C - Suite

29 | Date

NYLA GLANCED AT the clock once more. There were only four more hours until her date with Darius. She was growing more nauseous by the minute. Nya couldn't remember the last time she'd been so nervous for a date. Maybe it was because everything felt different with Darius. Her body came alive when she was near him and it gave her a sense of excitement she rarely felt.

A messaged pinged in from Hyeon informing her that her next appointment arrived. She'd been expecting Zoey, so she was surprised when the private investigator she'd hired walked in. In all honestly, she'd forgotten about him ever since she'd handed off the case to the FBI.

"Ms. Malhotra," he said with a smile that displayed his yellow teeth.

Her reply was courteous, but not overtly warm. "Ted, I didn't expect to see you here."

He took a seat before her invitation and Hyeon hovered at the door, awaiting further instructions. It was clear that her secretary didn't like the man in front of her either.

She shot Hyeon a reassuring smile. "Close the door behind you. I don't think this will take too long."

"You might want to hold all her calls," Ted added. "I've got some important things I need to discuss with Ms. Malhotra."

Hyeon's eyes flared with anger at being told what to do by someone else. Nyla herself was annoyed. However, her secretary was professional as ever and she shut the door behind her—with a little bit more force than necessary.

"She's going to break the door if she keeps that up."

Nyla gritted her teeth. "How may I help you?"

Ted fiddled with the stapler on Nyla's desk. "I was actually quite surprised that you didn't call me after the entire bomb fiasco."

"It wasn't in my hands," Nyla replied honestly. "The FBI has taken charge of the investigation."

"Humm,"

"Is there anything you've found?"

Ted stopped fiddling with the stapler and looked her in the eye. "As a matter of fact, yes there is."

He pulled out a couple of tan file folders. "I know who's stealing from your company."

Nyla inhaled sharply. "Who?"

Time seemed to slow down as Ted spoke. "It's the head of your accounting department."

He showed her a picture. It was the same man who had brought up the miscalculations to Nyla. "You might be wrong."

Ted shook his head and showed her the evidence. It seemed like the accounting department was growing hostile because of management changes and the head of the department was not happy. He showed her the sums of money that went missing at that it could be traced to a foreign bank account in Panama. All ties lead back to him. An unpleasant feeling filled up Nyla.

"Thank you for this."

She didn't particularly like Ted, but he had brought her the unpleasant news she'd been trying to find for ages.

"I'm assuming that the payment will be in my account by the end of the day?"

Nyla nodded absentmindedly before ushering him out of the office. Then she collapsed into her chair. Now came the hardest part. She dialed the phone connecting to Hyeon's line.

"Get me the head of accounting in my office please."

♠♠♠♠♠♠

The man, whose name was Bill, arrived in her office about fifteen minutes later. Nyla made sure she shut the door behind her before ushering him towards the seat.