Chapter 4

Despite my promotion on paper, Brenda refused to hand over any real operational authority.

She dumped all the thankless, tedious grunt work on my plate while guarding procurement with her life.

She thought locking me out of vendor purchasing would neutralize me?

Fine. I'd create my own leverage.

Using my new assistant manager credentials, I launched a comprehensive audit of the company's administrative spending over the past three years.

What I uncovered made my jaw drop.

Just under the general office supplies category, the annual spend was absurdly inflated.

The most shocking item was imported copy paper, billed at triple the standard retail rate!

Even worse, this single supplier had held an exclusive, non-compete vendor contract with us for the last three years.

I pulled the supplier's state business registration online. A very familiar name was listed under Primary Corporate Officer:

Marcus Vance.

Same last name as Brenda Vance.

The puzzle pieces instantly clicked.

It was her brother's shell company!

She had abused her management position to funnel lucrative, overpriced company contracts directly to her family, pocketing massive kickbacks along the way.

No wonder she guarded purchasing like a hawk.

I printed the corporate filings, walked down the hall, and tapped on Brenda's office door.

"Brenda, there's something I need your guidance on."

I set the paperwork face-up on her desk.

When her eyes landed on the name "Marcus Vance," her pupils shrank.

"Chloe, what is this supposed to mean?" she stammered, scrambling for composure.

I smiled smoothly. "Nothing special."

"I just noticed this supplier's rates are outrageously high. I was wondering if we should open a tender for a more cost-effective vendor?"

"Absolutely not!" she snapped without thinking.

"We've worked with them for years. Their quality is verified. We don't just switch vendors on a whim!"

"Oh?" I drawled, leaning against her desk.

"Because according to public market reviews, their paper quality is notoriously bad."

"On top of that, despite billing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, they consistently submit non-itemized, generic invoices to balance the books instead of standard corporate VAT tax filings. That sounds a little questionable, doesn't it?"

With every sentence I spoke, the color drained from Brenda's face.

"Cooking the books and using improper invoicing to offset corporate taxable income... if the IRS or external forensic auditors catch wind of this, the consequences would be devastating."

She couldn't sit still anymore. She slammed her hands down.

"Chloe, what the hell do you actually want?!"