Chapter 4 - The Envelope
Hannah did not touch the papers again.
For nearly a minute, she simply stared at them.
Then she pulled an unused folder from her drawer, slid the entire envelope inside without rearranging anything, and called internal audit.
“I found something on my desk.”
The investigator asked what.
“I think you should see it before I handle it further.”
Twenty minutes later, two members of the audit team arrived.
They photographed the envelope where Hannah had found it.
They asked who had entered the floor that morning.
Hannah didn’t know.
Security was contacted.
The papers were placed into evidence bags.
Then one investigator asked Hannah a question she hadn't expected.
“Did you know Paige Winslow has a company?”
“No.”
“Have you ever heard of WSP Consulting?”
“No.”
“Did you search for it?”
“No.”
“Did Daniel Cho mention it?”
“No.”
The questions made Hannah uneasy.
“Am I suspected of something?”
The investigator’s expression remained neutral.
“We are establishing how the documents reached you.”
“That didn't answer my question.”
“No, Ms. Prescott. At this time, you are not accused of wrongdoing.”
At this time.
She hated those words.
By noon, Paige was gone from the building.
Nobody knew whether she had been suspended or simply left.
Rumors exploded.
Daniel messaged Hannah through the accounting system.
Was it you?
She typed:
Was what me?
He deleted his next message before sending it.
At two, HR called Hannah upstairs.
Paige sat in the conference room with an HR representative.
Hannah almost turned around.
“Please sit,” HR said.
Hannah took the chair farthest from Paige.
Paige looked composed.
Almost bored.
“Hannah,” the representative began, “Paige has raised concerns that recent interactions between the two of you may be affecting the workplace.”
Hannah stared.
“What concerns?”
Paige spoke.
“I believe Hannah interpreted Friday’s misunderstanding personally.”
“Misunderstanding?”
The HR representative raised a hand.
“We're not here to relitigate Friday.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Paige feels there has been tension.”
Hannah almost laughed.
Instead, she looked directly at Paige.
“You reassigned me after I met with the COO.”
“For operational reasons.”
“You removed my project access.”
“Temporary control procedure.”
“And now I'm sitting in HR because you feel tension?”
Paige’s jaw tightened.
“I am trying to preserve a professional environment.”
Hannah leaned back.
“Then I think we have the same goal.”
The HR representative wrote something.
The meeting lasted twenty-three minutes.
Hannah said less than she wanted.
Paige said more than Hannah expected.
She spoke repeatedly about chain of command.
About respect.
About “junior employees leveraging executive visibility.”
Finally Hannah understood.
Paige wasn't simply defending herself.
She was building a record.
When the meeting ended, Hannah walked straight to the stairwell rather than the elevator.
Nathan was coming down from the floor above.
They nearly collided.
“Hannah.”
She stopped.
“Mr. Hawthorne.”
He noticed her expression.
“Everything okay?”
The question was simple.
The answer was dangerous.
“I've been told the investigation is confidential.”
Nathan understood immediately.
“Then don't tell me anything.”
She nodded.
He moved aside to let her pass.
Then Hannah stopped.
“Can I ask you something unrelated?”
“Of course.”
“Friday night. Did you know who I was before that?”
Nathan seemed surprised.
“Yes.”
Her heart jumped.
“Why?”
“Carrington.”
“Oh.”
“You expected another answer?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Nathan almost smiled.
“I knew your name because your analysis reached my office.”
That should have relieved her.
It mostly did.
But Hannah had one more question.
“People think…”
She stopped.
Nathan's expression changed.
“What do people think?”
“It doesn't matter.”
“It matters if it's affecting your work.”
She looked at him.
“There’s a rumor that the reason you intervened Friday was because you were interested in me.”
Nathan went completely still.
For the first time, he looked genuinely angry.
Not at Hannah.
At the situation.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn't start it.”
“No. But my position makes the rumor more damaging to you than to me.”
Hannah appreciated that he understood.
Nathan continued carefully.
“I intervened because what happened was wrong. Nothing more.”
“I know.”
“If anyone uses my actions Friday to question your professional credibility, document it.”
She almost smiled.
“You sound like an accountant.”
“My mother would be horrified.”
“Why?”
“She still thinks I don't know where my receipts are.”
Hannah laughed.
The tension broke.
Only briefly.
Nathan stepped back.
“I won't contact you while the investigation is active unless business requires it.”
“Thank you.”
Hannah descended the stairs.
Nathan watched her disappear.
That afternoon, external auditors were brought in.
The next morning, Paige returned.
Her confidence had changed.
She moved through the office with a careful stillness.
Nobody spoke to her unless necessary.
At eleven, she summoned Mark into her office.
Twenty minutes later, he emerged pale.
At noon, he called Hannah.
“We need to talk.”
They went to the same conference room.
Mark shut the door.
“Hannah, I need you to understand something.”
She sat.
“The Carrington report…”
“Yes?”
“I removed the section.”
“I know.”
“Paige told me to.”
“I know that too.”
“She said the invoices had executive approval.”
“Whose?”
“She didn't say.”
“Did you believe her?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer felt painfully honest.
Mark rubbed his face.
“I have a daughter starting college next year. I've worked here fourteen years. Paige controls recommendations, bonuses, assignments.”
“So you did what she told you.”
“Yes.”
Hannah waited.
Mark looked ashamed.
“I should've backed you.”
“Yes.”
He blinked, perhaps expecting comfort.
Hannah did not offer it.
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because audit asked me the same questions.”
“And?”
“I told them the truth.”
That mattered.
Maybe not enough to erase what happened.
But it mattered.
“Thank you.”
Mark stood.
“I’m sorry about Friday.”
Hannah looked at him.
“You were at the table.”
“I know.”
“You didn't laugh.”
“No.”
“You didn't say anything either.”
Mark lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
After he left, Hannah remained alone.
That sentence stayed with her.
You didn't say anything either.
Silence had protected Paige long before the invoices.
That evening, security finished reviewing footage from the morning the envelope appeared.
At 6:20, Hannah was called into audit.
A monitor showed the accounting floor at 6:47 a.m.
A person entered.
Hat.
Winter coat.
Face partially obscured.
They walked directly to Hannah’s desk.
Placed the envelope.
Left.
The investigator paused the video.
“Recognize them?”
Hannah leaned closer.
“No.”
“Look at the bag.”
Black canvas.
White stitched logo.
Hannah stared.
She had seen it.
Every day.
Under Daniel Cho’s desk.
Her stomach dropped.
“That looks like Daniel’s.”
The investigator nodded.
“We thought so too.”
Hannah found Daniel in the parking garage twenty minutes later.
He was placing his laptop into his car.
“Daniel.”
He froze.
“Hannah.”
“You left the envelope.”
His face changed.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Why?”
“Not here.”
“You put documents on my desk that could get me fired.”
“I was trying to help.”
“Then why not give them to audit?”
Daniel looked toward the stairwell.
“Because I didn't know who I could trust.”
“And you trusted me?”
“Yes.”
“That isn't what this feels like.”
He closed his trunk.
“Hannah, WSP isn't the whole thing.”
Her anger vanished.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Northline wasn't paying Paige.”
“Then what was happening?”
He swallowed.
“The money was going somewhere else.”
“Where?”
Before Daniel could answer, a car turned into the garage.
Headlights swept across them.
Daniel stepped back instantly.
“I have to go.”
“Daniel.”
He opened his door.
“Ask who owns Northline now.”
Then he drove away.
Hannah stood alone beneath the concrete lights.
For the first time, she wondered whether Paige Winslow might not be the most powerful person involved.
May you like
And whether Nathan Hawthorne had any idea what was happening inside his own company.
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