Page 90 of Endgame

With that, she ends the broadcast.

‘I feel sick…’ Aari whispers, then looks at me and stops. ‘Are you okay? You’ve gone as white as a sheet.’

There’s only one word for it.

‘Fuck.’

The nerves we had about the first storytime were minuscule compared to the ones we are all feeling next day. A large part of me walks into Ivory Bow ready to be arrested.

We all glare at the screen when Melissa appears in a new bathrobe, holding a cocktail and today’s paper.

‘I made it. Finally,’ she says. ‘About time. Right. Money-laundering.’

She sits there detailing the elaborate operation, name-dropping bankers, countries and huge global conglomerates like she was reading a class attendance roster.

Aari and I hold hands under the table, waiting for Ivory Bow and the United Kingdom to be included, but it isn’t.

The only organisation that is untainted in the group of companies that Melissa was involved in is the hospital group.

‘If your name or company has been mentioned, I suggest you start running now. The authorities in all seventeen countries I have mentioned have received all the evidence. I hear Mongolia is nice this time of year.’ She laughs so hard at the camera, she has to wipe a tear away.

‘Finally, just before I came on my little sojourn, I cleared out all our legitimate accounts. The ones with all the juicy suspicious activities are still active. Kevin would have found this out almost immediately after I disappeared, so if he’s running around fake crying and pretending to be worried that I’m dead, don’t believe him.’

She shakes her empty glass at someone off camera and puts it down.

‘No more cocktails for me today, apparently.’ She frowns.

‘Tomorrow, the final instalment. Sex and lack thereof, lots of lies and the battle of the videotapes. Expect divorces.’

The broadcast ends.

The relief in the meeting room is palpable. Ivory Bow wasn’t one of the businesses mentioned.

‘Aari, can we get popcorn and ice cream tomorrow for the last storytime, to celebrate the fact that we’re off the hook?’ Sian asks as Jess and Akiko nod along.

‘What do you mean by off the hook?’ Samir immediately bites.

‘Melissa, as you know, was our chairwoman. Thankfully, no criminality infiltrated Ivory Bow since we set up here in Singapore,’ Ariella explains, choosing her words carefully.

‘What about?—’

‘Samir. Lay off her, mate. This is beginning to look like bullying and it’s making us all a bit uncomfortable. You’ve been on her for weeks. Give it a rest, mate,’ Bryce says, annoyed.

‘Ariella, my office, please,’ Samir says, standing to button his jacket.

‘Yes please to popcorn and ice cream, Sian. Let’s toss in a cake to welcome Caleb back.’ Aari stands, pats Bryce on the shoulder and follows Samir out of the meeting room.

TWENTY-ONE

ARIELLA

‘I want to know what happened to your CFO,’ Samir demands, sitting down in his chair.

I stand where I am.

‘He refused to put in systems that ensured our due diligence requirements were met. There were gaps in the clients’ contract that needed to be closed and demands for more transparency.’

‘As my COO, why didn’t?—’

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