Chapter 5 - The Auditor's Intervention
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Before I could formulate a response to Adrian’s thinly veiled threat, the distinct sound of a throat clearing echoed from the far end of the room.
It was Gabriel Voss.
The independent forensic audit had been specifically commissioned by the massive European conglomerate looking to acquire Helixora. Over the past twelve weeks, Gabriel’s firm had been quietly and methodically tearing through every corner of the company’s history. They had audited corporate records, equity ownership histories, patent assignments, executive compensation packages, and related-party transactions. Until this precise moment, Gabriel had been virtually invisible, sitting like a silent specter in the corner.
“Mr. Whitmore,” Gabriel began, his voice slow and deliberate as his sharp eyes swept over the tense faces of the board members.
“Before anyone signs a historical ownership waiver of this magnitude, the audit team requires some critical clarification regarding Helixora’s very first operating account.”
Adrian frowned slightly, though his overall demeanor remained largely unbothered. He still believed he was entirely in control of the narrative.
“What clarification?” he asked, his tone clipping with annoyance.
Gabriel did not rush. He methodically unclasped one of the gray folders resting beside his laptop.
“The company’s earliest surviving banking record shows an opening account balance of three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.”
Adrian shrugged, a casual, dismissive gesture as if explaining basic arithmetic to a child.
“That was our seed funding.”
“Yes.”
“From private family resources,” Adrian added, a slight, victorious smirk playing at the edge of his mouth.
Gabriel looked up, his gaze locking onto the powerful CEO.
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“That description is vastly incomplete.”
Instantly, the collective attention of the room snapped away from me and zeroed in on the independent auditor. The tension spiked dramatically; low murmurs began to ripple down the length of the table. Sloane Mercer shifted uncomfortably in her chair, her eyes narrowing with sudden, intense suspicion. Adrian maintained his arrogant facade, but I noticed his fingers begin to tap a frantic, unconscious rhythm against the mahogany wood.
