The company was supposed to have disappeared years ago, yet somehow its name had resurfaced within Wolfe Enterprises, buried among the names of employees who had access to the same authorization code.
Dorian took the paper from her, his eyes scanning through the list again as if there was a reasonable explanation hidden somewhere between the names and numbers.
There wasn’t.
His expression gradually hardened as the reality began to sink in.
Someone had not only been manipulating the company’s finances; they had been using a system that connected several departments, and somehow, a company that supposedly no longer existed was part of it.
“How long have you known about this?” Dorian asked, turning towards Hale.
Hale’s face immediately tightened.
He had been standing quietly beside the desk, but the question seemed to unsettle him.
He glanced towards the door before returning his gaze to Dorian.
“I didn’t know the company was still connected to Wolfe Enterprises.” “But you knew the name.” “Yes.” “And you knew it had never completely disappeared.” Hale remained silent for a moment before finally exhaling.
“The company itself stopped operating under that name years ago, but the people behind it didn’t disappear.
They continued doing business through other companies.” Brielle exchanged a glance with Dorian.
That explained why the name had appeared in an old contract and then resurfaced in a recent document.
The company might have vanished on paper, but whoever had been behind it had simply found another way to continue operating.
“How do you know this?” she asked.
Hale rubbed his palms together nervously.
“Because I was instructed to approve certain suppliers.” “By whom?” “I don’t know.” Dorian’s eyes narrowed.
“You have been working in procurement for years.
Don’t tell me you never wondered who was giving you those instructions.” “I did wonder,” Hale admitted.
“But the instructions didn’t always come directly.
Sometimes they came through emails.
Sometimes through the procurement system.
There were occasions when I would simply receive an instruction telling me that a supplier had already been approved and that the paperwork needed to be processed.” “And you obeyed?” Dorian asked, his voice becoming colder.
Hale swallowed.
“I didn’t think I had a choice.” Brielle studied him carefully.
There was something about the way he spoke that told her he wasn’t simply afraid of losing his job.
He was afraid of something else.
“You mentioned a private channel earlier.
What exactly is it?” Hale looked at her before answering.
“There’s a section of the procurement platform that isn’t accessible through the normal system.
You need the authorization code to enter it.” Dorian’s face darkened.
“And who has access to it?” “Several people.” “Names.” Hale hesitated before giving them a few names.
Some belonged to employees in finance, others to procurement, and one belonged to a senior member of management.
Brielle wrote each name down, comparing them with the list they had just found.
Almost every person Hale mentioned appeared somewhere on it.
The realization made her stomach tighten.
“Show us,” Dorian ordered.
Hale walked towards the computer and entered the authorization code.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then a hidden folder appeared on the screen, followed by several others.
Brielle moved closer as documents began filling the display.
Supplier agreements, payment instructions, altered bank details and internal messages were all stored inside.
Some of the records dated back years.
Dorian opened one of the files, and Brielle immediately recognized several of the supplier names.
They were the same suppliers whose payments they had already flagged.
She leaned towards the screen and studied the dates carefully.
“Look at this.” Dorian followed her gaze.
“The bank details were changed shortly before the payments were released,” she said.
“It’s happening repeatedly.” Dorian frowned.
“They knew when the payments were going out.” “Exactly.
They weren’t just changing accounts and hoping money would land there.
Whoever was doing this knew the payment schedule.” Hale said nothing.
Brielle turned towards him.
“How much money has gone through this system?” “I don’t know.” “You must have some idea.” “I don’t.” Dorian stepped towards him.
“Then who does?” Hale lowered his gaze.
“The people who control it.” “Who are they?” “I never saw them.” “But you communicated with them.” “Only through the system.” Before Dorian could ask another question, the screen suddenly flickered.
One of the folders disappeared.
Then another.
Brielle’s eyes widened as she watched the documents vanish one after another.
“Someone is deleting the files.” Dorian immediately reached for the mouse, but the system had already stopped responding.
The files continued disappearing until the entire hidden section was wiped clean.
A few seconds later, the screen turned black before a single message appeared.
ACCESS REVOKED.
Nobody spoke.
Hale’s face had gone pale.
Dorian slowly turned towards him.
“Who can do that?” “I don’t know.” “You expect me to believe that?” “I swear I don’t know.” Brielle barely heard their exchange.
Her attention had fallen on the notebook lying on Hale’s desk.
She picked it up and began going through the pages, hoping that whatever had been deleted from the system might still exist somewhere else.
Most of the pages contained names, dates and figures, but one particular entry caught her attention.
A name had been written across the page and then violently crossed out.
Beside it was a date from only a few months earlier.
“Who is this?” she asked, turning the notebook towards Hale.
Hale stared at the name, and for the first time since they had started questioning him, genuine fear flashed across his face.
“I don’t know.” “You wrote it in your notebook.” “I don’t remember.” Brielle’s eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to believe you don’t remember writing down a name and crossing it out?” Hale remained silent.
Dorian took the notebook from her and studied the name.
“When did this person leave the company?” “They didn’t.” Dorian looked up sharply.
“Then why is the name crossed out?” Hale’s lips parted, but no answer came.
Brielle reached for the government notice that had been lying on the desk and began scanning through it again.
Something about the name felt familiar.
Her eyes moved down the list until they stopped.
Her heart skipped.
The same name was there.
It appeared among the people who had provided information during the government’s assessment of Wolfe Enterprises.
“Dorian.” He turned towards her.
She placed the notice beside the notebook.
“Look at the name.” Dorian’s eyes moved between the two documents.
His expression changed almost instantly.
“They gave information to the government?” “Yes.” He stared at the name again, then at the notebook.
“So they knew about the transactions.” “And they knew enough to make sure the government noticed them.” The room fell silent as the pieces began to fit together.
What they had initially believed to be two separate problems—the financial irregularities inside Wolfe Enterprises and the government’s investigation—were beginning to look like parts of the same plan.
Someone had known what was happening inside the company, had access to its systems and had somehow ensured that the consequences reached the government.
“We need to find this person,” Dorian said, reaching for his phone.
“Not yet.” He stopped and looked at Brielle.
“If they’re involved with the government investigation, they’ll know we’re looking for them the moment we start asking questions.” Dorian slowly lowered the phone.
Brielle looked back at the authorization code printed on the list.
She had been staring at it for hours, but suddenly it seemed different.
“The code.” Dorian frowned.
“What about it?” “What if we’ve misunderstood what it means?” He looked at her.
“The code appears in finance, procurement, administration and management.
If it was meant to identify the person responsible, why would so many people have access to it?” Dorian’s expression grew thoughtful.
“Maybe it doesn’t identify the person using it,” Brielle continued.
“Maybe it identifies the person they’re working for.” Dorian stared at her in silence.
And for the first time since they had begun investigating Wolfe Enterprises, Brielle wondered if they had been chasing the wrong person entirely.
Because perhaps the person they were looking for wasn’t the one hiding behind the authorization code.
Perhaps the real person had been standing much closer to them all along.