I've had time to think about how to articulate it. She turned back to her computer, clicked through more files. This footage from the parking garage. When was this taken? Multiple dates from July through October.
The timestamps are in the file names. And these hotel receipts, they show charges to Marcus Chen's personal credit card, but some of them are from afternoons when both employees were supposedly at client meetings. Yes. Did you verify with the clients whether those meetings actually happened? No.
That felt like overstepping, but I'm sure your records show whether they build those hours as client work. She made a note on her legal pad. They did. We've already pulled their time sheets. Something in her tone told me Rachel and Marcus were in deeper trouble than they knew.
Billing personal time as client work wasn't just an ethics violation. It was fraud. Is there anything else you can tell me that might be relevant to our investigation? I thought about the birth control deception, about the fertility treatments, about all the personal betrayals that had nothing to do with Cascade Text policies. No, everything else is private between Rachel and me.
I appreciate your discretion. She ejected the flash drive, slid it back across the desk. Keep this. We've copied everything we need. And Mr.
Rothstein, for what it's worth, I'm sorry you're going through this. Workplace affairs create victims beyond just the spouses involved. They damage team dynamics, create liability for the company, and force colleagues into uncomfortable positions. I appreciate that. We'll be conducting our investigation over the next two weeks.
I can't tell you what the outcome will be, but I can tell you we take these matters seriously. If employees violate our ethics policy, especially if they commit time sheet fraud, there are consequences. I stood to leave, shook her hand. Thank you for your time, Mr. Rossstein.
She walked me to the door. I've been doing this job for 15 years. I've seen a lot of workplace affairs. Most of the betrayed spouses who come in here are angry, vengeful, looking to cause maximum damage. You're not like that.
I'm angry, I said. Honestly, I'm very angry, but I'm trying to channel it into something constructive instead of destructive. Well, you're doing a remarkable job. I hope you find peace with all of this. I rode the elevator down 14 floors, walked through the lobby past employees who might have known about Rachel and Marcus, who might have covered for them, who might have watched my marriage dissolve in real time while pretending ignorance.
Outside, the November air felt sharp and clean. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment, letting it clear my head, trying to process what I just done. I'd potentially cost Rachel her job, her career, the financial independence she'd fought so hard for. I waited to feel guilty, waited for remorse to hit me, for second thoughts to creep in. But all I felt was tired, and maybe underneath that, the smallest flicker of satisfaction.