Chapter 4 - The Audit Begins
By the following Monday, the operational reality of Brandon’s professional life had turned into a full-scale logistical nightmare. The Department of the Navy’s regional criminal investigative service (NCIS) had launched a preliminary inquiry into the allocation of civilian consulting funds, prompted by a mountain of anonymous financial data delivered directly to the Admiral’s desk by Christian Sterling’s legal team.
I sat in the sleek, glass-walled conference room of Sterling Maritime’s corporate headquarters in downtown San Diego. My brother Christian sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his tailored charcoal suit immaculate, surrounded by three senior forensic accountants and our family’s chief legal counsel, Marcus Vance.
"The audit is devastating, Evie," Christian said, sliding a tablet across the table toward me. The screen displayed a complex web of shell companies, offshore accounts, and fraudulent invoicing methods all bearing the corporate stamp of Vale Consulting. "Chloe Vale wasn't just Brandon’s mistress. She was his financial conduit. Over the last two years, Brandon has been approving defense procurement contracts for logistics software that Vale Consulting supposedly developed. But the software is a dummy program. It’s an open-source code they repackaged and sold back to the Navy at a three-hundred-percent markup."
"And the money?" I asked, my fingers tightening around my coffee mug.
"Half of it went to fund Chloe’s luxury lifestyle—the penthouse in La Jolla, the European vacations, the designer wardrobe," Marcus Vance chimed in, leaning forward. "But the other half was funneled back into a private investment account registered under Brandon’s mother’s name. He was building an exit strategy, Evie. He knew that eventually, the Sterling family would find out about his infidelity or his financial irregularities, and he was preparing to jump ship with millions of dollars in embezzled military funds."
I closed my eyes, a profound sense of disgust washing over me. I hadn't just married a cheat; I had married a criminal who had used my son’s future as collateral for his greed.
"What's the military’s next move?" I inquired, opening my eyes and looking directly at Christian.
"The Navy is terrified of a public procurement scandal involving the Sterling name," Christian explained, his expression hardening. "They want to handle this quietly through an administrative separation or a non-judicial punishment, but I told the Admiral that if they try to sweep this under the rug, Sterling Maritime will immediately terminate our shipping contracts with the Pacific Fleet. That would paralyze their logistics for months. They have no choice, Evie. They are going to court-martial him."
Before I could respond, my personal phone vibrated on the table. It was an unrecognized number, but the area code was local. I tapped the screen and placed it on speaker.
"Evie, please," a frantic, breathless voice cried out through the speaker. It was Chloe Vale. She sounded completely unraveled, the polished, confident tone she used during corporate presentations entirely replaced by a raw, naked panic. "You have to call off your brothers. The feds just froze my corporate accounts. They’re seizing my apartment. I have nothing to do with Brandon’s military finances! He’s the one who orchestrated the invoicing! He told me your family was too powerful to ever be audited! Please, don't ruin my life over a man who never even loved you!"
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I looked at the phone, a cold, serene smile touching my lips. "You should have thought about the power of the Sterling family before you stood by my husband's side in that window, Chloe. You wanted the luxury that came with my name, so now you get to experience the consequences that come with trying to steal it. Don't call this number again."
I ended the call, looking at Christian. "Make sure the audit captures every single dollar. I want him stripped of his rank, his pension, and his freedom."
