Tempting The Heiress

Kabanata 18

Kabanata 18

EMBEZZLEMENT.

Just hearing that word makes me weak. Napatingin ako sa papel na hawak ko pabalik kay Attorney Velgas na nakaupo sa harapan ko.

"You're aware of that, right?" he asked. Hindi ako sumagot pero tumango ako. I know that this is the case my Dad is facing but hearing and reading it personally makes me feel bad. Can my Dad really do this? I know he can't. Kahit naman matagal kaming hindi nagkasama ay alam ko sa sarili kong hindi niya ito magagawa.

Lalo na at ganito pa kalaki ang halaga.

"What can we do about this?" problemadong tanong ko bago pinagmasdan na naman ang papel. It was the documents I got from Iñigo's vault. The moment I saw this ay kaagad kong tinawagan si Attorney.

I need to start moving again from scratch.

"Here, look at this." Iniabot sa akin ni Attorney ang isang envelope na kaagad kong tinanggap matapos kong ayusin ang mga dokyumento na nakuha ko kay Iñigo. I opened and saw it was the same as Iñigo's files only that it contains a few papers that was focused more on my Dad's.

The date he was accused was here, the statement of the witnesses, the complainants. There's also a picture from the CCTV where he was caught and the documents where it was told that he transferred money through another bank account.

"Was he really caught doing this in the act?" tanong ko.

"No," umiling siya sa akin. "The CCTV only caught him when he went to the main office and brought the documents of the investments," aniya.

"Why would he steal the documents from his own office?" pagdidiin ko. Umiling naman si Attorney sa akin at bumuntonghininga.

"Your Dad has the largest percentage in the stocks but suddenly the Perez's got more stocks before this incident happen," imporma niya sa akin. Nangunot ang noo ko sa sinabi niya.

"How can that happen? You mean, my Dad isn't the company's CEO anymore?" napaayos ako ng upo at tiningnan siya ng matiim.

"Basically, yes," tumango siya. "But he was still not appointed since hindi pa nagme-meeting ang board," Attorney Velegas said. Napapikit ako at bumagsak ang tingin ko sa kamay ko. How can things quickly turned upside down?

"The fund for the SLX Housing Project was missing and your father was the only person within the company assigned to it. There was also evidences na nililipat patago ang pera sa proyekto sa isang sekretong bank account and based on the investigation, it was named after your father," paliwanag niya sa akin.

"Also, one of your father's personal assistant was found dead in his house. It was suicide but the prosecution was suspecting a foul play."

"And Dad was their suspect?"

Tumango siya.

"Walang ebidensya pa sa ngayon na direktang nagtuturo sa Dad mo but it's only a matter of time before they could find one–or if not, make one."

I groaned.

"Are there other options para hindi makulong si Dad? If ever it was proven he wasn't involved with his PA's death?"

"Yes," sagot niya. Umahon naman ang pag-asa ko sa sinabi niya. "Kapag napatunayan ang embezzlement, he could pay for the money with interests," paliwanag niya.

Akala ko ay matutuwa ako sa sinabi niya pero hindi.

"I believed my Dad won't do such crime."

"I think so, too," sabi niya sa akin. "I know Ethan for a long time, he may not actually seem to be a good father to you but he's a good person," pampalubag niya sa loob ko.