The investigation quickly uncovered disturbing information. Several employees had complained about Richard’s bullying, humiliation, and retaliation, but their reports had mysteriously disappeared. His division claimed record profits despite unusually high employee turnover, and a former worker alleged that financial reports had been manipulated. Meanwhile, Daniel asked his mother to apologize to Vanessa’s family, hoping to avoid conflict before the wedding. Margaret refused, explaining that loving someone did not mean accepting disrespect. When Vanessa later visited and advised Margaret to conceal her supposed poverty from wealthy friends, Margaret realized how deeply the family’s arrogance extended.
On Monday morning, Margaret arrived at the corporate headquarters in her old Toyota, wearing a simple navy dress. Richard spotted her in the lobby and immediately resumed his mockery, joking about showing her the cleaning supplies. But his confidence vanished when Rebecca appeared with senior executives and addressed Margaret as Chairwoman Collins. Margaret calmly explained that she and her late husband, Thomas, had founded the company thirty-two years earlier. Richard suddenly understood that the woman he had humiliated was not seeking employment—she owned the company that employed him. Margaret then invited him upstairs to answer questions about the employee complaints and suspicious financial records.
The board placed Richard on paid leave while auditors investigated approximately $8.4 million in suspicious transactions connected to a project named Heritage. Some payments appeared to carry Margaret’s authorization, although she insisted she had approved none of them. The mystery deepened when Vanessa took Thomas’s old laptop from a storage unit, and threatening messages began arriving about his death. Investigators later discovered a blue ledger containing financial records that matched several suspicious transactions. Daniel confronted Vanessa, who admitted taking the laptop at her father’s request, and their engagement ended. Although Richard remained under investigation and the financial mystery was unresolved, Margaret was determined to uncover the truth, protect her employees, and ensure that wealth and power would never excuse cruelty or dishonesty.
