Chapter 3 - The Watch Was Bought With Company Money
By noon, my new office contained seventeen boxes.
Not flowers.
Not welcome gifts.
Documents.
I had asked Internal Audit for three years of discretionary spending from Shiaoza’s division.
They delivered seventeen boxes and a secure drive.
That alone told me I had been away too long.
My temporary chief of staff, Daniel Park, stood beside the conference table.
“Where do you want to begin?”
“With the watch.”
He paused.
“The watch?”
I gave him the serial number.
I had memorized it when I chose the piece.
There were only ten.
Daniel made two calls.
Forty minutes later, he returned looking uncomfortable.
“We found the purchase.”
I closed the report in front of me.
“And?”
“It wasn’t purchased through President Shiao’s personal account.”
My stomach sank.
“Company account?”
“Yes.”
“How was it categorized?”
Daniel hesitated.
“International client retention.”
I almost laughed.
Almost.
“How much?”
“Eighty-six thousand dollars.”
I leaned back.
The betrayal was suddenly more insulting.
My husband had not merely given another woman the birthday gift I selected for his mother.
He had charged it to the company.
“Who authorized it?”
“President Shiao.”
“Who received it?”
“The documentation says an overseas investor.”
“And the delivery address?”
Daniel slid a page toward me.
I read it.
Jang Chin Tong’s apartment.
There are moments when anger burns.
There are others when it freezes.
Mine froze.
“Keep digging.”
Daniel nodded.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
At 12:47, Shiaoza entered without knocking.
Daniel stood.
“Leave us,” my husband said.
Daniel looked at me.
I nodded.
When the door closed, Shiaoza walked toward my desk.
“You embarrassed me.”
I stared at him.
“That’s your opening sentence?”
“You blindsided me.”
“I arrived at my own company.”
“You never told me the board finalized your appointment.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
His face twisted bitterly.
“Well, congratulations.”
I studied the man I had married.
He looked almost exactly the same.
Tailored suit.
Perfect hair.
The expensive cuff links I had given him on our seventh anniversary.
Yet somehow I felt as if I were seeing a stranger wearing my husband’s face.
“Did you give Jang the watch?”
He looked away.
That was enough.
“Answer me.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No. Tax law is complicated. International mergers are complicated. Did you give your secretary my mother-in-law’s birthday present? That requires one syllable.”
He sighed.
“Yes.”
The word landed quietly.
“Why?”
“She admired it.”
I stared at him.
“And your mother?”
“I bought Mom something else.”
“You told me she loved the watch.”
“She loved the bracelet.”
“You lied to me.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“It was a watch.”
“No.”
I stood.
“It was trust.”
He looked irritated now.
That hurt more than guilt would have.
“You’re turning this into something enormous.”
“You charged eighty-six thousand dollars to the company.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
“So you’re already investigating me.”
“I’m investigating company money.”
“I can repay it.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“I said I’ll repay it.”
“Why was it delivered to Jang’s apartment?”
Silence.
“Why does she call you privately after midnight?”
His head snapped up.
I hadn’t known that.
I had guessed.
His reaction confirmed it.
Interesting.
“Who told you that?”
I almost smiled.
“Thank you.”
He realized his mistake.
“Listen—”
“No. You listen.”
I walked around the desk.
“Whatever exists between you and Jang personally will be handled personally. But if you used company money to finance it, then you made it my professional responsibility.”
His face hardened.
“You’re threatening me?”
“I’m informing you.”
He stepped closer.
“For ten years, I supported your career.”
I stared at him.
“You supported my career?”
“Yes.”
“By lying about where you were?”
His jaw clenched.
“You were never home.”
There it was.
The oldest excuse in the book.
I laughed once.
“You’re blaming my work?”
“I’m saying marriage requires presence.”
“And fidelity requires what?”
He said nothing.
My heart broke quietly.
Not because I had proof of an affair.
Not yet.
Because he didn’t deny it.
Someone knocked.
Daniel entered.
His face was pale.
“CEO Lin, we found something.”
Shiaoza turned.
“This meeting is private.”
Daniel didn’t move.
I said, “Continue.”
He placed a folder on my desk.
“Secretary Jang’s compensation.”
“What about it?”
“She receives her official salary.”
Daniel swallowed.
“And twelve additional monthly payments through three consulting vendors.”
Shiaoza went completely still.
I opened the folder.
The amounts varied.
Twenty thousand.
Thirty thousand.
Forty-five thousand.
One month: ninety thousand.
I looked up.
“What services?”
Daniel answered carefully.
“We can’t identify any.”
“How much total?”
“Over thirty-six months?”
“Yes.”
“Approximately 1.8 million dollars.”
Silence.
I turned toward my husband.
He was no longer angry.
He was scared.
“Explain.”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know anything about this.”
“Your authorization code appears on nine transfers.”
“That code is used by my office.”
“By whom?”
His eyes shifted toward the door.
I understood.
“Jang?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Then Daniel spoke again.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“One vendor is registered to a company called White Orchid Advisory.”
I scanned the document.
“Owner?”
“That’s the problem.”
He slid another sheet forward.
The beneficial owner had been hidden behind two holding companies.
But Internal Audit had traced the registration contact.
I read the name.
And suddenly I understood why my husband looked terrified.
The company belonged to Jang Chin Tong’s mother.
I raised my eyes.
Shiaoza whispered, “I can explain.”
Before he could, Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
Then at me.
“CEO Lin…”
“What?”
“Someone is deleting files from President Shiao’s department.”
I looked at my husband.
He looked toward the door.
May you like
And we both said the same name.
“Jang.”
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