Page 14 of The Heiress Masquerade (Dollar Princess #2)
First thing the next day, before anyone else had arrived, Harrison had arranged to meet with Ben and Robert in his office to discuss the discrepancies in the ledgers. A meeting that would distract him from his obsession over Evie, which was growing stronger each day, and couldn’t be allowed to continue, no matter how much a part of him wanted it to. He still couldn’t believe he’d kissed her.
And what a kiss. She’d tasted both innocent and so delectable all at once.
“What do you mean there are discrepancies?” Robert asked, jolting Harrison out of his musings as he stood up from the chair across from Harrison’s desk and rushed over to glanced down at the ledgers in front of Harrison.
Harrison relayed the problem in more detail to them, after which both men appeared shocked at the news that the ledgers had been tampered with.
Robert pressed his lips together, an expression of concern and uncertainty on his face. “How is that possible? Everyone knows I alone am allowed to write in them, given their importance.”
“Then why would you lend them to Miss Jenkins?” Harrison asked.
A light red blush spread over Robert’s cheeks. “Given she’s Mr. Thornton-Jones’s niece, I didn’t think it would be a problem for her to read them, as she was keen to. Why? Do you think she’s the one who doctored them?”
“No, I don’t,” Harrison said. “Though there’s something she’s hiding, I’m sure of it. I just don’t know what it is.” But he was determined to find out.
“I’m glad to hear you don’t think she’s responsible,” Robert replied. “It’s rare one meets a woman who likes numbers, let alone is good with them, as well as being so well, um, beautiful. It’s a fascinating combination indeed. Don’t you think?”
“I don’t think about her, period.” If only that were true. “In any event, we need to find out who was behind the alterations of the figures.”
An expression of embarrassment flooded Robert’s face, but he didn’t shy away from Harrison’s gaze. “I should have discovered the anomalies and I fully accept responsibility for my failure to do so.”
“But why would someone alter the ledgers?” Ben spoke up, glancing at Harrison and then down to the ledgers themselves.
“Someone is trying to sabotage the stock prices.” Harrison tossed one of the ledgers over to Ben who deftly caught it and began to flick through some of the pages.
“Yes, it certainly seems so,” Ben said after his perusal. “The question, then, is who?”
“It could be a large pool, unfortunately,” Robert replied with a sigh. “Given all my staff in the accounts section have access to the ledgers through the day, as they need them for the various reports and projects they’re working on. But still, I couldn’t imagine one of them doing it; they’re all such good workers.”
“Even good workers will stoop to dishonesty for money,” Harrison replied. “Especially given the current deal we’re working on.”
“You’re right,” Robert said. “If Wilheimer or his team had seen the ledgers in their current state, it would have jeopardized the entire deal.” He straightened his posture and took in a deep breath. “Though I promise you I didn’t have anything to do with changing the numbers, ultimately I must take the blame for this, and I see no other option but to tender my resignation, effective immediately.”
“I appreciate your willingness to fall on your own sword,” Harrison replied. “However, I won’t accept your resignation.”
“You won’t?”
“No. You’re far too smart to want to sabotage a company that you yourself have a portion of shares in.” All heads of departments throughout Thomas’s companies got shares as part of a recruitment bonus when they joined the company. It was an effective scheme that ensured loyalty and hard work to make the company a success.
“Whoever changed the figures presumably wanted our stock prices to plummet and the deal with Wilheimer to fall through, so we need to find out who has a motive for that, then we will find who is responsible.”
And whoever it was had better run, because when Harrison found them, they’d wish they’d fled.