Nothing But Hate

Chapter Eight

"Congratulations on the win, Conway, this was big." Joe said, patting Tucker's back with a proud expression on his face. Tucker thanked him, Joe had been his mentor ever since he started working, and he was very grateful for the old man.

After finding out that someone was skimming money from the charity events that Kaufman Enterprises organized, Tucker went digging even further.

He found out that Charles Owens, the CFO, and Norman Gallagher, the Vice President of the Marketing Department were the ones that were heavily involved in all the planning, and also the ones that fired the in house team to hire an external agency.

The external agency actually reduced their costs, and the two made fake invoices and forged documents to increase the budget, and then split the money. It seemed small, almost negligible from the point of view of a multi-billion dollar empire, but they had pocketed several millions in doing so.

Turns out, they had been skimming even before the external agency change, but one member of their in house planning committee found out that they were embezzeling money. They threatened her to keep her quiet, went as far as sending hired goons to scare her, before firing the entire team. And then they paid her, to make her seem like an accomplice. She couldn't turn them in even if she wanted to.

Tucker sought her out, offered her immunity in exchange for her testimony. All this, plus the fact that the two men were at the verge of bankruptcy over a decade ago because of their bad gambling habits, made Tucker's case very strong.

Without the lawyers and backing of Kaufman Enterprises, the two men had no choice but to plead guilty in the hopes of a lesser penalty. They got a hefty fine, and the Judge sentenced them both to nine years in prison.

Tucker walked into his office, Aurora gave him a concerned look but didn't say anything. Tucker closed the door behind him, and was taken aback when he saw Paige sitting on his chair, playing with a paperweight.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready or making some prepartions or whatever?" Tucker asked.

"So," Paige began, ignoring what Tuck said, "You got my boss fired, huh?"

"Paige.. I'm tired of having this fight with you over and over again," Tucker sighed, "I know what you have to say. I know it very well, so please don't."

"No.. not that.. I don't care about Gallagher, he was an ass, anyway," Paige paused, "I can't believe those geezy old white men were stealing money that were supposed to help kids with cancer, and the homeless and what not. Actually.. I think I can believe it. They got what was coming for them."

"Then why—"

"I wanted to apologise. I've been giving you too much shit over this. I should've believed and supported you when you said you knew something was shady," Paige got up, walking towards her brother, "I'm glad it was you who prosecuted them. I hope they got what they deserved."

"9 years and double of what they stole in fines," Tucker smirked, "And it's okay. You were worried about your job, and rightfully so."

"Yeah I mean," Paige shrugged, keeping her hand on her stomach, "It'll be hard to take care of a little one if I'm unemployed."

"What," Tucker's eyes were wide open, before he broke out in a grin, "You're pregnant?!"

"Found out just this morning." Paige returned the happy look.

"Does Dan know?" Tucker asked, and Paige shook his head.

"I'll tell him after the family dinner tonight. So, not a word to him, okay?" Paige said, and Tucker nodded.