Chapter 8 - The Corner Office
By Wednesday afternoon, the forty-second floor of Steves Technologies looked like an archaeological dig site. Cardboard boxes littered the hallway, federal investigators were carting away filing cabinets, and the remaining board members were huddled in emergency meetings trying to salvage what was left of a sinking corporate empire.
I was sitting at my desk when the glass door to the executive office swung open.
A tall, silver-haired man in an impeccably tailored navy suit stepped out. It was Richard Sterling, the senior board member who had spent years opposing Larkin and Julian Vance behind closed doors, though he had never had enough concrete evidence to stop them.
He walked past the empty cubicles and stopped directly in front of my desk.
"Penelope," he said, his voice surprisingly warm and respectful.
I looked up from my keyboard, adjusting my glasses. "Yes, Mr. Sterling? Are you looking for the remaining audit files? I've already digitized and organized everything for the SEC investigators."
Sterling let out a low chuckle, resting both hands on the edge of my partition. " SEC investigators are practically singing your praises, Ms. Woods. They said they haven't seen an internal financial reconstruction that clean since the Enron scandal. And frankly... the board has been reviewing your personnel file."
"My personnel file?" I raised an eyebrow. "Is there a discrepancy in my tax withholding?"
"Quite the opposite," Sterling smiled, pulling a heavy manila folder from under his arm and placing it on my desk. "With Larkin and Vance both facing federal indictments and decades in prison, Steves Technologies is currently without executive leadership. Furthermore, we need someone who understands every single ledger, every secret account, and every line of code this company owns."
He tapped the folder gently.
"The board voted unanimously ten minutes ago. We want you to step in as the interim Chief Financial Officer. Starting salary: seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, plus full equity partnership."
I sat back in my chair, looking down at the formal appointment letter. The $90,000 student loan debt that had weighed on my shoulders like an anchor for five years suddenly felt as light as dust.
"Interim CFO?" I looked up, meeting Sterling's gaze with a calm, unwavering confidence. "I think you mean permanent, Mr. Sterling. And my first condition of employment is that we restructure the entire compliance department from the ground up."
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Sterling blinked, momentarily stunned by my audacity, before a broad, approving grin spread across his face.
"Consider it done, Ms. Woods," he said, turning back toward the corner office. "Welcome to the forty-second floor."
