Chapter 10 - The New Era
I rushed back to the corporate headquarters, my heart pounding aggressively in my chest.
I burst into the financial department to find Eleanor Vance typing furiously on her computer.
I demanded to know who had authorized the massive transfer of the corporate reserves.
Eleanor stopped typing, turned around in her chair, and offered me a warm, reassuring smile.
She explained that she had initiated the transfer herself to trigger an emergency lockdown protocol.
She had moved all the company funds into a secure, government-bonded trust to protect them from Julian's automated failsafes.
The money was completely safe, and the company was officially out of danger.
Julian was formally indicted on twenty-seven counts of federal fraud and denied bail.
Camila was permanently exiled from the corporate world, forced to return to her hometown with absolutely nothing to her name.
The board of directors unanimously voted to appoint me as the new Chief Executive Officer.
Over the next six months, I rebuilt the company culture and successfully closed the massive merger we had always wanted.
I was finally free, wealthy, and sitting at the top of an empire I helped build from scratch.
I sat alone in the leather chair that once belonged to my deceitful husband, feeling entirely at peace.
I opened the bottom drawer of the heavy desk to finally clear out his old, forgotten files.
Inside was a thick, unmarked black folder with my maiden name printed clearly on the cover.
I opened it to find terrifying surveillance photos of myself, taken years before I ever met Julian.
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A handwritten note from a known crime syndicate was attached to the very top photograph.
"She suspects absolutely nothing, and the asset is completely ready for phase two," the chilling note read.
