Chapter 3 - THE NUMBERS MY FATHER HID
I didn't go back to Apex.
Not that day.
Not the next.
Instead, I hired an accountant.
Not someone recommended by my father.
Not someone connected to the family.
A completely independent forensic accountant named Elena Vargas.
She was forty-six, blunt, patient, and completely unimpressed by my last name.
During our first meeting, she pushed a stack of documents toward me.
“I don't care what your family says.”
“Good.”
“I don't care who owns Apex.”
“Better.”
“And I don't care whether you're trying to destroy them or save them.”
“I don't want to destroy anyone.”
She studied me.
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
“Then don't interfere with my work.”
“I won't.”
She nodded.
“Good.”
Three days later, Elena called.
“Adriana.”
“Yes?”
“You need to come in.”
Her tone made my stomach tighten.
I drove to her office.
She had twelve folders spread across a conference table.
“What did you find?”
She pointed at the first folder.
“Accounts receivable.”
Then another.
“Vendor payments.”
Another.
“Payroll.”
Finally, a thick red folder.
“Intercompany transfers.”
I sat down.
“How bad?”
“Bad enough that I understand why your father doesn't want you looking.”
I stared at her.
“How much?”
She gave me a number.
I couldn't speak.
Apex had nearly four million dollars in unexplained transfers over eighteen months.
“Where did it go?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Can you trace it?”
“Yes.”
She pointed at the red folder.
“But that's not the biggest problem.”
“What is?”
“Someone has been creating fake client payments.”
I remembered Gabriel's warning.
“How?”
“Bank statements were altered.”
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“It's possible.”
“Who has access?”
“Four people.”
She named them.
My father.
The finance director.
Roxanne.
And me.
My stomach turned.
“I didn't do it.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“You're the one who hired me.”
Fair enough.
She continued.
“There is something else.”
She opened a spreadsheet.
“These fake payments allowed Apex to report higher revenue.”
“Why?”
“To secure financing.”
I stared.
“So my father inflated the company's numbers?”
“I said someone did.”
“You think it was him.”
“I think the evidence will tell us.”
She closed the folder.
“Don't accuse anyone yet.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever did this is still inside the company.”
That night, I sat with Sienna at the kitchen table.
She was drawing.
“What are you drawing?”
“A horse.”
I smiled.
“Another horse?”
“This one has four legs.”
I laughed.
“Good.”
She colored carefully.
Then she looked at me.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Do you have a new office?”
“Not yet.”
“Can I see it?”
“Of course.”
She smiled.
“I want to put a picture there.”
“Of what?”
“Us.”
I kissed the top of her head.
“Deal.”
The following Monday, I signed a lease for a small office two blocks from Apex.
It wasn't glamorous.
The lobby had outdated carpet.
The elevator made a strange grinding sound.
The conference room was barely large enough for eight people.
But it was mine.
I put Sienna's drawing on my desk.
Then I hired my first employee.
Then my second.
Then four more.
By the end of the week, twelve people had joined me.
And every single one had worked with me at Apex.
My father found out.
His reaction was immediate.
He called me.
“You're stealing my employees.”
“No.”
“You're poaching clients.”
“No.”
“You're destroying your family.”
I looked out the window.
“You destroyed the relationship long before I opened this office.”
Silence.
Then he said:
“You think you're better than us.”
“No.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because I'm tired of being afraid of losing a place I never really had.”
He hung up.
That evening, I received a legal letter.
Apex was threatening to sue me for violating a non-compete agreement.
I read it twice.
Then I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was predictable.
I took it to Elena.
She read it.
Then smiled.
“Interesting.”
“What?”
“This agreement has a problem.”
“What problem?”
“It expired six months ago.”
I stared.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why send it?”
“To scare you.”
I sat back.
“They're desperate.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Elena opened another file.
“The missing money.”
The next morning, I received an unexpected visit.
My father walked into my office.
Alone.
No lawyers.
No Roxanne.
No performance.
He closed the door.
“You're going to stop.”
“No.”
“Adriana.”
“No.”
His face looked older than it had a month earlier.
“I need you to understand something.”
“I understand plenty.”
“You don't.”
He sat.
“Apex isn't just a company.”
“I know.”
“It's your grandfather's legacy.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Excuse me?”
“Grandpa built a company. You turned it into a family kingdom.”
He flinched.
I had never spoken to him that way.
He looked at the photograph on my desk.
Sienna and me.
“You think this is about the horse.”
“It isn't.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“The horse was the moment I stopped lying to myself.”
He looked away.
“Roxanne didn't mean it.”
“Roxanne wasn't the only person laughing.”
He said nothing.
Then his phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
His face changed.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Dad.”
He stood.
“I have to go.”
He walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Adriana.”
“Yes?”
“If Elena keeps digging…”
He didn't finish.
“What?”
“You don't understand how dangerous this can become.”
He left.
I stared at the closed door.
That night, Elena called.
“We found the first shell company.”
My heart jumped.
“Who owns it?”
“We're still confirming.”
“Can you tell me the name?”
She hesitated.
“Brooks Family Holdings.”
I closed my eyes.
My family name.
“What does it own?”
“Nothing obvious.”
“Then why use it?”
“Because someone wanted the money to look like it belonged to your family.”
I frowned.
“Where did the money go?”
Elena's voice became quieter.
“To a company in Nevada.”
“What company?”
She said the name.
May you like
I recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Roxanne.
