In out and back in love with you.

17. We are called widows

Cassandra Donovan always knew perfection is in details; that's why when she arrived at MTC & associates on Thursday morning she wanted to go to the common room and do a review of the equipment, she wanted to check if the camera was activated and recorded correctly when performing a banking session, however when she entered the common room she found something she did not expect, the place was empty, not empty like no people, no, it was complete and absolutely empty!! The computers were gone!!!

- What the hell? - Anthony exclaimed. - They’re gone!!

- That son of a bi*ch is covering his tracks- His boss confirmed. - Go to IT, ask them to check the cameras I want to know who entered or left this room, track those computers, NOW Anthony!

- On it! - Said the chameleon as he rushed out the door.

Cassie heard footsteps down the hallway and Anthony say something like “morning” at her back, before she could turn around, she heard Monica's voice.

- Where is Anthony going? And... what the hell?? Where are the computers? - she asked looking at the empty room.

- f*****g Edward- Alexander cursed

- I send Anthony to look for the computers, but we need to tie all loose ends, can we use your office Mr. McIntyre? - Cassie spoke.

- Yes, of course gorgeous, whatever you need - He said absently although the affectionate name did not go unnoticed.

- I will call my entire team; I will even connect with my technology expert who’s still in Charlotte.

An hour later, five expert consultants were sitting in Alexander McIntyre's office and the CEO and his financial manager Monica, were eager to hear what they had to say.

- Ok, guys, give me something, scratch that, give me everything we got so far- Cassie asked her team.

- I just finished the review of undue payments and expenses, and this has been happening for more than 18 months, very very slowly at the beginning, money from the petty box so to speak, the good news is that for a company this size the scam was not as big as it could have been. The total sum is 2.6 million, more than half of that amount was pull out in the last 4 months, and surely it was going to continue growing, they were getting bolder so the damage could have been way worse. - Erik said giving his report from the accounting area.

- From my position, I review the approval process and the possible responsible people, in each fraudulent authorization is the same analyst involved… meet Richard Danley- said Sonia throwing a file on the center of the desk- He started here in MTC two years ago, he is sunk up to his neck in betting debts and in the last quarter he acquired a car he could not pay in his current financial situation.

- There's your mole Monica. That's great Sonia! Good job! Amanda, what do you got for me? - asked the consulting leader.

- Well, I'm going to take the golden star of the day. Do you remember I was investigating how the large transactions were completed? the banking system requests facial verification to finish them, so I got witty, I printed a life-size photograph of Mr. McIntyre's face and tried it in an app that requires facial verification, and it works!!! You just must find the right angle. FYI I requested to duplicate the bank security padlock, now in addition to the initial password and the facial verification you must enter another password, I took the liberty of sending a provisional one, is: "Cassie rules" you can change it as soon as it is convenient for you Mr. McIntyre- Amanda concluded with a mocking smile.

-Yes, she does! - It was Alexander's only answer looking at Cassandra with admiration.

- Anthony, anything to add? - Cassie asked ignoring the complement

- I found the computers, they took them out of the building as soon as we left last night for a "routine maintenance" approved by our business partner of the year, Mr. Edward Black, he requested a complete reset and are been brought back as we speak, I contacted our technology expert and Mavis says she is sure she can recover at least the hard drive, but even if they were completely formatted to factory state, Mavis has the backup Of each laptop. - Anthony replied.

- Backup? When did we make a backup of each laptop? - Monica asked

- You didn’t do it, not of the computers in the common area, so Mavis and I made one while we were installing the firewall yesterday morning. -Anthony said in a know-it-all tone.

- Handsome and smart!!! I could do much worse, you know? - Monica praised him shamelessly

- I also contacted Martin boss, he will have news tomorrow about the receiving account, but he wants you to call him personally- Anthony said.

- The Viking Banker wants you to call him in person? It seems that he is still interested in "expanding the alliance" haha- Amanda mocked Cassie and the smart remark made Alexander frown.

- Anyway, I was also investigating Mr. Black's movements, and it seems he has offered alternative contracts to MCT clients under another company, contracts he has also failed to fulfill, my best guess is he is planning to run away with the money he has scammed and if that’s the case he will leave quickly.

- Ok, from my end, review and evidence of all improper financial movements is ready, is based on penalty code for MTC to file charges if needed, and based on all our progress I have a preliminary plan to inclose security and give you back complete control Mr. McIntyre, we could have all the evidence ready for early Monday and we’ll implement the new processes the following week, after that we are out of your hair.- Cassie concluded.

- Alexander was speechless, his dream woman's job was flawless, seeing her audacity, her strength and her relentlessness was the sexiest sight he had ever seen in his life, only… he didn’t want her to leave.

- My God! You're all that and a bag of chips, aren't you? - Monica said with appreciation.

The rest of the day the team of consultants was more than a little busy. With a clearer picture and a plan in progress they could finish their tasks on time without problems, they were in the common area of the company finishing installing the laptop equipment with their respective backrests under the watchful eye of Monica and Alexander, when they heard a pair of heels stepping hard on the marble floor. Cassie looked up and saw from afar a woman she hadn't seen in years: Narcy; she almost didn't recognize her, her face looked different, too many surgeries surely, and wasn't she supposed to be taking tennis and aerobics lessons? What’s with the fat rolls then? Maybe it was just her selfish and very subjective point of view, but years were not very kind to the short, rounded woman who walked towards them almost throwing smoke trough her mouth and bearing a murderous expression. There were several employees in the common area but that didn't stop her from screaming at the top of her lungs.

- You son of a bi*ch!! You file for divorce? How dare you! - She screams at the top of her lungs pointing a manicured finger towards Alexander.

- Narcy, lower your voice, this is not the time nor the place, let's go to my office. - Alexander said

- The right place? The right moment? They served me divorce papers at the Country Club!! In front of all my friends!!- Narcy continued with her speech.

- And that's why you're so angry??? All you care about is what people may think? - Alex asked and he must have imagined, what else could matter to Narcy but her social status

- Narcy, I think you should go with Alex to his office, there’s too many people here, ok? - Monica tried to mediate.

- So what? Let them find out! Let them know their boss is a horrible husband and a pathetic lover who’s not been able to please his wife in over a year- shouted the woman getting redder and redder.

- Everybody out, NOW!!!!- Cassie intervened, she hated to see that woman publicly humiliating Alexander, it was not her business, she shouldn't care, but she did, and what was the stupid woman talking about? Alex being a pathetic lover? If anything, Alex's problem was to restrain his s****l impulses!! At least that's how she remembered it.

Narcy fixed her gaze on Cassie and showed an ironic smile.

- Cassandra! You're here! I heard you managed to get rid of your husband!! Is that why you're here? Now that you're single and lost your man, you want to come after mine?- Narcy said dripping poison, she knew that Cassie was single again but she wasn't sure how it happened, when her mother-in-law told them that perfect Miss Donovan was a single mother now, Narcy wasn't really listening, she didn't pay attention and that mistake was going to cost her now. She wanted to make Cassie look bad, she hated her since forever, so she was going to make her look like a tramp.

- You're shameless without a doubt, do you know what women who end their marriages like you are called? - Narcy knew saying this Cassandra may look like her husband's mistress.

- Yes Narcy, I know what they call us, WE ARE CALLED WIDOWS. -Cassie replied with disdain and heard everyone in the room gasp.

People now saw Cassie with pity and Narcy with disapproval. Narcy was speechless

- Enough!!- Alexander's loud voice resounded in the room

- You come with me to the office, everyone else, just get to work. - The cold CEO prevailed, too angry at the accusations that Narcy had thrown at Cassandra. How dare she? One thing was to humiliate him in public with another tantrum, but he would not allow her to insult Cassie, so he took Narcy by the arm and dragged her out of the room to his office.

MTC employees began to withdraw from the common room, some even addressed a few words to Cassie on their way out, things like "I'm sorry about your husband" or "She shouldn't have said that" but her favorite was "you have my sympathy" God!! She hated that, hated people's pity.

- Hey, are you okay there? I told you Narcy is a bi*ch lately- Monica spoke up.

- Yes, I'm fine! Much better people have called me a lot worse; you know? I shouldn't have intervened, but when she humiliate Alex in that way, I couldn’t help it.... - Cassie answered

- I told you their marriage ended a long time ago, but I never thought she could do this, her children are such sweet kids you know but she neglects them, she is not in their lives and spends less time at home than Alexander and you know how he travels, I mean, what did she think would happen? - Monica argued

- Yes, well, being a single father is not easy but if someone can do it, that's Alex- Cassie acknowledged.

- You know? Maybe he doesn’t have to do it alone, and neither do you… all I’m saying is some things are meant to happen no matter how long it takes. - The finance manager suggested

- Monica... don't go there...- Cassie interrupted her with a warning tone, to which the girl just raised her arms in surrender. Cassie shouldn't go there, she knew it, although a deep chill began to expand throughout her body.