Chapter 6 - The First Person I Fired
I called Leo from Luz’s kitchen.
“I got a strange email.”
“What kind?”
“Photographs of my mother.”
He said nothing.
That silence gave him away.
“Leo?”
“People get jealous, Mia.”
“Someone wants me to sign something.”
“Then send it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m your husband.”
For two years, those words had ended arguments.
That morning, they sounded like a threat.
“I’ll handle it,” I said.
“Mia, don’t make decisions when you’re upset.”
I ended the call.
Elena watched me.
“He’s going to say I’m unstable.”
“He’s already trying.”
“Then we don’t give him a performance.”
We worked through noon.
Nathan preserved the accounting records and arranged an independent review.
Elena prepared notices for the board, the lender, and our bank.
I authorized emergency restrictions on Leo’s spending privileges.
Not because he had cheated.
Because the invoices showed money leaving the company without a legitimate business purpose.
At twelve seventeen, his first card declined.
He called six times.
Claire called twice.
I let both ring.
At twelve thirty, I sent the board the photograph, a sworn denial of the signature, and a request for an emergency meeting.
At one, Leo’s access to company payment approvals was suspended pending review.
At one oh three, he sent a voice message.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Luz looked up from the stove.
I played it again.
This time, I heard the fear beneath the anger.
At two, Elena and I entered my company headquarters through the employee entrance.
The receptionist stood.
“Ma’am? We thought you were in Paris.”
“So did my husband.”
Word traveled ahead of us.
By the time we reached the conference room, three directors were waiting.
Nathan joined us with folders.
One director, Victor, leaned back.
“Surely this could have stayed between husband and wife.”
I placed the forged agreement in front of him.
“Which part?”
He frowned.
“The missing relief money?”
No answer.
“The unauthorized loan?”
His eyes dropped.
“Or my signature?”
Elena began the meeting.
Forty minutes later, the board voted to suspend Leo and Claire while investigators reviewed the records.
Victor abstained.
I signed the notice.
My hand was steady.
Then Nathan’s phone vibrated.
He read the message and looked at me.
“What?”
“Security at your house.”
My stomach tightened.
May you like
“They’ve brought in a moving truck.”
I was already standing when he added, “They’re emptying your mother’s cabinet.”
