Chapter 4 - The Sacramento Acquisition
I stared at my father in absolute disbelief as the party guests began murmuring in shock.
He had spent my entire life calling me a financial burden, and now he was begging me for money in public.
"I will not cosign anything for you," I said coldly.
I walked out of the yard, leaving my humiliated parents standing in absolute silence.
The next morning, I arrived at the logistics firm headquarters at exactly eight o'clock.
The executive board was already assembled in the main conference room, waiting for the representative from Halden Vale.
I pushed the glass doors open and walked to the head of the long table.
My father was sitting near the back, nursing a massive hangover.
When he looked up and saw me, all the blood drained from his face.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded, standing up abruptly.
"Sit down, Richard," the current CEO snapped at him.
"Gentlemen, my name is Marlo Prescott, and I am the new Director of Strategic Analysis for Halden Vale," I announced.
The room fell completely silent as I booted up the presentation on the massive screen.
I spent the next three hours dismantling their archaic business models and exposing their operational failures.
My father shrank lower into his leather chair with every slide I presented.
After the meeting, I ordered my father to stay behind in the conference room.
"You planned this just to humiliate me," he accused, his voice shaking.
"I did not even know Halden Vale bought this company until two days ago," I replied evenly.
I tossed a thick audit report onto the table directly in front of him.
"I ran the preliminary numbers on your financial department last night," I said.
He refused to look at the document.
"You have been embezzling corporate funds for three years, Dad."
He swallowed hard, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Over four hundred thousand dollars is missing from the pension accounts," I continued.
"I had to do it, Marlo," he pleaded desperately.
"I was paying for Camille's medical treatments."
I frowned, completely caught off guard by the excuse.
"Camille is perfectly healthy," I stated.
"That is what she told you, but she is very sick," my father whispered.
May you like
I opened the final page of the audit report to show him the bank routing numbers.
"Then why did you wire the stolen money to a shell corporation in the Cayman Islands?" I asked.
