Chapter 4

I sat on the bare floor of my empty office. My laptop burned hot against my crossed legs. The sun dipped below the Manhattan skyline, casting long, dark shadows across the room. I didn't turn on the lights. I just stared at the glowing screen.

The deeper I dug into the company’s financials, the worse it got. Salma didn't just steal money. She and Gavin had built a house of cards. They inflated our quarterly revenue by thirty percent. They needed the numbers to look perfect for our upcoming Series C funding round. It was a massive deal. It was…