AFTER I WAS FIRED, I SOLD BREAKFAST TACOS—THEN THE CHAIRMAN’S DAUGHTER FOUND ME

PART 2

The Maybach stopped in front of Hawthorne Industrial Group at 8:16 a.m.

I stared through the window.

The building hadn’t changed.

Forty-two floors of glᴀss and steel.

The same revolving doors.

The same brᴀss letters above the entrance.

HAWTHORNE INDUSTRIAL GROUP.

I hadn’t been here since the day I carried my cardboard box out.

My stomach тιԍнтened.

The chairman’s daughter opened the door.

“Ready?”

“No.”

She smiled faintly.

“Good. Neither is my father.”

We entered.

The lobby became strangely quiet.

People looked at me.

Some recognized me immediately.

Others whispered.

I heard my old тιтle twice before we reached the elevator.

“That’s Ethan Cole.”

“Wasn’t he fired?”

I kept walking.

The elevator doors closed.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then she said, “You know why I kept coming to your trailer?”

“I ᴀssumed you liked tacos.”

“I do.”

She smiled.

“But that wasn’t the reason.”

I looked at her.

“My father wanted to know what kind of man you were after Hawthorne took everything from you.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

“Because he had been reviewing the decisions made after Caroline became CEO.”

The elevator climbed.

“He found problems.”

“What kind?”

“Accounts transferred without proper approval.”

My expression hardened.

“Those were the accounts I warned them about.”

“I know.”

The doors opened.

We stepped into the executive floor.

The last time I’d walked this corridor, I had carried a box.

Today, ᴀssistants stood when they saw me.

The chairman’s daughter stopped outside a pair of dark wooden doors.

“My father is inside.”

She hesitated.

“There is something you should know.”

“What?”

“Caroline doesn’t know you’re here.”

I looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because if she did…”

She didn’t finish.

She didn’t need to.

The doors opened.

Arthur Vance stood beside the windows.

He was older than I remembered.

Silver hair.

Dark suit.

One hand resting on a cane.

But his eyes were sharp.

They settled on me.

“Ethan.”

I stepped inside.

“Mr. Vance.”

He nodded toward the chair.

“Sit.”

I remained standing.

“I’d rather know why I’m here first.”

A faint smile touched his mouth.

“My daughter said you’d be difficult.”

“She was right.”

The chairman actually laughed.

Then his expression became serious.

“You were fired because you refused to approve the transfer of the Meridian account.”

I stared at him.

“That wasn’t the official reason.”

“I know.”

He walked toward his desk.

He opened a drawer.

Removed a thin black folder.

Placed it in front of me.

I didn’t touch it.

“What is that?”

“Proof.”

“Of what?”

“That the account transfer was deliberately manipulated.”

My eyes moved to the folder.

“Why?”

Arthur Vance looked toward his daughter.

Then back at me.

“Because someone inside this company has been moving money through shell vendors.”

The room seemed to shrink.

“How much?”

“Forty-three million dollars.”

I stared at him.

“Over how long?”

“Eighteen months.”

My mouth went dry.

“And the accounts I warned you about?”

“They were the first ones they targeted.”

His daughter stepped closer.

“You weren’t fired because you were wrong.”

She placed a second document on the desk.

“You were fired because you were getting too close.”

I looked at the signature on my termination form.

Then at the signatures authorizing the suspicious transfers.

One name appeared repeatedly.

My blood ran cold.

“Caroline.”

Arthur Vance didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to.

I looked up.

“You’re telling me your daughter did this?”

“No.”

His voice was firm.

“I’m telling you someone used her authority.”

I frowned.

“Then who?”

Arthur Vance closed the folder.

“That is what I want you to find.”

I stared at him.

“You fired me.”

“I know.”

“You let them destroy my career.”

His eyes lowered.

“I didn’t know.”

The room went silent.

Then he pushed another document toward me.

A contract.

A position.

A salary.

But beneath all of it was something I hadn’t expected.

Chief Commercial Strategy Officer.

I looked at him.

“You want me back?”

Arthur Vance nodded.

“Not as an employee.”

He leaned forward.

“I want you to help me take my company back.”

Before I could answer, the office door opened.

Caroline Vance walked in.

Her eyes landed on me.

She stopped.

For the first time since I’d known her, the calm executive mask cracked.

“Ethan?”

Nobody spoke.

Then Caroline looked at her father.

“What is he doing here?”

Arthur Vance’s answer was quiet.

“Exactly what you were afraid he’d do.”

He turned toward me.

“Tell her.”

I looked at Caroline.

Then at the folder containing forty-three million dollars of missing money.

And finally at the woman who had bought breakfast tacos from me every morning for thirty days.

She hadn’t been looking for a former employee.

She had been looking for the man who could expose whoever had betrayed the company.

I closed the folder.

“I’m listening.”