. Perhaps he was beginning to realize that some of the answers might lead to questions he wasn’t ready to face, I picked up the printed email and stood. Whatever was happening with that acquisition, I was no longer dealing with a simple discrepancy in a financial report and judging by the urgency of Lior’s summons, he had just realized it too.