Months later, my auditors finished their work. The university replaced the board members tied to Vance and dismantled the network that had traded donations for favors. Scholarships and internships went back to the students who had earned them.
One afternoon, a plain white envelope arrived at my office without a return address. The handwritten card inside read, *“Thank you. You gave me my future back.”* There was no name. I set it beside the final audit.
My father walked into my new office without knocking. He looked at the view, the title plate on my door, and the card beside my hand.
“I heard the final audit came in,” he said. “Clean bill of health. You didn’t scorch the earth, Chloe. You cut out the right people.”
I smiled. “Someone had to.”
He placed a leather-bound portfolio on my
