“Mom,” the CEO said, stepping into the glaring fluorescent light, flanked by two men in sharp suits.
The manager, Kevin, shrank back as if he’d been physically struck. “Mr. Ellis! I—I was just enforcing company policy! We can’t have vagrants—”
“Vagrants?” Margaret’s frail, trembling persona vanished entirely. She stood up straight, her posture commanding, her voice cracking like a whip. “I own sixty percent of this company, Kevin. And company policy certainly doesn’t include skimming thousands from the pharmacy register.”
Kevin turned the color of spoiled milk. He backed up, bumping into a vitamin display and knocking bottles clattering to the white tile.
Margaret pulled a tiny, blinking recording device from her brown leather purse and dropped it onto the counter. “I’ve been auditing every branch undercover. You’re the only manager who deliberately tried to double-charge a desperate old woman, hoping to pocket the excess cash to cover your inventory shortages.”
She turned to Noah. The young cashier was still holding his debit card, completely paralyzed.
“I told you I found the young man, Arthur,” Margaret said, her eyes gleaming with sharp approval. She pointed at Noah. “He didn’t just sacrifice his own money to help a stranger. When he swiped his personal card, his employee ID triggered the security override on Kevin’s rigged terminal. He unknowingly locked Kevin out of deleting the fraudulent transactions.”
Arthur gestured to the men in suits, who immediately flanked the terrified manager. “The police are waiting outside, Kevin. Walk.”
As they escorted the stammering manager away, Margaret leaned over the counter and patted Noah’s frozen hand.
“Pack up your locker, sweetheart,” she said calmly.
Noah’s stomach dropped. “I’m… fired?”
Margaret smiled, a brilliant, razor-sharp grin. “No, darling. You’re the new manager. Now throw Kevin his coat. He’s going to need it.”