I was done.
You’d think that after destroying a billion-dollar company, I’d go home and sleep for a week. But adrenaline is a hell of a drug, and I was wired.
I needed one more thing. A cherry on top of the sundae of destruction.
I knew where Travis would go. Not to his dad’s house. He’d been kicked out. Not to a hotel. His credit cards were likely frozen by the company lawyers.
He’d go to The Omni, a trendy bar where the local influencers hung out. He needed validation. He needed an audience.
I drove by. Sure enough, his Tesla, the one with the custom CEO1 plate, was parked illegally in a loading zone.
I parked across the street and watched through the window. I could see him. He was at the bar, waving his arms, talking to a group of bored-looking women.
Crystal was there too, but she wasn’t standing next to him. She was on her phone, thumbing furiously.
I pulled out my phone. I still had Crystal’s Instagram notifications on.
New post from @CrystalVibes.
Image: A selfie of her looking sad with a filter.
Caption: Sometimes you have to cut toxic people out of your life to protect your peace. New chapter starting. #singlelife #bossbabe #notmyfault
I laughed out loud in the dark car. She had dumped him. The ship hadn’t even fully sunk and the rats were already posting about it.
Travis looked erratic inside. He grabbed a woman’s arm. She pulled away. The bouncer stepped in.
It was pathetic. He wasn’t a titan of industry. He was just a drunk kid with a canceled credit card.
I decided not to go in. I didn’t need to rub it in. Watching him get bounced from a bar was satisfying enough.
But then my phone rang. It was Linda again.
“Judy,” she whispered. “You need to see the company email. The one Travis just sent. He… he must have bypassed the server lock before he left.”
“I don’t have access, Linda.”
“I’ll forward it to your Gmail. Read it.”
I opened the email.
From: Travis Henderson, CEO
To: All Staff
Subject: The Truth
“You all think Judy is a hero. She’s a traitor. She stole our clients. She sabotaged the servers. She’s a bitter old cat lady who couldn’t handle the new vision. I am the victim here. My father is senile. I am the future.”
It was a manifesto of madness. Rambling, misspelled, full of Caps Lock rage.
And then at the bottom, an attachment: Project_Vibes_Budget.xlsx.
He had accidentally attached Crystal’s department budget instead of whatever evidence he thought he had against me.
I opened the spreadsheet. It wasn’t a budget. It was a list of consulting fees paid to various shell companies for personal wellness retreats and aesthetic enhancements. He had been embezzling, using company funds to pay for Crystal’s lifestyle.
This wasn’t just incompetence anymore. This was a felony.
I forwarded the email to Arthur Banks, the lawyer.
Subject: FYI
Body: You might want to call the FBI before they call you.
Ten minutes later, I saw blue lights flashing in the rearview mirror. But they weren’t for me.
Two police cruisers pulled up to The Omni. Officers went inside.
Moments later, they came out escorting Travis. He was in cuffs. He was screaming.
“Do you know who I am? I’m the CEO!”
I watched them shove him into the back of the cruiser.
“No, Travis,” I whispered. “You’re a liability.”
I put the car in drive.
Now it was truly over.
I drove home. My apartment was quiet.
Buster, my golden retriever, greeted me with a wagging tail, oblivious to the fact that his owner had just decapitated a corporate dynasty.
I sat on my couch. The TV was off.
I poured a glass of cheap wine, not the good stuff Marcus had offered.
My phone rang. It was Walter Henderson.
“He’s in jail,” Walter said. His voice sounded like broken glass.
“I saw,” I said.
“Embezzlement. Arthur says it’s millions. He… he stole from the pension fund, Judy.”
That hit me.
The pension fund. The money for the drivers. For Marge’s husband, who drove for us for 30 years.
“Fix it, Walter,” I said.
“I can’t. The accounts are frozen. The fines, Judy… if the pension is gone, these people have nothing.”
I closed my eyes.
I wanted to destroy Travis. I didn’t want to destroy the drivers.
“Judy,” Walter pleaded. “You have the contracts. You have the leverage. You’re with Global now. Can you… can you structure the deal so Global absorbs the pension liability?”
It was a massive ask. It would cost Global millions. Marcus would hate it. It made no business sense.