The Lost Ricci: Heir Back from the Dead

Chapter 9: Data Entry!?

The air in the Apex Crown customer care department was thick with the hum of servers and the frantic clicking of keyboards. 

Dante straightened his tie in the reflection of a glass partition before stepping forward. He didn't look like a billionaire heir. In his off-the-rack navy suit and carrying a lukewarm coffee, he looked exactly like what he was supposed to be: a corporate nobody.

"Wellington! Get over here!"

Tazio Stone’s voice cut through the room like a rusty saw. The bald contractor was strutting through the rows of cubicles, followed by a group of senior managers from Apex Crown. 

Tazio was practically jumping on his heels, with an air of self importance about him. He had spent the morning trying to brown-nose the permanent executives, and now he needed a prop to show off his "leadership."

"This is the new temp I told you about," Tazio announced to a tall, austere woman named Director Beckham. "Good looks, but completely green. I’m personally overseeing his training because, well, someone has to keep these contract workers from burning the building down."

Director Beckham didn't even look at Dante. "Just make sure the Tier 1 tickets are processed by noon, Stone. We have the quarterly audit today."

"Of course, Director! My firm handles everything with complete precision," Tazio chirped. As soon as the director walked away, Tazio turned on Dante, his face contorting into a sneer. "Listen up, Pretty Boy. Today is the audit. That means if you breathe wrong, I’ll fire you before you can pack your desk. You’re going to handle the 'Iron-Clad' accounts."

Dante’s brow furrowed. "The Iron-Clad accounts? Those are the legacy portfolios with complex tax-deferred structures. Isn't that a Tier 3 responsibility?"

Tazio let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Look at him! One day on the job and he thinks he’s an analyst. You do what I tell you, Wellington. It’s simple data entry. Just reconcile the ledger on Screen A with the offshore returns on Screen B. Even a retail manager should be able to match numbers."

It was a setup. Dante knew the legacy accounts were notoriously difficult, prone to rounding errors that could trigger a red-flag audit. Tazio wanted Dante to fail publicly so he could "heroically" fire him in front of the board, proving how "tough" he was on quality control.

"I'll get right on it, sir," Dante said, his voice calm.

Dante sat down and opened the files. His eyes narrowed. The ledgers weren't just complex; they were intentionally messy. He recognized the signature of the software, it was an old Apex Crown proprietary system his father, Pietro, had mentioned in passing to him a few days ago. 

“The logic is circular,” Pietro had told him. “Most people try to solve it linearly, but you have to look at the residual interest first.”

For the next three hours, Dante was bent over the system, mapping the flaws.

At 11:30 AM sharp, Tazio returned, this time with a larger entourage. He had invited the Head of Operations and several junior partners to witness the "inevitable failure."

"Alright, Wellington, let’s see the damage," Tazio shouted, loud enough for the entire floor to hear. "Don't be shy. If you’ve messed up the billion-dollar reconciliation, just admit it. I know it’s hard for people from... modest backgrounds to handle real money."

Dante stood up slowly. "Actually, Mr. Stone, I found some significant issues with the ledger."

Tazio’s eyes lit up. He turned to the executives, practically rubbing his hands together. "You hear that? Significant issues. This is why you can't trust contract staff with high-level data. He’s already admitted defeat! You're fired, Wellington. Pack your—"

"I didn't say I couldn't do it," Dante interrupted, his voice ringing with a new authority that made Tazio blink. "I said the ledger has issues. Specifically, a $2.4 million discrepancy in the compounding interest of the Greco-held sub-accounts."

The room went silent. The Head of Operations, a sharp-eyed man named Mr. Henderson, stepped forward. "The Greco accounts? That's impossible. Those were cleared by our senior auditors last week."

"Then your auditors missed a ghost-interest loop," Dante said, turning his monitor so everyone could see. "Mr. Stone told me to do simple data entry. But if I had followed his instructions, Apex Crown would have filed a fraudulent audit report to the SEC by 1:00 PM today."

Tazio’s face went from pale to a sickly shade of purple. "He's lying! He's just clicking buttons to look smart! Henderson, don't listen to this—"

"Shut up, Stone," Henderson snapped. He leaned in, peering at the screen. "Wellington, explain."

Dante pointed to a line of code. "The system uses an antiquated O(n) complexity for its sorting algorithm here. It’s dropping the decimal remainders on the offshore transfers. Over twenty years, those 'pennies' added up to $2.4 million. Here’s the correction."

Dante hit a single key. The screen flashed. The numbers aligned perfectly. The discrepancy vanished, reconciled to the cent.

"How did you...?" Henderson looked at Dante as if seeing him for the first time. "That’s a deep-system architecture flaw. Even our lead developers have been struggling to find that leak for months."

Dante turned his gaze to Tazio. "Mr. Stone insisted I was only capable of 'matching numbers’ and as my senior, he instructed me to 'don't think, just type.' If I had listened to my 'superior,' this company would be facing a federal investigation this afternoon."

The humiliation was absolute. The executives looked at Tazio Stone with pure loathing. Tazio was sweating so profusely his bald head looked like a greased bowling ball.

"I... I was testing him!" Tazio stammered, his voice cracking into a pathetic whine. "I knew the error was there! It was a... a training exercise! Right, Dante? Tell them!"

Dante didn't smile. He didn't have to. "Mr. Stone, earlier today you told Mrs. Primrose that she was incompetent because 'poor people' don't have work ethic. But it seems the only incompetence in this room is coming from the man who couldn't identify a multi-million dollar error sitting right under his nose."

Henderson turned to Tazio. "Stone, your contract with Apex Crown is under immediate review. Get out of this office. Now."

Tazio scrambled away, nearly tripping over a trash can in his haste to escape the burning glares of the board members. The "king" of Stone Contracting had been reduced to a fleeing jester.

Henderson turned to Dante, extending a hand. "That was impressive work, Wellington. Where did a temp learn system architecture like that?"

Dante shook the man’s hand, his grip firm. "I'm a quick learner, sir. And I find that when people underestimate you, it gives you a very clear view of their own weaknesses."

As the executives walked away, whispering about "finding a permanent spot for that Wellington kid," Dante caught sight of Mrs. Primrose standing by the water cooler. She gave him a tiny, almost imperceptible nod and a wink.