Chapter 8 - The Twenty-Eight Names
Claire began the audit quietly.
She brought in an independent forensic accounting team under the authority of her thirty-percent ownership stake.
Robert owned forty percent.
A family trust held the remaining thirty.
Diane had no legal ownership.
Yet her people controlled nearly every department.
The auditors uncovered twenty-eight employees tied to false invoices, shell vendors, missing freight, or altered insurance claims.
Some claimed ignorance.
Others had received bonuses directly from Mercer companies.
At the center was Jason.
He approved routes.
He controlled warehouse access.
He authorized payments.
Diane approved the vendors.
And Robert signed high-level guarantees without reading the supporting documents.
Claire prepared twenty-eight termination letters.
She scheduled an emergency executive meeting.
Jason entered expecting to remove her from the company.
Diane arrived with her personal attorney.
Robert carried the bronze award Logan had received for improving safety standards.
He held it throughout the meeting like a shield.
Claire placed the audit folder on the table.
Before she could open it, Jason lunged.
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His panic confirmed the documents mattered.
👉 The fight across the conference table was not about jobs—it was about what Claire had found beneath the fraudulent invoices.
