Chapter 12 - The Shadow in the Audit
Z
Spring arrived early in New York, melting the winter slush into bright, clear days. Vance & Hayes Development had just secured a historic fifty-million-dollar contract to renovate the city's waterfront architectural district. As CEO, my days were packed with press conferences, city planning boards, and endless contract reviews.
I was sitting in my office reviewing the final bidding logs for the waterfront sub-contractors when Marcus walked in, shutting the heavy double doors behind him. His face was rigid, his eyes fixed on a black leather folder in his hand.
"Eleanor, we have a problem," Marcus said, stepping up to my desk and placing the folder over my blueprints. "A major problem."
I looked up, frowning. "Is it the city zoning permits? We were cleared by the council yesterday."
"It's not zoning," Marcus replied, opening the folder to reveal a series of internal transaction ledgers stamped with red flags. "Our internal security software picked up an unauthorized access attempt on our secondary escrow accounts late last night. Someone tried to wire three million dollars out of the foundation's charitable building fund."
My blood ran cold. The foundation fund was my personal pride—the money dedicated to building shelters for vulnerable women. "Was the transfer completed?"
"No," Marcus said. "Our new encryption protocols blocked the transaction halfway through. But that's not what's troubling me, Eleanor. Look at the credentials used to initiate the transfer."
I pulled the ledger closer, scanning the digital footprint. The user ID used to bypass the initial security layer wasn't an external hacker. It was an active administrative key registered under a name I hadn't heard in years.
User: Chloe_Jenkins_Admin_Legacy.
I stared at the screen in disbelief. "Chloe? She's currently serving a five-year sentence at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. How could her administrative credentials even be active?"
"I called the prison warden twenty minutes ago to verify her status," Marcus said, his voice dropping to a grave whisper. "Chloe didn't initiate this from prison, Eleanor. Two weeks ago, Chloe was quietly released into a minimum-security work-release program in Queens after her defense team submitted an appeal based on health complications."
"Work-release?" I repeated, anger flaring in my chest. "She stole millions, tried to frame me, and served less than two years?"
"Her appellate lawyer claimed she acted under extreme duress from David and Julian Vance," Marcus explained. "She's currently working as a clerk for a boutique real estate management firm in Long Island City. And guess who owns that management firm?"
I looked at Marcus, my mind racing through the web of contacts we had uncovered during the trial. "Not Apex Global..."
"No," Marcus said grimly. "An offshore entity called Helios Capital. Registered in Nevada six months ago. And the silent managing partner of Helios Capital is someone you know very well."
Marcus slid a second piece of paper across the desk. It was an official corporate registration document from the state of Nevada. Printed clearly at the bottom under primary investor was a signature I knew all too well.
Victoria Vance.
I gasped softly. Victoria Vance was Marcus and Julian’s mother—the wealthy, reclusive matriarch of the Vance family who had lived in Paris for the last decade, completely detached from the firm's daily operations.
"Your mother?" I looked up at Marcus, shocked. "Your mother is funding Chloe?"
Marcus sat down heavily in the leather chair across from me, rubbing his temples in deep exhaustion. "My mother never forgave us for putting Julian in prison, Eleanor. She always favored Julian. She believes we destroyed her favorite son to take over the family legacy. She doesn't care about David or Chloe—she's using Chloe's knowledge of our internal system protocols to ruin us from the inside."
A cold, familiar calm settled over my nerves, replacing the initial shock. I stood up, walked to the window, and looked out over the bustling city below. They thought I was going to panic. They thought after two years of peace, I had grown soft.
"They think Chloe is their secret weapon," I said softly, turning back to Marcus with a sharp, lethal smile. "They think because she knows our old system protocols, she can tear down what we built."
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"What do you want to do?" Marcus asked.
"Call the District Attorney's office," I replied, my voice dropping to an icy edge. "Tell them Chloe Jenkins just violated the terms of her conditional release by attempting corporate grand larceny. And then, Marcus... prepare a full hostile audit of Helios Capital. If your mother wants to play games with my foundation, I'm going to bankrupt her before the week is over."
