Chapter 3 - The Watch Was Charged To Whitmore
The invoice showed $86,400.
Claire stared at the number.
The expense category read:
EXECUTIVE CLIENT RELATIONS.
The recipient field was blank.
Julian had submitted the purchase through his corporate discretionary
account.
Claire asked whether that was unusual.
Internal audit director Marcus Hale answered carefully.
“Not necessarily for legitimate client gifts. But an employee gift of
this value would require disclosure and tax treatment.”
“Was it disclosed?”
“No.”
Claire requested all gifts approved through Julian’s account during the
previous three years.
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“There are many.”
“How many?”
“Over two hundred entries.”
The total exceeded $1.7 million.
Not all were suspicious.
Executives entertained clients.
They purchased commemorative items.
They sponsored events.
But several expensive gifts had no recipient listed.
Claire asked who processed the reimbursements.
Marcus turned his laptop.
Chloe Thorne.
She had submitted most of them.
That still did not prove theft.
An executive secretary might legitimately process expenses for her boss.
Claire refused to jump ahead.
Then Marcus showed her access logs.
Chloe had approval privileges far beyond a secretary’s normal role.
She could edit vendor information.
She could modify expense descriptions after initial submission.
She could access Julian’s digital signature queue.
“Who gave her that?”
Marcus looked toward the door.
“President Whitmore.”
Julian.
Claire called him into her office.
He entered alone.
She placed the watch invoice between them.
“Explain.”
Julian sat.
“It was a gift.”
“To Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“Why did the company pay?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I was going to reimburse it.”
“You didn’t.”
“I forgot.”
Claire said nothing.
Julian became defensive.
“You’re making this bigger than it is.”
Then Claire placed the $1.7 million report beside the invoice.
Julian stopped talking.
The watch was no longer about infidelity.
It was about corporate money.
And Claire had been CEO for less than three hours when she discovered
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her husband had given his secretary access to systems capable of hiding
where that money went.
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