The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 105

Chapter 105

And the words appear in bright red.

ACCOUNT TEMPORARILY FROZEN

–

PENDING INVESTIGATION

My breath catches.

“No.”

I tap the screen again.

Same message.

“They froze my accounts,” I whisper.

Camille’s head snaps up. “What?”

“They froze my accounts.”

My pulse starts hammering as I scroll down through the transaction history.

And that’s when I see it.

A deposit.

My eyes narrow.

“What the hell…”

Right there in the ledger.

$8,700 – WIRE TRANSFER

Source: ASHCROFT HOLDINGS

My stomach twists violently.

The exact amount.

The exact amount I paid Sunnyfields Funeral Home.

For my mother.

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11:28 Sat, May 9

Chapter 105

For my brother.

Camille steps closer. “What?”

I turn the phone toward her.

Her eyes widen instantly.

“Oh… shit.”

“That’s the exact amount I paid for the funeral,” I say, my voice shaking now with anger instead of panic.

“They’re going to say he paid you,” Camille mutters.

“I know that.”

My chair scrapes loudly across the floor as I stand.

“They froze my accounts,” I say, fury rising in my chest. “And now it looks like Rowan wired me money.”

Camille’s eyes widen further.

“They’re setting you up.”

I’m already moving.

Walking straight toward Rowan’s office.

The door to Rowan’s office flies open so hard it slams into the wall.

Theo stops mid-sentence.

“…the press are already calling the city council office and if Hargrove-”

He cuts off immediately.

Rowan is standing behind his desk, jacket off, sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, the sharp lines of frustration still written across his face from whatever Theo had just been briefing him on.

But the moment he sees my expression, something in his gaze shifts.

“What happened?” he asks.

I don’t answer.

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May 9

Chapter 105

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I cross the room in four fast steps and shove my phone toward his face.

“I want an explanation,” I snap. “Right now.”

Theo’s brows shoot up.

Rowan takes the phone automatically, glancing down at the screen.

The banking app.

The transaction history.

The frozen account notice.

And the wire transfer.

His expression doesn’t change.

Not even a flicker.

Which only makes my anger spike hotter.

“Why,” I say through clenched teeth, “did you pay me eight thousand seven hundred dollars?”

Theo slowly leans back against the edge of Rowan’s desk.

“Oh boy.”

Rowan lowers the phone slightly, looking at me again.

“That was reimbursement,” he says calmly.

My jaw drops.

“Reimbursement?”

“Yes.”

“For what?” I demand.

“For the funeral.”

The words land flat in the room.

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Chapter 105

Cold.

Matter-of-fact.

My chest tightens.

“I didn’t ask you to reimburse me,” I snap.

“You shouldn’t have had to pay it in the first place.”

“That was not your decision to make!”

Theo lifts a hand like he’s watching a tennis match. “Okay, before this escalates-”

“It already escalated!” I shoot back, pointing at the phone. “My accounts are frozen!”

That gets Rowan’s full attention. “Frozen?” he repeats.

“Yes.”

I snatch the phone back and shove the screen toward him again.

“Pending investigation,” I read bitterly. “Which now conveniently includes a wire transfer from my boss for the exact amount I paid the funeral home.”

Theo winces. “Oh that is bad optics.”

1 glare at Rowan. “They’re going to say you bought my testimony.”

His jaw tightens slightly.

“They’re going to say I was paid to go against Calder.”

His eyes darken.

“They’re going to say I ran to your house because you were already controlling me,” I continue, my voice rising with every word. “Do you understand how that looks?”

Rowan steps around the desk slowly.

Measured.

Dangerously calm.

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May

Chapter 105

“I understand exactly how it looks,” he says.

“Then why would you do it?”

“Because you paid for your family’s burial out of pocket while you were under active harassment from a police officer.”

“That still doesn’t make it your call!”

“You work for me.”

“I am not your charity case!”

The room goes very quiet.

Theo looks between us carefully.

Rowan’s voice lowers when he speaks again. “You’re not.”

“Then stop treating me like one!”

“You’re my responsibility.”

The words come out sharp.

Possessive.

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The CEO Above My Desk