Alexander sat at his home office desk, jaw clenched, fingers moving quickly across the keyboard as he loaded the contents of the flash drive.
Maria stood in the doorway, arms wrapped around herself, watching as a cascade of spreadsheets, transaction logs, and coded correspondence filled the screen.
He leaned in, frowning. "These are real," he muttered. "Bank accounts registered offshore. Funds moved through shell companies in the Caymans… and some of them trace back to projects I greenlit personally."
Maria's voice was quiet. "Could someone have used your name without you knowing?"
Alexander shook his head. "Not likely. This level of access… it had to come from the board. Or someone in my inner circle."
A heavy silence fell between them. Maria stepped closer, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"We can face this," she said softly.
Alexander took her hand in his, squeezing it. "I just don't know who I can trust."
---
The next morning...
Alexander convened a private meeting with his internal audit team. Maria insisted on coming with him—quiet, observant, but present. At the long glass table sat five men and women who'd worked with Alexander for years, their eyes calm, but guarded.
"Someone in this room," he began, "has been siphoning company funds. And I intend to find out who."
There were murmurs, subtle glances.
Alexander turned to his head of security. "Start checking all board-level email activity from the past two years. I want full access logs and flagged IPs. If someone's got something to hide, they'll feel the heat."
Maria watched them all carefully. One man, in particular—Richard Osei, Alexander's longest-serving advisor—was sweating despite the chilled room. She didn't point it out. Yet.
---
That night...
Maria sat alone in the garden with Junior sleeping upstairs. Alexander hadn't spoken much after the meeting. He was frustrated. Wounded. Betrayal, she knew, always felt like a scar reopening.
But what frightened her more was the feeling that this was only the beginning.
If someone was targeting Alexander's empire, they weren't doing it just for money.
They were doing it to destroy him.
And that meant they—as a family—were now in the crosshairs.