“No.”
Alessandro’s face had hardened.
“Who altered the invoices?”
Victoria turned back to him.
“Marco.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Alessandro.
Something moved across his face that I had never seen.
Pain.
Clean and immediate.
“No.”
Victoria did not flinch.
“The audit found his authorization chain.”
“Marco accused David.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is convenient.”
“I know.”
“Was he stealing?”
“No.”
Another surprise.
“Then why alter invoices?”
Victoria opened the folder.
“He was moving expenses between divisions.”
Anthony leaned closer.
“Why?”
“To hide losses.”
Alessandro stared.
“What losses?”
“Maritime expansion.”
I knew almost nothing about Duca Maritime Logistics beyond David saying it was badly managed.
Apparently he had been more right than he knew.
Victoria continued.
“Marco convinced the board to buy three routes that underperformed.”
“He told me they were profitable.”
“They weren’t.”
“He showed me reports.”
“Adjusted reports.”
Alessandro looked away.
“Why would he blame David?”
“Because David found the mismatch.”
My throat tightened.
“He told me he got fired for asking questions.”
Victoria looked at me.
“He was telling the truth.”
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
For years, I had believed David exaggerated every story.
He was charming.
Unreliable.
Good at making himself the victim.
Yet on this one thing, he had
been right.
“What happened after Marco accused him?”
Victoria answered.
“Security suspended David pending review.”
“He called it firing.”
“Technically suspended.”
“He stopped getting paid.”
Victoria nodded.
“That was wrong.”
“He was twenty-nine and had six hundred dollars.”
