Chapter 4 - The Paper Trail AuditThat night, I didn't sleep.

I sat in my home office with Victoria and my lead technical analyst, Marcus, going through twelve years of financial records, tax returns, and corporate filings.

When a forensic accountant audits her own life, nothing stays hidden.

“Look at this, Claire,” Marcus pointed to his laptop screen, highlighting a series of offshore wire transfers executed over the last eighteen months. “Daniel opened a secondary shell company registered in Delaware under the name Apex Horizons LLC.”

I leaned in, examining the transaction logs. “He’s been transferring money out of his department’s operational expense fund at Miller & Vance Architecture.”

“It’s worse than that,” Victoria added, pulling up a secondary spreadsheet. “He’s been using your electronic signature to authorize fake consulting invoices from Apex Horizons. He siphoned four hundred thousand dollars from your private consulting firm’s retainer account.”

My blood ran cold.

Daniel hadn't just cheated on me with the neighbor. He had been systematically embezzling money from my business and his own employer to fund an opulent lifestyle for Vanessa, including buying her a two-hundred-thousand-dollar condo downtown under his shell company’s name.

“Does his corporate board know about Apex Horizons?” I asked.

“Not yet,” Victoria smiled—a sharp, lethal expression. “Their annual board meeting is tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Daniel is scheduled to present his proposal for promotion to Senior Managing Partner.”

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I looked out the window as the sun began to rise over the quiet neighborhood.

“Get my presentation drive ready, Marcus,” I said, adjusting my blazer. “I’m attending his board meeting.”