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Chapter 173: The Role of Family
"Goodbye, Mr. Gap."
Gap bid farewell to all the employees in the office, then began to check some ledgers, putting them back in place and leaving inspection records before locking the safe and office door.
This was part of his daily routine. He didn't actually need to do these tasks, but he chose to. He believed it was necessary; at the very least, if any problems arose, he could quickly trace them back to a specific time and the person responsible.
As the lights in the empty room went out, the smile on his face disappeared, replaced by an expression of irritation and worry.
After a meeting with CEO Neo, Gap learned more detailed internal information, which slightly stabilized his mood, but another emotion was brewing.
Before leaving work, the CEO’s secretary informed Gap that Neo wanted to see him in his office.
Gap adjusted his attire and saw Neo in the CEO’s office. Neo was very polite, even offering him a Colofu, and assigned him a task.
But this task was not easy to complete.
"You know, I recently had some unpleasantness with the mayor and the governor." Neo said in the office at that time.
As a subordinate, Gap could only nod and listen, while Neo continued with a smile, "So, if I apply to relocate out of this state, they will definitely make things difficult for us. They will try every possible way to prevent us from moving smoothly, no matter what means."
After saying this, Neo paused for a moment before continuing, "Gap, you are a very ambitious young man. I've heard that you often work late voluntarily and are very united with your colleagues. This is a good thing. I believe you have been rewarded by becoming a corporate partner."
"What I need you to do next is to prove your value to all of us. They will definitely come to audit the accounts. You must ensure that these accounts have no errors, or at least, if there are any problems, they are not within your purview. Can you do that?"
Faced with such a question, what else could Gap do but nod?
Even if he felt a bit guilty, he could only tough it out.
Neo then told him that if he could solve this problem, once they reached the new location, he would propose to the board that Gap be promoted to a senior partner of the company, allowing him to attend board meetings.
This promise did not give Gap as much motivation as it used to. Of course, he pretended to be very excited and eager, actively assuring Neo that he could definitely complete the task.
The dim lighting in the underground parking lot made him feel inexplicably afraid. His hands were a bit unsteady, dropping the car keys when trying to open the door and again when trying to insert them into the ignition.
He didn't know why he felt a sudden panic, as if something was crashing wildly inside his heart, causing him to suddenly lose all strength.
In a sudden outburst, he slammed the steering wheel as if to vent his emotions.
But the sudden honking that followed startled him.
In the deathly quiet of the underground carpark, the abrupt honking was so unexpected that it made him shudder.
He lay on the steering wheel for a while, the outburst of emotions gradually subsiding. Then he picked up the keys, inserted them into the ignition, started the car, and slowly drove towards the exit.
At a place like the headquarters of the Listoan Group, the parking lot security guards were naturally familiar with every vehicle parked there. Usually, when Gap's car approached, the guard would raise the barrier without him needing to stop.
But today was different. As his car reached the barrier, it did not rise. To his surprise, the guard, who never left the booth, came out and knocked on the car window.
Gap was stunned for a second or two before rolling down the tinted glass.
"Mr. Gap?" The guard looked at his notebook and then at Gap, as if confirming his identity.
This was an unfamiliar guard. Gap nodded, "Is there something wrong?"
The guard made some marks in his notebook, or so it seemed from Gap's perspective, then looked up with a smile, "No, sir. I'm just getting familiar with my new job. I'm sorry for delaying you."
The guard's eyes quickly glanced at the back seat of Gap's car before returning to his notebook. "I'll raise the barrier now. Have a good night, Mr. Gap."
Gap nodded, did not roll up the window, and drove out of the underground parking lot.
The sweltering summer heat was still oppressive at night. The hot wind made Gap, who was driving, tear off his tie. He felt very irritated, an inexplicable unease making him restless.
Fear, panic, hatred, disgust, anger...
A lot of negative emotions made him sensitive and irritable. This started after his private conversation with Neo.
He knew very well that this was the biggest crisis of his life. When a local government used national power to do something, it was almost impossible to stop it.
Neo wanted him to ensure there were no issues with the accounts. He could probably achieve this, making the company's accounts spotless, but he couldn't control the accounts of others.
It was a simple principle: if they sold a hundred items to another company, the accounts might look perfect, but he couldn't alter the receiving company's records.
How many items were sold, the price of each item, when they were received, who handled it—all could be checked from the other company's records.
If everything was colluded, then they would check the bank transactions.
If there were no issues with individual account changes, they would check overall transactions. If the overall transactions were fine, they would check time periods. If the time periods were fine, they would trace it to a higher level. If there was a problem in the accounts, it could be found.
Previously, he could be confident that the accounts he handled had no problems, based on the principle that Listoan was the pillar industry of Sabin City. Local protectionism meant that even if there were some issues, they would be overlooked.
But once they lost this crucial protection, many things would change.
The simplest example was the collapse of EverBright Group. No one expected it to fall so suddenly. Their management was top-notch, including financial professionals, one of whom was even featured in early versions of professional textbooks.
But even they couldn't withstand a federal investigation. Could Listoan?
He didn't know. He only knew that he was very scared and couldn't even focus on driving.
It was past nine when Gap finally drove home. He walked upstairs wearily after opening the door, uninterested in anything.
Vera, sitting on the sofa watching TV, glanced back at Gap and asked, "Did someone beat you up?"
Gap had a noticeable bruise around his eye, and the second button on his collar, along with a small piece of fabric, was torn off. This disheveled appearance was a first.
Even though Vera didn't want to engage with him, she couldn't help but ask.
Gap snorted, shaking his head as he walked upstairs. Just before closing the bedroom door, he said defensively, "I didn't get beat up; I got into a fight."
His tone carried a hint of pride, a strange sense of self-respect. Vera quickly turned her attention back to the TV show. If he could still argue, it meant Gap's situation wasn't too bad.
Actually, he had a minor altercation while waiting at a traffic light. When the light turned green, he was lost in thought about work, and the car behind him started honking incessantly, interrupting his thoughts.
He angrily leaned out the window, swore a few times, and made a gesture known throughout the federation. The honking stopped immediately.
At any other time, Gap would never behave so rudely, but today he couldn't help it.
A shirtless, bearded man got out of the car behind him. Normally, Gap would have driven off quickly, but today he wasn't in the right mood. He turned off the engine and...
Maybe taking a real punch made him realize that there were many things he couldn't resist. He also understood that if things went wrong, Neo and the board members would be the first to suffer.
He was just a poor accountant with no power to choose.
After the fight, he felt somewhat relieved. He stopped thinking about certain things. While showering, he even hummed a tune.
After his shower, Gap went straight to the study in his pajamas. He opened the safe and hesitated while looking at the documents he should have disposed of.
Once the "work" began, keeping things here might be risky. He debated whether to dispose of them or store them elsewhere.
Besides these documents, there were other items in the safe that needed to be moved, some related to the company, some not.
After making a list, he went to the living room, sat on the sofa, and looked at his wife.
The management trusted him to alter the accounts because he had a stable family, a beautiful wife, and a lovely child. Such a person would do everything to protect his family, even at the cost of himself, to keep secrets.
"I need your help, Vera."
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