But numbers? Numbers had always been her anchor.
Her mother had worked as a bookkeeper.
“Numbers tell the truth,” she used to say. “It’s people who twist them.”
Maya had held onto that.
She’d stayed in school just long enough to understand financial basics—long enough to notice when something didn’t add up.
That day, she hadn’t meant to look.
But one detail stood out.
And once she saw it, she couldn’t ignore it.
Three days later, Maya sat in a conference room at Cole Global Logistics.
Not near the exit.
Right beside Ethan.
“Say anything that feels off,” he told her. “Don’t hold back.”
So she didn’t.
She pointed out inconsistencies—misplaced figures, inflated losses, liabilities pushed forward unnaturally.
Bit by bit, a pattern revealed itself.
This wasn’t simple failure.
It was engineered.
The company’s CFO, Daniel Price, quietly excused himself before the meeting even ended.
Two weeks later, external auditors confirmed everything.
Funds had been rerouted through fake vendors. Losses had been disguised. The numbers had been manipulated just enough to avoid immediate suspicion.
Daniel Price was removed and placed under investigation.