My Boss, My Destiny (Spg)

The Irregularities

A week had passed since I first realized just how extraordinary Amara Castillo really was.

Since then, I had been watching her more closely.

Not in the way I watched my employees.

I was trying to understand her.

The woman who deliberately hid behind thick glasses and simple clothes had a mind that could rival some of the brightest people in my company.

More importantly, she wasn't afraid to question information that didn't make sense.

That was exactly why, one evening, I found myself sitting alone in my office with a stack of financial reports spread across my desk.

The building had already grown quiet.

Most employees had gone home hours ago, leaving only a few lights glowing across the executive floor.

I rubbed my temple and picked up another report.

Something wasn't right.

The payment itself wasn't particularly large.

It was a routine transaction made to one of our suppliers.

But when I compared it with an older report, something caught my attention.

The supplier's registered name was different.

But the bank account was the same.

My eyes narrowed.

I checked another transaction.

The same account appeared again.

Then another.

I pulled my laptop closer and accessed the company's transaction history.

Dozens of payments followed the same pattern.

Different suppliers.

Different transaction dates.

But the same bank account.

The more I examined the records, the more suspicious it became.

Someone might have been siphoning money from Montefalco Holdings for months.

Perhaps even longer.

But suspicion wasn't enough.

I needed proof.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the screen.

"How did I miss this?"

I had built my reputation on noticing things other people overlooked.

Nothing significant happened inside my company without eventually reaching my desk.

Yet someone—or several people—had managed to manipulate our financial records without triggering the usual alarms.

That meant whoever was behind this understood our internal systems.

They knew how our financial procedures worked.

They knew where to hide irregularities.

And more importantly...

They were probably someone inside the company.

Someone with enough access to cover their tracks.

My jaw tightened.

If my suspicions were correct, I would find them.

But first, I needed evidence.

I closed the transaction records and leaned back in my chair.

For a moment, my thoughts returned to Amara.

She had spent less than an hour reviewing a proposal and had identified problems that several experienced employees had overlooked.

And now I couldn't help wondering whether she would notice the same thing in these financial records.

But before I could consider involving her, my eyes fell on the folder sitting on the corner of my desk.

My grandfather's last will and testament.

Another problem I couldn't afford to ignore.

I reached for the folder and opened it.

I had read the document countless times over the past few months.

The words hadn't changed.

Unfortunately, neither had the condition.

My grandfather had left me control of Montefalco Holdings after his death, but he had attached one final requirement to my inheritance.

I had six months to get married.

If I failed, control of the company would be transferred according to the terms stated in his will.

I would lose my position as CEO.

I clenched my jaw.

Of all the conditions he could have left behind, he had chosen marriage.

As if finding a wife within six months were as simple as signing a business contract.

I had never been afraid of competition.

I had never been afraid of losing money.

But losing Montefalco Holdings was different.

This company wasn't just a business.

It was my grandfather's legacy.

It was everything my family had built over the years.

And I wasn't about to let someone else take it from me because I failed to fulfill a condition I had never expected to face.

When I first learned about the deadline, six months had seemed like plenty of time.

It no longer did.

Every passing day brought me closer to losing everything my grandfather had entrusted to me.

And now I had two problems.

Someone might be stealing from my company.

And I needed to get married before my grandfather's deadline expired.

I closed the folder and exhaled slowly.

My grandfather had always believed I was too focused on business.

He used to tell me that an empire wasn't built by numbers alone.

There were things in life that couldn't be controlled through contracts, negotiations, or money.

Marriage, apparently, was one of them.

Perhaps this had been his final attempt to force me to build a life outside the company.

Or perhaps he simply wanted to make sure that whoever carried on his legacy had someone beside him when the pressure became too much.

Whatever his reason, the condition remained.

I had six months.

And I couldn't afford to fail.

My gaze returned to the financial reports.

The thought of Amara crossed my mind again.

She could spot patterns, had no personal ties within the company, and had no reason to protect anyone.

Unlike the people who had been reviewing these reports for months, she had no preconceived assumptions about where the problem might be.

She could look at the information with fresh eyes.

But could I trust her?

I reached for my phone.

"Ms. Castillo."

"Yes, sir?"

"Come here."

"Right now, sir?"

"Yes."

I ended the call and leaned back in my chair.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in."

The door opened.

Amara stepped inside, holding a tablet against her chest.

I gestured toward the chair in front of my desk.

"Sit."

She did.

I picked up one of the financial reports and placed it in front of her.

"Look at this."

She picked up the document.

Her eyes moved across the figures.

At first, there was no reaction.

Then her eyebrows slowly drew together.

She checked the second page.

Then the third.

And the fourth.

About thirty minutes later, she finally looked up at me.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Are these figures supposed to match?"

I leaned back.

"Why?"

She pointed toward the report.

"The supplier's registered name is different here."

"Yes."

"But the bank account is the same."

I said nothing.

She continued examining the pages.

"And the payment dates follow almost the exact same pattern every month."

My attention sharpened.

"How long did it take you to notice that?"

She glanced at me.

"Less than a minute."

For a moment, I almost smiled.

There it was again—the extraordinary mind hidden behind those thick glasses.

I leaned forward.

"Ms. Castillo."

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you know what you're looking at?"

She looked down at the report.

"A possible financial anomaly."

"Exactly."

I tapped my finger against the document.

"I'm not saying someone is stealing from the company. Not yet."

Her eyes lifted to mine.

"Then what do you think?"

"I think there are irregularities that need to be investigated."

I paused.

"And I suspect they may be connected."

She studied the documents again.

"You think someone could be hiding something?"

"It's possible."

"But you don't have proof."

"Not yet."

She nodded slowly.

I pushed another stack of documents toward her.

"I want you to examine all of these."

Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the files.

"All of them?"

"Yes."

She hesitated.

"Why me?"

The question caught me off guard.

I could have given her several reasons.

She noticed what others overlooked. She remembered details most people forgot. Her mind worked faster than most people I knew, and she wasn't afraid to question what she saw.

But there was another reason.

One I wasn't quite ready to admit.

I trusted her.

Perhaps more than I should.

"Because I believe you can see things other people overlook."

Her eyes met mine.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Something shifted in the silence between us.

I ignored it.

"Can you do it?"

She glanced at the documents before looking back at me.

"I'll do my best, sir."

She reached for the stack.

I watched as she pulled the first report closer and immediately began examining the figures.

No complaint about the amount of work.

She simply started.

I had hired Amara Castillo because she was qualified.

At first, I had kept her close because I was curious about her.

But now I was beginning to realize that her presence at Montefalco Holdings could be far more valuable than I had anticipated.

She was new to the company, had no ties to the people involved, and carried no preconceived notions about whom to trust.

And that might be exactly what I needed.

To be continued...