Chapter 8 - The Choice Larkin Never Expected
Penelope replayed the video.
"Hire her. I already know exactly who she is."
The words didn't change.
Three years.
Larkin had claimed he hadn't known about her mother.
Claimed he'd barely noticed Penelope.
Yet there he was.
Approving her personally.
Penelope entered his office without knocking.
Larkin looked up.
She turned the laptop toward him.
"Explain."
He watched.
His expression changed.
Not guilt.
Recognition.
"Where did you get this?"
"Thomas."
Larkin stood.
"The clip is incomplete."
"Convenient."
"Penelope."
"Did you know who I was?"
"Not what you think."
"That's becoming everyone's favorite sentence."
Larkin took out his phone.
He searched old archives.
Then placed another video beside hers.
Same meeting.
Longer recording.
Arthur said, "Her name is Penelope Woods."
Larkin responded, "I know exactly who she is. She's the analyst who identified the discrepancy in the Miller acquisition."
Penelope froze.
The recording continued.
Larkin had noticed her work before she joined his executive floor.
She'd been a temporary accounting contractor.
She had caught a $700,000 error nobody else noticed.
"Hire her," Larkin said in the video. "Anyone who catches that belongs upstairs."
Penelope looked at him.
"You hired me because of my work."
"Yes."
"You knew me before I knew you."
"I knew your numbers."
She sat down.
Thomas had sent an edited clip.
Why?
Larkin called him.
Thomas answered immediately.
"She showed you?"
"Why did you cut the video?"
Silence.
"Thomas."
"Because she needs to stop trusting people automatically."
Penelope grabbed the phone.
"I don't trust anyone automatically."
"Good."
"You manipulated me."
"Also good."
"No. Not good."
Thomas sighed.
"Come downstairs."
They found him in the boardroom.
Melissa was there.
Margaret too.
And Evelyn.
Penelope stopped when she saw her mother.
"What is this?"
Evelyn held Richard's original ledger.
"The end."
The independent trustee had arrived.
So had attorneys.
Arthur's evidence was complete.
The stolen funds could be recovered.
The secret amendment could finally be executed.
Penelope was offered controlling ownership.
She looked at the documents.
Then at Larkin.
He said nothing.
No request.
No pressure.
"What happens if I sign?"
The attorney answered.
"You become majority owner."
"And Larkin?"
"Retains his shares, but loses controlling authority."
Thomas watched closely.
Everyone expected Penelope to sign.
After everything the Steves organization had taken from her family, perhaps she should.
Instead, she closed the document.
"No."
Evelyn blinked.
"Penelope?"
"I don't want revenge disguised as ownership."
The attorney adjusted his glasses.
"What do you want?"
Penelope had spent her life understanding numbers.
Numbers were choices translated into consequences.
She knew exactly what she wanted.
"Restructure the company."
Larkin looked at her.
"How?"
"Legitimate operations only. Independent board. Full forensic audit. Employee ownership fund. Restitution for anyone harmed by the old business."
Thomas whistled softly.
Penelope continued.
"And the Woods trust funds the transition."
Evelyn stared at her daughter.
"You'd give up nine million dollars?"
"Not all of it."
Penelope almost smiled.
"I still have student loans."
Evelyn laughed.
It was the first time Penelope had heard that laugh since childhood.
Larkin stepped forward.
"And ownership?"
Penelope looked at him.
"Fifty-fifty."
Everyone went silent.
Larkin stared.
"Why?"
"Because your father wanted change. My mother wanted accountability. Neither family should own the future alone."
Larkin held her gaze.
"And if I refuse?"
"I become your boss."
Thomas burst out laughing.
Larkin smiled.
"Fifty-fifty."
They shook hands.
It should have been the ending.
It wasn't.
Because Melissa's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face went pale.
"What?"
Everyone turned.
Melissa lowered the phone.
"The federal investigators searched Arthur's house."
Penelope's stomach tightened.
"They found another ledger."
"What kind?"
"Recent."
Larkin frowned.
"Arthur was still moving money?"
Melissa shook her head.
"No."
She looked at Thomas.
"The transactions started after Arthur was arrested."
Thomas stopped smiling.
Penelope took the ledger.
Someone was continuing the scheme.
Someone in the room still had access.
Then she saw the authorization name.
EVELYN WOODS.
Penelope slowly raised her eyes toward her mother.
Evelyn stared at the page.
"That's impossible."
A notification appeared on Penelope's phone.
A transfer had just been initiated.
May you like
Ten million dollars.
And the approval had come from Penelope's own computer.
