Chapter 5 - The Uneasy Alliance with Victoria Steele
At 7:30 AM, Charlotte walked into Victoria Steele’s corner office without knocking.
Victoria was sitting behind her polished rosewood desk, sipping black coffee, dark circles visible beneath her eyes. When she saw Charlotte holding a thick manila folder, her expression hardened into cold defensiveness.
“If this is about another escalation to your mother, Charlotte, save your breath,” Victoria said coldly.
Charlotte placed the folder flat on the desk between them, opening it to the Cayman routing slips and the forged cryptographic certificates.
“Someone has been using your executive digital token to embezzle eight million dollars a year from this company, Victoria,” Charlotte said quietly.
Victoria froze. Her hand trembled as she set her coffee cup down with a sharp clatter.
She picked up the top document, her eyes scanning the signature verification logs. As she recognized her own name stamped on the multi-million-dollar wire releases, every drop of color drained from her face until she looked like carved ash.
“Bradley Vance…” Victoria breathed, her voice reduced to a terrified whisper. “When Bradley was Executive Vice President four years ago, he told me to authorize an automated blanket token for regional logistics renewals to streamline supply chain delays.”
“He didn’t streamline supply chains,” Charlotte said. “He used your name as a shield to siphon forty-eight million dollars into Harcourt’s offshore accounts. If this audit goes to the board without an explanation, you will be the one facing twenty years in federal prison.”
Victoria looked up from the pages, staring at the twenty-five-year-old woman she had tried to treat as a personal errand girl just forty-eight hours ago.
“Why are you showing this to me?” Victoria asked, her voice cracking with raw vulnerability. “You could have handed this directly to your mother and had me escorted out by armed security.”
Charlotte sat in the chair across from her, her hazel gaze unwavering.
“Because you’re arrogant, Victoria, and you let power make you petty,” Charlotte answered with disarming candor. “But you’re not a thief. And I didn’t come to Halcyon to destroy careers. I came to protect this company.”
A profound, transformative silence fell over the office.
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Victoria took a slow, deep breath, straightening her posture as the fear in her eyes gave way to fierce, professional resolve.
“Richard Harcourt requested a private pre-board breakfast meeting at the St. Regis penthouse at nine o'clock,” Victoria said, pulling a voice recorder from her drawer. “Let’s go show him what happens when you forge my name.”
