Page 69 of So Close to You
Seraphina closes the door behind her without any hurry. She is wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, and her hair is pulled back with the same precision she wore before she was forced out. She has barely slept three hours in four days, but there is no visible trace of it on her face.
Adrian clears his throat with obvious theatricality.
“Well. Since Ms. Chapman has deigned to show up to formalize the changes…” he begins.
Seraphina doesn’t take a seat; she sets her purse on the table and fixes him with such icy calm that Adrian unconsciously breaks off his sentence.
“Before this meeting continues…” Seraphina states, looking at everyone present, “I want to make something very clear. I will not answer any questions about my private life, my sexual orientation, or the photographs that were illegally leaked to the press. I am not here to defend my privacy. I am here to discuss serious financial crimes.”
The impact is immediate. Two board members exchange a tense glance. One of the investors shifts in his seat, visibly uncomfortable. Adrian smiles in disbelief, though Seraphina detects the first glimmer of unease in his eyes.
“Seraphina, I don’t think you understand the gravity of your current situation,” he replies.
“I understand it perfectly,” she replies without losing her composure. “It’s you who still doesn’t understand yours.”
Adrian’s jaw tenses for a fleeting moment. Seraphina takes a seat at one end of the table and connects her laptop to the main screen. The projector illuminates the central panel with documents filled with figures and bank transactions. The atmosphere in the room shifts palpably.
Seraphina rests both hands on the table and begins to speak.
“Over the past eight months, thirty-seven fragmented transfers were authorized from the Hale Medical investment fund to four shell companies registered in Luxembourg and other parts of Europe. All of them are linked to law firms through legal intermediaries.”
Adrian leans back in his chair with a dismissive gesture.
“This is completely absurd,” he protests.
Seraphina presses another key.
“No, it isn’t,” she corrects him calmly. “What would be absurd is to think that no one would check for duplicate billing before the end of the audit. Do you want me to continue?”
One of the investors frowns with obvious concern.
“Duplicates? Please explain.”
“Cloned invoices,” Seraphina explains without taking her eyes off Adrian. “Same item, different internal numbering. They were used to divert funds in amounts below the automatic threshold. A very clever, almost elegant practice, I’ll admit. But it didn’t go unnoticed.”
Adrian stops smiling. Seraphina notices it in the way his fingers release the pen, in the tension beginning to show in his neck, and in his breathing. For days, fear was all she knew. And now, she knows she’s in control.
“Seven and a half million pounds,” Seraphina continues under the watchful eyes of the others. “Disguised as sports consulting fees linked to the Premier League’s expansion. Money systematically diverted to shell companies just before the investors’ audit.”
One of the legal representatives speaks, visibly agitated.
“Are you formally accusing Mr. Beckett of embezzlement?”
“I am presenting documentary evidence of ongoing financial embezzlement,” Seraphina replies. “And I have much more.”
Adrian slams his open palm on the table.
“This is nothing more than a desperate act of retaliation because they caught you sleeping with a clinic employee,” he spits out angrily.
The words hit her hard. But Seraphina doesn’t flinch.
“No. This is what happens when a corrupt man uses a woman’s sex scandal to cover up a multimillion-pound hole before a merger. Did you really think I wouldn’t follow the trail?”
The ensuing silence is devastating. Seraphina begins moving around the table as she projects more documents.
“The leak of the photographs wasn’t a simple attack by Mr. Beckett,” she explains. “It was a smokescreen designed to halt the merger before the auditors detected the fraud. The board suspended the deal because of my conduct, the press focused on the scandal, and no one scrutinized the accounts in depth. A brilliant move, Adrian. Truly brilliant. But not perfect.”
Adrian jumps to his feet, his face flushed.
