Chapter 4

4: 4

Just as I'd expected, after that little episode Guy was even more impatient than I'd guessed.

The next day, the opening bell ceremony had barely ended.

Then came the CFO's terrified scream.

"This is bad! Nearly ten billion in the company's working capital and investment funds is gone, all of it, in the half hour since trading opened!"

"The company, the company's blown up!"

The room exploded in an instant.

Not five minutes later.

The people who'd heard the news came rushing at me like they'd lost their minds, jabbing their fingers, screaming.

"Ruth Sullivan! You poisonous witch! You're the one who secretly ran off with the money!"

"Shameless animal! Cough up our hard-earned money!"

A gray-haired old woman, sobbing, hurled the travel mug in her hand straight at me.

"That was my whole retirement, my life's savings! I put every cent of it into your company, you soulless bloodsucker, you stole the money I was living on, why don't you just drop dead?"

"I didn't move any funds."

I stood where I was and spoke calmly.

But the words had barely left my mouth.

Guy came forward holding a stack of documents he'd clearly prepared well in advance.

Wearing a look of anguished grief as he stepped up to me.

"Ruthie, how much longer are you going to keep lying to everyone?"

"Every document here, every dirty transfer sent overseas, is signed in your own hand, plain as day, as the company's legal representative. No wonder you insisted on making such a show of auditing the books a few days ago. So this was your real plan all along. The evidence is right here, and you still dare say it has nothing to do with you?"

Winifred stood off to the side wiping her eyes too, feigning pity as she urged me on.

"Ruthie, after everything, Guy trusted you so completely, he handed you every bit of financial control in the company. How could you do something like this? If we hadn't gotten here a step ahead, wouldn't you have run off with the money?"

"Just listen to Guy. Admit your mistake, fix it, hand the money back right now, stop being so stubborn. We can't let all these people down after they put their trust in us!"

I gave a cold laugh.

But the crowd's fury was already fully lit.

"You bitch! Still trying to deny it, when your own husband has come out to testify against you!"

"I mortgaged my whole factory, put every cent into your original shares! And now you want to run off with my hard-earned money? Dream on! Even if I die today, I'm taking you down with me!"

"That's right! Beat her to death! Shameless animal! Give the money back!"

The enraged crowd was nearly ready to tear me apart.

The wretched ending ten years from now, beaten to death, was about to play out again right before my eyes.

Then, out of nowhere, sirens blared outside.

Dozens of fully armed law enforcement officers moved in fast and hard and took control of the scene.

Guy's eyes lit up instantly, gleaming with excitement, and he pointed straight at my face.

"Officers! You've come at exactly the right time! I'm her husband, and I want to file a report in my own name! Ruth Sullivan, as the company's legal representative, abused her position to hollow out every account and moved over ten billion in funds overseas."

But the one in the lead didn't even glance at him.

Under the stunned eyes of everyone in the room, he walked straight up to me.

And gave a respectful salute.

"Professor Sullivan! The Financial Crimes Division and the Major Crimes Unit are all in position! The overseas accounts have been intercepted, and all funds tied to the case are fully frozen!"

In that instant, Guy's eyes went wide with terror.