16 Fired

I picked up my utensils again to resume eating, not the least bothered by the phone call.

"What's your plan now?" Elaine questioned while her attention was all on her 2nd plate of chocolate cake.

"Throw all the trash immediately," I answered without batting an eyelid.

"So fierce," Elaine teased.

"Won't they oppose you?" Lila commented.

"I've enough evidence to shut them up," I replied before sipping my coffee.

"Oh right! You mentioned you needed my help with something. Does it involve them?" Quinn asked, looking like she couldn't wait to start causing mayhem.

"Right." I nodded and explained to her.

After finishing lunch, they dropped me off at HQ. Heather stood up from her desk and immediately followed me inside the office upon seeing me. She gave me a sealed brown envelope as soon as I sat down.

"Is this the investigation report?"

She nodded tightly.

I looked at it for a moment in silence before moving to open it. There was a bunch of paper inside held by a paperclip. I took it out and flipped through the report.

"It's just as we guessed and there was no movement on the money flow so this is pretty much it. They didn't budge even though we threw out a bait," I observed while reading.

As expected, all the evidence points to Bert Anderson and his accomplices in the Production Department. Since he is the Production Head, it would be impossible if he didn't know a thing as he would have to approve all the memorandums from HQ and disseminate to the factories, especially the budget. They were the direct contact for the staff in the factories so blocking the complaints as well as the information would be easy for them.

Colluding with Parker&Co gave them the cover to continue their illegal operations without being discovered. The projected amount that we needed to recover was almost at a billion because of the years they spent stealing the funds. If I discovered it a bit later, problems would snowball all at the same time and that would have been disastrous.

I still feel uneasy because Bert wasn't the type who can scheme. He'll get his hands dirty but he doesn't have the guts to cook up a whole plan. However, the investigation results only point to him. Dealing with only just him won't solve the root cause but I can only make do for now.

How troublesome.

I put down the document after looking at everything and rubbed my forehead.

"Even if Bert wasn't the one who orchestrated the whole thing, we still won't let him go because he's definitely a part of it. Since we've got all the evidence that we can get now, it's time to put an end to this farce. Call for the board of directors tomorrow morning and all the department heads. Don't give them any reason, just state that it's compulsory," I told Heather gravely.

The next morning, my heels echoed along the quiet hallway leading to the conference room. My steps were quick but firm as I strode towards the door. I looked at the metallic finishing of the door handle while I reined in all my doubts and pushed out calm confidence. The people inside were like sharks who would bite me to pieces the moment I showed the slightest hint of hesitation.

I finally opened the door and the initial noise from their small talk faded away as I headed for the empty seat at the head of the table. I leaned backwards to the chair and crossed my legs before I gazed at them expressionlessly.

It looked like not all the stockholders managed to come, which was reasonable since it was urgent notice. A few executives were missing but all of the Department Heads managed to come except for Arthur. It didn't matter that it wasn't complete attendance as I didn't need their agreement on anything for this agenda.

"What's this about, Miranda? I had to cancel an important meeting because of this urgent notice for the board meeting, not to mention the agenda wasn't even stated," Harry Keeper called out casually. He was usually jovial and easy-going in his early fifties. However, Harry took his business seriously so he was meticulous when it comes to board meetings. He might look friendly on the surface but he doesn't hesitate to take advantage when caught unaware with regards to business deals. His investment was only a small amount of shares but overtime he managed to buy more and got elected as part of the board.

"I believe everyone has a vested interest on the agenda today so I had to call for a meeting on short notice. Don't get me wrong, there would be no vote happening today as this is already going to happen regardless of what others might think. You were all called here to be informed, that's it," I declared without care for their opinion.

As expected, the directors that were part of the board lost their casual demeanor at my words while the Department Heads that were usually not part of these meetings looked confused.

I nodded to Heather to signal her to proceed before the directors started complaining. She distributed folders to the Directors of the Board and went to the podium right next to the projected screen.

They immediately started looking at their folders and murmurs already started gaining traction while they talked to each other. Some were shocked or angry but there were also others who weren't perturbed.

"This is a serious accusation, Miranda. I hope you have enough evidence for this," Lucy Green stated as she held the folder while throwing a daring glance at me while the others looked on in agreement.

She was one of the Independent Directors of the board who doesn't have any stake or part of the company executives so her opinions have always been impartial and good for the company. She was part of the Board for five years now and currently serving the last year of her term before retiring. I would've wanted to let her extend her term but she was adamant with her decision as she wanted to spend more time with her grandchildren while her hair wasn't full of grays yet.

"Based on irrefutable evidence, Bert Anderson will immediately be fired because of embezzlement of company funds," I coldly stated while glaring at the section where the Department Heads were seated.

Commotion immediately broke out at my declaration but my focus was elsewhere. I was carefully looking at everyone in the room and trying to see what their reaction was to the situation.

The meeting was essential to let the Board know of the direness of the problem but this was my goal all along. I wanted to personally witness and see if I can discover the real culprit but it looked like this was a pointless effort again.

Unsatisfied with my endeavour, I focused on grilling Bert, "What do you have to say Bert?"

"Thi- this is ridiculous!" he sputtered disgracefully. Sweat already started to gather at his temple.

"I agree. It's ridiculous to think that I'll believe you after all this evidence in front of me," I gestured for Heather to begin.

"From the gathered evidence, we found forged documents of memorandums pertaining to reduced budgets for factories in the country leading to poor maintenance on the machines and complaints from the employees. The Production Department was contacted regarding the problems but they didn't take action. We estimate almost a billion of money that didn't go to their intended destination. Due to the missing money, the machines in the factories are in need of repairs so the production would be delayed to completely fix them as the lack of maintenance took a toll and continued use might break it down completely. The factories have been cutting costs where they can so the facilities needed to be looked into as well. We also recovered deleted communications from the company database that we believed was done to cover up their operation. There were also communications from Mr. Anderson which contained the same fake budget memorandum with his signature that was disseminated to the factories." Heather finished her presentation but the people inside the room were still reeling from the information.

"I'd like to see you defend yourself from this, Bert," I raised one of my eyebrows in his direction.