<h4>Chapter 256: Davis and his wife just returned...</h4>


    While Davis and his wife were having a good rest after a long journey and work time, Desmond’s case was a stark contrast to their situation.


    The morning sun filtered through the floor to ceiling ss windows and walls of the Allen Corporation’s executive conference room, casting cold shadows across the polished marble floor.


    The air was sterile, perfumed faintly with freshvender fragrance and fresh coffee, but the tension beneath it was palpable.


    Desmond Allen walked in, his tailored suit immacte, his steps deliberate. His eyes swept over the seated board members made up of fifteen men and women whose loyalty he’d secured through years of careful maniption, favors, and intimidation.


    He took his seat at the head the table without greeting anyone. His assistant silently slid a stack of documents in front of him with the morning’s agenda tucked behindyers of reports.


    Desmond’s fingers tapped against the ss desk, each beat calcted, hisposure that of an emperor as his icy eyes scanned the faces of the members in silent appraisal.


    "Let’s begin," he said curtly.


    The COO, a slender man with sharp sses and sharper instincts, cleared his throat. "Before we proceed to the quarterly review, there’s an item that’se to our attention regarding project expenditures under Division 4C."


    Desmond’s stern eyes settled on the man, his chest tightened, his hand paused briefly before resuming its action.


    That division was one of his shadow budgets—used for siphoning funds under R&D cover and had long being concealed but bringing it up at this point is a clear indication that something had gone wrong.


    Desmond’s lips curved into a thin smile. "4C is a confidential defense tech initiative in early-phase prototyping. We’ve used ck-budget methods to protect IP. If you’re unfamiliar with the protocol, perhaps we can schedule a separate briefing."


    He let the statement hang, daring them to question further. But this time he underestimated the reasons and positions of the board members.


    Ms. Dexter, a fierce blondedy from the Audit Committee leaned forward, a cold smirk ying on her lips.


    "We found a discrepancy of over 4.2 million Dors routed through a shell contractor that has no traceable operations. The invoice was approved with your clearance code."


    Desmond didn’t expect them to be persistent and to dare press further on the case. He took a deep breath. "Like I said we trying our best to protect it and then adopted the ck budget method."


    Ms. Dexter didn’t blink. "I’m aware of ck-budget operations. But those are usually signed off by a secondary authority. This one wasn’t. And our crosscheck shows no official briefing with Legal, nor oversight from Finance."


    Silence followed.


    Desmond slowly leaned back. "Are you questioning my authority to protect Allen Corp’s intellectual property?"


    She met his gaze. "No. I’m questioning whether this is about intellectual property at all."


    The board room fell silent as both of their eyes were locked in the air, the tension settling in the room palpable as the air around them condensed.


    The CFO spoke next. "I think, for rity and board confidence, we should request a neutral audit. Not an usation—just transparency."


    "I am the transparency," Desmond growled, his mask slipping momentarily.


    "Everything thispany has aplished in the past years plus is because I made the tough decisions your spreadsheets couldn’t."


    "No one’s discrediting that," the COO said quickly, trying to diffuse the mood yet it continuously descended into coldness.


    Desmond felt something going wrong as he nced around the board room, it was the usual agendas, familiar voices, but to Desmond, it all felt like static noise.


    The sudden precision in the reports being presented, the questions, the usual vagueness he instils seem to have no effect anymore and had vanished.


    He felt it reced by piercing rity as department heads now came armed with crisp figures,plete with visual breakdowns didn’t go unnoticed.


    He fell into contemtion "Was it a coincidence? Or were they preparing for something? Or is someone manipting them?"


    A younger board member cleared his throat, half-rising from his seat in greeting which also eased the tension a bit.


    "The report from the R&D department was just circted. There are... other anomalies aside the mentioned case


    Desmond paused mid-step, his brow twitching ever so slightly. "Anomalies?"


    "Some budgetary oveps with discontinued projects. We assumed it was an ounting error but in further investigation, it wasn’t. So, I ask Chairman can you throw more light?"


    "We’ll address that during the financial review."Desmond replied curtly.


    Desmond’s mind swirled with thoughts and the possible cause of the anomaly in the board meeting, the CFO cleared his throat and pushed a folder toward Desmond.


    "There’s an irregrity in the marketing budget as well. One of the campaigns listed hasn’t been verifiably executed. Yet over 3.5 million was processed under that line item."


    A murmur passed through the room.


    Desmond maintained hisposure outwardly while he screamed and cursed at him. "We outsourced that campaign. Likely ag in final deliverables. I’ll have the team follow up." He said.


    "I already did," the CFO replied, gaze steady. "The firm in question denied any recent contracts with us."


    A flicker of silence descended the conference room, Cold and Sharp.


    Desmond chuckled lightly. "Then we’ll revisit the contract files. No need for rm."


    But the murmuring intensified. Desmond’s mind raced with trepidation. Who was pulling these strings? Someone was pushing these narratives forward. He mused.


    His phone dinged with a notification from his subordinates. Immediately he slide his finger over the screen, and a ring text meet his gaze


    "Davis and his wife just returned, captured this image at the airport.Also, the Noveria’s branch resumed full operations after runching."


    Desmond’s hand twitched, his heart lurched, his breatheing in gasps while he struggled to maintainposure. "Meeting adjourned," He said coldly.


    "Mr. Desmond, we haven’t reviewed the—"


    "I said adjourned!" he barked, standing abruptly.


    He stormed out of the boardroom, the paper still in hand.


    The board meeting had been a terrible one. He never expected that the boardroom, which he had alwaysmanded with a smirk since the confirmation that Davis waspletely missing and presumed dead, will take a different turn today, with managers asking sharp, daunting questions about investments made and the expected return on those investments.


    As far as Desmond could remember, this seemed to be one of the few board meetings where he had been defeated. He had felt fear, embarrassment, shame, and regret.