Chapter 3
Three days later, I returned to Riverdale.
Instead of going back to the condo, I took my suitcase straight to Aurora Westwood's apartment.
The moment she opened the door, she wrapped me in a tight hug.
"You're not going back there," she declared before I could even speak. "My place has two guest rooms. Stay as long as you want."
I smiled, feeling warmth spread through my chest.
"Thank you."
"What are best friends for?"
The apartment smelled faintly of coffee and lavender. It wasn't nearly as spacious as the condo Kendrick had bought after Quinn Corporation became successful, but somehow, it felt infinitely warmer.
For the first time in years, I slept through the night without waking to the sound of an empty elevator or wondering whether Kendrick would come home before sunrise.
...
The next morning, Aurora was making tea while I stood by the kitchen island washing fruit.
She glanced at me several times before finally speaking.
"There's something I need to tell you."
The seriousness in her voice made me stop what I was doing.
"What is it?"
Aurora hesitated.
"I heard Avery cleaned house right after firing you."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"She dismissed almost your entire core team."
The knife in my hand paused halfway through slicing an apple.
Aurora sighed.
"The senior accountants who worked under you for years... gone. Two resigned on the spot after Avery humiliated them during a meeting, and the others were forced out within the week. She replaced almost everyone with people she personally recruited."
I lowered my gaze to the cutting board.
No wonder.
Those people weren't just my subordinates.
They were the wolves who had stayed beside me through countless month-end closings, overnight audits, and financial crises. Every one of them understood the system because I had personally trained them over the years.
Without them...
The finance department had lost more than employees.
It had lost its memory.
Aurora placed a cup of tea beside me before continuing carefully.
"And..."
She stopped again.
"What?"
Her expression darkened.
"It looks like Avery has already moved into your place."
My hand froze.
A stream of hot water overflowed from the kettle I had been pouring, splashing over my fingers.
The sting barely registered.
"A friend of mine lives near your neighborhood," Aurora said quietly. "She saw Avery driving the Aston Martin Kendrick gave you."
The kitchen fell silent.
Three years ago, on my birthday, Kendrick had handed me the keys almost absentmindedly before rushing off to another meeting.
"Happy birthday."
That was all he had said.
The Aston Martin had remained parked in the condo's underground garage ever since.
I had never driven it.
The color was too eye-catching, and I had never liked attracting attention. To me, it had been nothing more than an expensive decoration collecting dust.
Who would have thought...
The first person to truly enjoy that car wouldn't be me.
It would be Avery.
I calmly placed the kettle back onto the counter before reaching for a tissue to dry my fingers.
Outwardly, I remained composed.
Inside, however, my nails dug so deeply into my palm that I could almost feel blood threatening to break the skin.
Not because of the car.
But because Kendrick had never bothered to stop her.
Or perhaps...
He had been the one who handed her the keys.
My wolf stirred uneasily before falling silent again.
She no longer seemed surprised.
Neither was I.
...
The last day of the month arrived faster than expected.
Month-end closing.
The busiest night for every finance department.
In the past, I would already have been sitting in my office before dawn, checking every report while my team moved with practiced precision around me.
Now...
I was sitting comfortably on Aurora's sofa, wrapped in a blanket while reading a novel.
Aurora suddenly gasped.
"Evelyn."
I looked up.
"What happened?"
She hurried over with her phone.
"The anonymous company group chat."
I almost laughed.
"You still haven't left that group?"
"Of course not. Someone has to keep me entertained."
She shoved the phone into my hands.
At the top of the screen, a bright red headline immediately caught my attention.
[Did the New Finance Director Turn Quinn Corporation's Books into a Death Trap?]
The original post contained only two sentences.
[Month-end closing completely collapsed tonight. Rumor has it there's a nine-figure shortfall, and the finance department is losing its mind.]
Below it, replies were pouring in one after another.
[Nine figures? Did someone accidentally sell the Alpha's headquarters?]
[I knew this would happen. Avery's recruits talk big but can't even reconcile basic accounts.]
[Poor Mary. Someone saw her locking herself in the restroom three times tonight. She came out with red eyes every time.]
[Forget Mary. The partnership accounts won't balance, investment ledgers are missing linked entries, and none of the reserve funds can be traced.]
[When Evelyn was still here, month-end was practically a celebration. We'd finish early enough to grab barbecue together.]
[Keep your voice down unless you want Avery to hear you. Nobody's allowed to mention Evelyn anymore.]
[Accounting's completely silent tonight. I walked past earlier, and Avery slammed an entire stack of files onto her desk.]
[I'll bet a month's salary nobody gets those books balanced before sunrise.]
Aurora looked at me with wide eyes.
"They're falling apart."
I handed the phone back and smiled faintly.
"I'm not surprised."
She blinked.
"You aren't?"
I shook my head.
"The system they're using may look like an ordinary financial platform."
In truth...
It had never been ordinary.
Eleven years ago, when Quinn Corporation was still nothing more than a struggling business supported by the Mooncrest Pack, I had built the financial system from the ground up. Every calculation, every authorization, every hidden reserve, and every emergency protocol had been designed specifically for the pack's unique operations.
On the surface, it functioned like any commercial accounting software.
Underneath...
It was a maze.
There were dozens of contingency structures hidden beneath the visible ledgers. Some accounts existed only to absorb emergency losses. Others redirected funds during territorial conflicts between packs. Certain project payments intentionally appeared disconnected until the final reconciliation process.
I knew which numbers were real.
Which entries were temporary.
Which debts had been quietly transferred.
Which reserves could never appear on an ordinary balance sheet.
Only one wolf in Quinn Corporation understood every pathway inside that labyrinth.
And she had already walked away.
Outside the window, the moon slowly climbed above Riverdale.
Somewhere across the city, the lights inside Quinn Corporation would remain on until dawn.
For the first time in eleven years...
I wasn't the one staying behind to save them.