Suddenly, I Am Rich

Chloe’s brows furrowed.

”Multiple people?” she repeated quietly with genuine shock in her voice. She didn’t expect that such a thing would be widespread in their company.

Gray sighed and nodded.

”Yeah. The data overlaps too neatly. If it were just one person, there’d be gaps. A few or small mistakes here and then. But this...” He turned his laptop around slightly so she could see the highlighted rows on the document.

”This looks coordinated.”

Chloe leaned forward as she scanned the numbers. Her eyes moved fast and focused now despite her sleepiness, ”These are from just the recent quarter, right?”

”Mostly,” Gray confirmed. ”But a few connect back to the past one. That’s what caught my attention. It’s like someone used the transition period between the time periods to mask it.”

She went quiet for a few seconds, flipping through her folder.

”Do you think it’s one of the older staff?”

”Possibly,” he said. ”But I don’t want to assume. Whoever it is knows how to make the reports look clean on paper. That’s not something a random new hire could pull off. Also, I don’t think your department has hired new employees this year.”

”Right...” Chloe sighed. She massaged her temples as they started to ache. So we might be dealing with someone in accounting or operations.”

”Could be both,” Gray said. ”The adjustments happen in accounting, but the purchase authorizations come from operations. Which means at least two people are in on it, or someone has access to both.”

”Great. So it’s not just a simple case of mismanagement. It’s an inside job.” She exhaled through her nose, leaning back against the couch.

”Yup. It looks that way.” Gray agreed to it. ”They’ve been careful, too. The amounts are small enough to avoid suspicion, but when you stack them across weeks and departments, it’s more than enough to notice.”

Chloe shut her folder before she placed it on her lap. Her fingers brushed over the edge as if she were thinking.

”You said this started a long time ago, right?”

”Yeah.”

Gray’s confirmation made the atmosphere a little heavy.

”...”

Chloe remained silent for a few seconds. Her chest tightened when she realized something.

’No... it couldn’t be...’

But the more she thought about it, the clearer it became in her head. All of this wouldn’t have passed through if her supervisor, Mr. Wilkins, were actually looking at the department. After all, he was the overall head of the finance team and anything related to it.

Chloe’s stomach dropped.

”Gray...” she said quietly, almost under her breath.

He looked at her, sensing the change in her tone. ”Yeah?”

”I think...” Her words trailed off as she pressed her lips into a thin line. She took a small breath and straightened up, her voice steadier this time. ”I think I know who might be behind it.”

Gray didn’t say a word. He stared at her and waited until she could say something about it.

Chloe shut the folder completely and set it aside. Her eyes slightly squinted as her expression turned to guilt, anger, and disappointment.

”My supervisor,” she said finally after a while. ”He’s been handling everything from looking at this to approvals. I can’t think of anyone other than him. It all fits.”

Gray’s expression softened, though he didn’t look surprised at all. He remembered that Chloe talked about her suspicion of the man already.

After a second, Chloe exhaled and forced a small smile on her face.

”Anyway, thank you, Gray,” she muttered, her tone suddenly becoming more formal. ”You’ve already done more than enough. I’ll handle it from here.”

”Chloe—”

”No, really,” she cut in gently. She stood up, smoothing the wrinkles from her skirt before continuing. ”I’ll talk to my dad personally about this. It’s an internal issue in my division, and it’s better I take responsibility for it.”

Gray stayed seated for a moment, watching her carefully. He could see how her hand lightly shook when she reached for her phone. He also noticed the effort it took for her to keep her voice calm.

Even if he knew that she might be having some internal thoughts now, he didn’t stop her. He knew this was something she needed to face herself.

Finally, he stood as well, a faint smile pulling at the corner of his lips. ”Alright then, I’ll leave you to it,” he said quietly. ”I know you’ll figure it out.”

Chloe blinked, surprised by the warmth in his tone.

He gave a small nod at her as if he was reassuring her that he would just be there.

”You’ve always been good at handling things like this,” he added as a small smile appeared on his lips. ”I’m sure you’ll solve it.”

”Thanks, Gray,” she said softly.

”Anytime,” he replied. Then, with one last glance, he gathered his laptop and headed for the door. ”If you have any more problems, just call for me, okay?”

”I will,” Chloe’s heart skipped a bit at it.

When the door closed behind him, silence filled the room again.

For a moment, Chloe just stood there. A small smile rose to her lips when she recalled Gray’s words.

’You’ve always been good at handling things like this.’

It wasn’t the words themselves but the way Gray said them. He sounded as if he really believed in her more than she did right now.

’Get it together, Chloe...’

She sat back down and opened the folder again, flipping through the pages one more time. Her eyes traced the numbers she’d already memorized at this point. She then realized that everything really led to the person she once trusted.

Mr. Wilkins.

He’d been with the department for years. Her father trusted him, too. He was reliable, efficient, and loyal. But lately, she’d noticed little things when she took over the department.

There would always be late reports, incomplete attachments, and excuses about delays from accounting. She brushed them off, thinking it was just really the way of the department since they’re still getting used to her.

But now, she wasn’t so sure.