Chapter 5 - The Stolen Ledger
I didn't wait for Leandro's driver. I ran out the back service doors of the hotel, tears of sheer, unadulterated humiliation blurring my vision. I hailed a cheap cab in the freezing rain and went straight back to my tiny, cramped apartment.
I was a complete fool. I had let a dangerous mafia boss make me feel special, only to discover I was nothing but a pawn in a billionaire's corporate engagement scheme.
I tried to forget about Leandro Vitali. I threw the navy dress into the back of my closet and returned to my exhausting, invisible life as a junior accountant at Harkort Financial—the exact corporate firm owned by Wesley’s father.
Three weeks passed. The high-society wedding of Blair and Leandro was all over the local news, though no official date had been set.
Then, on a quiet Tuesday evening, I was working late in the empty corporate office, finalizing the massive merger documents between Harkort Financial and Vitali Construction.
I was cross-referencing the offshore accounts when I noticed a massive, glaring discrepancy.
My heart completely stopped. I leaned closer to the glowing monitor, my fingers flying across the keyboard.
Wesley's father wasn't merging his company with Leandro's to build a legitimate empire. The Harkort family had been secretly embezzling millions of dollars from a violent, rival cartel in Chicago. They were using the merger to hide the stolen money inside Leandro’s clean construction accounts, effectively framing Leandro for the massive cartel theft.
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If this merger went through on Friday, the Chicago cartel would assassinate Leandro within a week.
👉 I had to warn the man who broke my heart, but the true monsters were already waiting outside my office door.
