Chapter 325
Cailin didn’t say a word. She walked up to the mahogany desk, raised her right hand, and slammed a fifty-page document down onto the polished wood.
The heavy thud echoed in the room. Nadine flinched violently. Her hand jerked, and the red lipstick smeared a harsh, clownish line across her cheek.
Cailin leaned forward, planting both hands flat on the desk, her shadow swallowing the other woman.
“Account code 884-J,” Cailin said, her voice dangerously low. “Account code 902-X. Account code 411-B.”
Nadine’s face lost all its color. The smugness vanished, replaced by raw, physiological panic. Her breathing hitched.
“Those are the hidden offshore accounts you used to place fake bids in the last three auctions,” Cailin continued, tapping her manicured fingernail against the thick SEC compliance audit report. “You artificially inflated the hammer prices to boost your commission. It’s a federal crime, Nadine.”
Nadine’s hand trembled. She lunged forward, trying to snatch the report off the desk.
Cailin was faster. She slammed her palm down on the document, pinning it, and with her other hand slapped Nadine’s wrist away. The sharp smack of skin on skin rang out.
“Don’t touch my property,” Cailin warned.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway. Zach, the Regional Director and Nadine’s current boyfriend, burst into the office with two burly security guards flanking him.
Nadine instantly burst into tears. She leaped out of the chair and threw herself at Zach, burying her face in his chest.
“Zach! She just barged in here!” Nadine sobbed, pointing a shaking finger at Cailin. “She hit me! Get her out of here!”
Zach wrapped an arm around Nadine and puffed out his chest, adopting the arrogant posture of a Wall Street executive.
“Cailin, you are trespassing,” Zach barked. “You were terminated. Grab your things and get out, or I’m having the guards physically throw you onto the street.”
Outside the glass walls of the office, a crowd of employees had gathered. Jo, a junior appraiser, stood at the front, her hands clenched into tight fists, looking terrified for Cailin.
Cailin stood up straight and reached into the inner pocket of her blazer. She pulled out a single sheet of heavy parchment paper. The gold foil seal of the Holloway Group Legal Department gleamed in the sunlight.
She held it up directly in front of Zach’s face.
“As of eight o’clock this morning,” Cailin said, her voice carrying through the open door, “I am the sole authorized representative for the Blue Ocean Collection. I hold the exclusive proxy for over one billion dollars in art assets.”
Zach’s eyes darted to the gold seal. His jaw dropped. The color drained from his face so fast he looked sick, pupils dilating as the reality of that number hit his brain. One billion dollars — the account that kept the entire regional branch afloat.
“According to Obsidian’s corporate compliance policy,” Cailin said, her eyes locking onto Zach’s terrified face, “any employee caught manipulating bids must be immediately stripped of their title and access. Do it, Zach. Or I take the Blue Ocean portfolio to Sotheby’s.”
Zach swallowed hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
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