They Made Me Cook In An Apron While They Ate Like Royalty, But When The Billionaire CEO Entered And Kissed My Hand Calling Me His Fiancée, Their World Shattered!

Thomas looked bewildered. "Unfinished business? Claire, sweetheart, we apologized for Thanksgiving! We were wrong! We will make it up to you!"

"I'm not talking about Thanksgiving," I replied. "I'm talking about the fifty thousand dollars Ryan stole from the company when I was eighteen."

Ryan slammed his fist onto the table. "I told you, that was years ago! Why are you bringing up ancient history when the entire company is on the line?"

At that moment, the boardroom doors opened, and two men entered. One was Julian’s chief legal counsel, Marcus Vance; the other was David Sterling, the head of Mercer’s forensic accounting department. They placed two thick, black leather-bound binders in front of Thomas and Ryan.

"Open them," Julian instructed.

Thomas hesitantly opened the binder. As his eyes scanned the documents inside, his jaw slowly dropped in horror.

"What is this?" Thomas whispered.

"That," David Sterling announced in a clinical tone, "is a comprehensive audit of Bennett Logistics' offshore accounts over the last five years. It appears the fifty-thousand-dollar theft seven years ago was not an isolated incident."

David turned the page for Thomas. "Over the past forty-eight months, Ryan Bennett has funneled an additional 4.2 million dollars from your company's operational payroll into private shell corporations registered in the Cayman Islands to fund high-stakes poker tournaments in Macau and illegal cryptocurrency speculation."

The room went dead silent.

Thomas turned to look at his son, his face pale with utter disbelief. "Ryan... what... what is this? Is this true?"

Ryan was trembling uncontrollably, his eyes darting frantically toward the door. "Dad... it’s not what it looks like! I was trying to multiply our capital! I was going to put it all back once the market rebounded!"

"You embezzled over four million dollars from our own company?!" Thomas roared, standing up so violently his chair tipped backward and crashed onto the floor. "That’s why our suppliers haven't been paid! That’s why the banks are foreclosing! It wasn't the market... it was you!"

"And who allowed him to do it, Thomas?" Julian’s voice cut through the shouting like a razor blade.

Thomas froze, turning his tear-filled eyes toward Julian.

"Seven years ago, when Ryan committed his first crime, you had a choice," Julian said coldly. "You could have held your son accountable. You could have made him face the legal consequences and learn integrity. Instead, you chose to frame your innocent daughter. You made Claire pay the price for his sins. You taught Ryan that he was untouchable."