Chapter 6 - The Ghost Payroll
Maya looked up at Ethan, completely stunned by the warmth of his heavy jacket. She expected cruelty, but she found a protector.
With tears streaming down her face, she finally broke her silence.
"She’s been stealing from you, sir," Maya whispered, her voice raw. "Valerie fired half the night staff six months ago. But she kept their names on the payroll. She pockets their salaries and forces the rest of us to cover their zones. If we don't finish three floors a night, she docks our pay for 'incompetence.'"
Ethan’s eyes narrowed as the horrifying scope of the corruption became clear. Valerie wasn't just a tyrant; she was an embezzler.
"I haven't eaten a real meal in three days so I could buy baby formula," Maya sobbed quietly, clutching Nora. "Tonight, I just felt so dizzy. I collapsed in the hallway. Valerie found me. She told me I was useless. She dragged me in here, locked the door, and told Nora that if she didn't clean your penthouse, she would call Child Protective Services and have my kids thrown into foster care."
Silence hung heavily in the concrete hallway. Ethan's hands balled into tight fists at his sides.
His wealth, his massive corporate success, meant absolutely nothing if monsters like Valerie were allowed to torture desperate mothers under his own roof. Valerie had weaponized the very power Ethan gave her.
"Can you walk?" Ethan asked, his voice dead calm, but his eyes burning with a dangerous, calculated fire.
"Yes, sir," Maya nodded weakly.
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"Good," Ethan said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Because we are going up to my private residence. You and your girls are going to eat, and you are going to sleep in a real bed. Tomorrow morning, I am going to destroy Valerie Sterling."
👉 How will Ethan set the perfect trap for the cruel manager in the morning?
