2025-11-14 18:07:18
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Chapter 6 — Audit Night
The notice came at 6:12 p.m., just as people were thinking about going home and pretending sleep was a thing they still did.Subject: Immediate Fieldwork – Revenue Recognition Procedures (Q3–Q4)Halsey & Bale, the external auditors, were “on-site” within the hour—two partners, three seniors, one rolling suitcase of anxiety. Audit committee protocol, they said. Sample selections, they said. No, not a full restatement… yet.Lena met them in the glass cube that had become war room, hair in a tie, jacket still on, voice calm enough to lay a path over broken glass. Jasper, general counsel, set down two binders and a box of highlighters like offerings. Aiden, fresh shirt but same circles under his eyes, tried on his helpful face.“Scope?” Lena asked.Priya Rowan, lead auditor—efficient, precise—placed a checklist on the table. “Revenue cut-off testing at quarter-end, side agreement inquiries, manual journal entries routed through CFO/CEO approval. We’ve also received a whistleblower tip all
Chapter 5 — Covenant Tripwire
The email hit at 8:04 a.m., boxed in lawyer font and menace.Notice of Cash Dominion Activation. Borrower in breach of Section 6.02(a) (Minimum EBITDA). Effective immediately, Caldwell First will initiate daily sweeps of all collected cash. Please direct all payors to the Lockbox Account referenced in Annex B.Aiden read it twice, then a third time in case that turned it into a different email. “They’re sweeping,” he said, voice high and flat. “We’re done.”Lena took the printout and scanned the paragraphs like she could find a hidden door. General counsel Jasper leaned over her shoulder with a legal pad and a pencil that had bitten marks down the side. Victoria stood at the window and watched the city as if it were a chessboard that had moved without her consent.“Section 6.02,” Jasper murmured. “They’re calling a trip on the EBITDA covenant and the borrowing base deficiency.”Maris slid in with coffee and the kind of muffin that tried to be hopeful. “Tell me that email is about a fl
Chapter 4 — Poison and Pill
By the time the board convened, the drone clip of Evan at the port gate had already looped twenty thousand times. The caption—Who’s this guy cutting side deals for Sloane?—made him the kind of minor character the internet loves to invent stories about.Lena silenced her phone, squared her shoulders, and stepped into the boardroom with a legal pad and two pens. She looked like sleep had stopped by her apartment and declined to come in.Victoria took the head of the table, mild as a blade. Aiden set up with spreadsheets and a stress cough. General counsel Jasper Cole had that lawyer’s way of being present without offering comfort. The independents dotted the far side: Marta Vale (former utility CEO), Owen Prentiss (pension fund), Camila Hart (operator’s operator), and retired Judge Elroy Peters. Maris slid in late and mouthed sorry; she brought muffins as a peace offering and set them like hostages in the center.“Order of business,” Lena said. “Talon’s bear hug is out. Our stock bounce
Chapter 3 — Dockside Choke
By morning, everyone at Sloane still smelled faintly like the pallet yard fire. The whole office had that crisp, brittle quiet of people trying to talk softly around bad news. Lena set up a war room in a glass conference cube, whiteboards blooming with arrows and dates. Aiden paced a groove into the carpet. Maris brought in a tray of muffins she clearly hadn’t slept to bake.Then Logistics called with the kind of voice that makes you stop pretending to be calm.“Terminal Twelve just put holds on our boxes,” the head of logistics, Dale, said. “Twenty-eight containers. The system shows ‘random inspection,’ but Customs says they didn’t flag it. Trucks are getting turned away.”“Who flagged it?” Lena asked.“Terminal ops says ‘safety review.’ That’s code for: someone on the union side told them to slow-walk us.”Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose. “We miss these deliveries and penalties kick in. The hospital order alone—”“—is a promise we made,” Lena finished. “We get those boxes.”Vic
Chapter 2 — The Bear Hug
By midmorning, the relief of making payroll felt like a hangover that forgot to bring the good memories. The office hummed in that tight, too-bright way a beehive does before weather hits. Lena had been on the phone since seven. Aiden wore the same shirt as yesterday and the look of a man who’d pretended to sleep. Evan took the elevator up with a tray of coffees and a smile he could lend out in five-minute increments.The receptionist’s voice came over the intercom, careful. “Ms. Sloane? A courier is here with a hand-delivered envelope from Talon Consortium. Marked ‘For the Board.’”The boardroom was a long table and too many chairs no one really liked. The envelope was thick, the paper heavy enough to feel like money. Marcus Thorne knew props. Lena ran a nail under the seal and slid out the letter.It began where all bear hugs begin: affection weaponized.“Dear Ms. Sloane and Members of the Board,” Lena read aloud, steady. “Talon Consortium has the utmost respect for Sloane Dynamics,
Chapter 1 — House Rules
The Sloane townhouse had rules no one wrote down, because they didn’t have to. Don’t contradict Victoria. Don’t bring problems to the table—bring solutions. And if you are Evan Locke, live-in son-in-law, don’t pretend your opinion carries the same weight as the family name embossed on the silverware.Dinner smelled like rosemary and roasted chicken and a kind of polished tension that made the napkins feel starched even when they weren’t. Victoria Sloane sat at the head, as always, eyes bright and cool. Aiden, Lena’s brother and CFO of Sloane Dynamics, scrolled his phone with the careful, ostentatious frown of a man deciding whether to panic now or later. Maris, youngest of the siblings, ran a fingertip around the rim of her wineglass and tried to smile at everyone at once.Evan carved the chicken because someone had to, and because the knives were as sharp as Victoria’s glance. He made a point of giving Lena the crispiest wing. That earned him a secret smile from her; he banked it lik
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