### Part 2: The Prescription
The manager’s jaw hit the floor. Richard Ellis, the billionaire CEO, stepped into the harsh fluorescent light, his tailored suit a stark contrast to the dreary pharmacy aisles.
“M-Mr. Ellis,” the manager stammered, sweat instantly beading on his forehead. “I—I didn’t realize…”
“That’s the point of a blind audit, David,” Richard said, his voice dropping like an anvil. “My mother has visited fourteen of our locations this month. You are the only manager who watched a senior citizen beg for life-saving medication and tried to throw her out.”
Margaret adjusted her cream scarf, her frail, trembling demeanor vanishing into cold, corporate authority. “Clear your desk. You’re done.”
As the manager stumbled toward the back room, utterly shattered, Richard turned his attention to Noah. The young cashier stood quietly by the register.
“And you,” Richard smiled warmly, extending a hand. “You stepped up. You spent your own money to help a stranger. We need leaders with that kind of integrity. How does a promotion to District Manager sound?”
Noah didn’t shake the hand. Instead, he calmly reached down and picked up the two crisp $100 bills he had laid on the counter.
“I appreciate the offer, Richard,” Noah said, his tone shifting entirely. The nervous, eager-to-please kid was gone. He pressed a hidden button under the register, and the pharmacy’s front glass doors instantly locked with a heavy metallic *clack*.
Margaret frowned, taking a defensive step back. “What is the meaning of this?”
Noah pulled a heavy federal badge from beneath his olive-green collar, sliding it onto the counter right next to the white pill bottle.
**”This is a raid,”** Noah said, staring dead into Richard’s eyes. “That prescription your mother just handed me is a forged script for Class II narcotics. We’ve been tracking your little ‘distribution network’ for six months. You’re both under arrest.”
—
What kind of criminal empire do you think the mother-son duo was really running behind the scenes of their pharmacy chain?