My Fiancé Embezzled Public Funds to Keep His Mistress

Chapter 3

At two o'clock in the afternoon, someone from the administration department knocked on my door.

"Sorry to disturb you, Victoria." The administrative supervisor looked awkward, his eyes darting about, not daring to meet mine. Two movers stood behind him. "Vivian says the AC in her office is out, and she wants to swap for your window-facing one. Harold has already approved it."

I looked out the window at the bright Los Angeles sun.

Outside was the Beverly Hills skyline. This spot I had fought three years to earn was now about to be handed over to someone who couldn't even remember all her clients' names.

"Fine. I'll move right now."

I stood up, grabbed a cardboard box, and started packing my personal belongings from the desk.

One of the movers casually stuffed the crystal "Litigation Lawyer of the Year" plaque from the corner of my desk into the box, as carelessly as if he were tossing in a stack of scrap paper.

Harold had handed that to me himself after we won the Nelson Group case.

Less than half an hour later, Vivian walked in, clicking in her high heels and holding a cup of coffee.

She glanced around, pointing at the custom art glass pen holder on my desk. "Leave this here, would you? It fits the vibe of this office perfectly."

"You want it? It's yours." I pushed the pen holder across the desk, picked up the box, and headed for the door.

As we brushed past each other, Vivian murmured in my ear, "Victoria, don't think getting in with the Nelson family is enough to make it in Los Angeles. To headquarters, you're nothing but a local lawyer they hire to do their dirty work.

"Daniel is taking me to meet his parents tonight. What do you think he's going to introduce me as?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her.

The new necklace around her neck glinted under the light. I recognized the design: it was a limited-edition piece from Cartier's Clash collection, retailing for a little over $40,000.

That was my money.

"Enjoy your dinner." I smiled, hefted the box, and walked straight to the far end of the corridor, to the temporary office converted from a storage room next to the archives.

It was roughly 85 square feet, with no windows. One of the overhead fluorescent lights was broken, flickering on and off. The air smelled of mildew from years of damp old documents.

After sitting down, I closed the door and took out my phone.

I dialed the fraud reporting hotline for Wells Fargo.

"Hello, this is Victoria Anderson. I've discovered an unauthorized home equity loan under my name for the amount of 200,000 dollars, secured against the Santa Monica property jointly held by Daniel Miller and myself.

"I never signed any loan documents, nor did I ever authorize this transaction. I suspect someone forged my signature. I request that the loan account be frozen immediately and a fraud investigation be launched."

After verifying my Social Security number, the customer service representative's tone turned serious at once. "Ms. Anderson, we have received your report. The loan has been frozen. We will send a notice requesting the other joint holder's cooperation in the investigation and forward the case to our risk and legal team for further processing.

"Would you also like to freeze the ownership transfer channel for the property at this time?"

"Yes, please freeze that as well."

I hung up the phone.

'Daniel, your cash flow is about to dry up.'

Next, I made my second call.

I called American Express premium customer service to initiate a billing dispute for the $58,620 I had covered out of pocket with my personal card for work expenses.

"Hello, I need to dispute several business expense advances on my card. My employer has refused to recognize the legitimacy of these advances, which means these charges constitute unauthorized charges made as part of work-related business.

"I request that settlement to the merchants be suspended immediately, and a compliance review be conducted on the transactions."

The Amex representative confirmed that these transactions would be immediately marked as "disputed" and settlement of the relevant merchants' accounts would be put on hold.

Finally, I sent an official legal memorandum to the firm's finance department and the Chief Financial Officer: Whereas the compliance department has determined the $58,620 I personally advanced to be a "non-compliant expense", and in order to prevent the firm from bearing potential financial fraud risks, I have filed a dispute claim with the credit card company. The finance department shall immediately freeze the payment processes for all corresponding third-party vendors, including New York Outpost Security and San Francisco Vanguard Public Relations, until the compliance self-inspection is completed.

Upon receiving this memorandum marked with a "fraud risk warning", the finance department froze all payment channels within five minutes to avoid joint liability.

'Vivian, Daniel, you two wanted to play by the compliance rules, right? Then I'll give you the most thorough compliance possible.'

Half an hour later, Vivian's hysterical screams came from the next office.

"What's going on? Why are the people in New York saying the witness is gone?"

I sat in the makeshift office, steeping a bag of coffee in a disposable paper cup.

Not long after, Daniel kicked the door open and stormed in, his tie askew and a button on the collar of his shirt popped off.

"Victoria! What the hell did you do to the New York security company?"