Six o'clock in the morning.

After generating and saving the final analytical chart, Mary Potter rubbed her aching neck.

These ledgers were completely disorganized and bore several glaring signs of tampering. However, to a former top auditor from Ernst & Young like her, every single discrepancy stood out like a sore thumb.

Within the accounts of those subsidiary companies, there was a fixed monthly expense ranging from $50,000 to $200,000. Over the past two years alone, this hidden drain had accumulated to over $2 million.

Among the recipients of these payments, one specific name appeared repeatedly: Ecopark Culture.

The product description column uniformly stated "Artwork Procurement," yet there wasn't a single inventory list or delivery acceptance record to back it up.

Mary glanced over the registration details and froze in surprise.

The legal representative of Ecopark Culture was Peter Norwood.

And Peter Norwood happened to be Delilah Norwood's cousin.

"There's definitely something sketchy about this money. They funnel so much cash into art every month, but where on earth are the actual pieces?"

As she was pondering the situation, she heard a faint rustling sound near her feet.

Looking down, she saw Quentin Locke sitting quietly on the carpet right beside her chair. He was holding a tablet, his tiny face unusually serious.

"Quentin?" Mary asked softly.

Seeing that Mary had finally noticed his presence, the little guy held up the tablet and pointed to a specific folder on the screen.

Mary asked tentatively, "Do you want me to open this folder?"

Quentin nodded.

Mary tapped the screen to open it, revealing dozens of high-definition photographs.

As she scrolled through the images of crude imitations and cheap decorative paintings, a sudden flash of inspiration hit her.

Are these the actual 'artworks' recorded in the books?

She then noticed a clear 'Ecopark Culture' watermark stamped in the corner of each photo.

She abruptly looked up at Quentin.

This child was only five years old.

There was no way he could have taken these photos himself.

So the real question was, how did he manage to get his hands on them?

As if sensing her confusion, Quentin lowered his head and quickly tapped out a sentence on the tablet with his little finger.

"My program found them."

Mary’s pupils contracted slightly.

Was this little guy actually a tech prodigy?

No, none of that mattered right now.

The core question was, why was he going out of his way to help her?

She opened her mouth to ask, but when she met the little guy's silent, pleading eyes, she swallowed her questions back.

She reached out and gently ruffled his soft hair.

"Thank you, buddy. You are absolutely amazing."

The little guy lowered his head shyly and remained silent, but the subtle upturn of his lips completely gave away his happiness.

Nine o'clock in the morning.

Mary brought the fruits of her sleepless night to Caspian Locke’s office.

Caspian was currently hosting a multinational video conference, his fluent, deep British accent filling the room.

He cast a glance at her, gesturing with a hand for her to wait.

Mary stood to the side, her gaze involuntarily drifting over to him.

He wore a dark gray cashmere sweater with the top two buttons left undone, faintly revealing the sharp lines of his collarbone underneath.

When a man is completely immersed in his work, he possesses a captivating charm that makes it incredibly hard to look away.

Once the meeting concluded, Caspian closed his laptop.

"You found something?"

It wasn't an inquiry; it was a tone of absolute certainty.

Mary walked over and placed the tablet directly on the desk before him.

She tapped open the first summary chart detailing the abnormal expenditures. "I uncovered a financial loophole of more than $2 million in the records."

Then she pulled up the second chart mapping out the cash flow. "Every cent of that money traces back to Ecopark Culture."

When she opened the third timeline comparison graph, her tone grew notably serious.

“I suspect this isn't a simple case of embezzlement. Someone is systematically using the company to conduct illegal transfers of benefits.”

Finally, she brought up the gallery of photos.

"I highly recommend that you report this to the police immediately and launch an internal corporate audit."

After listening to Mary’s concise report, Caspian looked up, a distinct glimmer of appreciation surfacing in his eyes for the very first time.

He stared at her, genuinely taking stock of this woman.

She had stayed up the entire night. Even though there were faint, dark circles bruising the skin beneath her eyes, her gaze remained remarkably sharp, radiating a vibrant energy.

“You’re exceptionally capable. To pinpoint the core issue in just one night... You've probably realized by now that the rot isn't in the family's personal ledgers, but in the corporation's books.”

Hearing this, Mary's heart skipped a beat.

"You deliberately handed me the company accounts to check. Did you already know there were discrepancies?"

Caspian let out a faint smile but opted for silence.

He had known all along that the corporate accounts were compromised, but he had purposely played dumb to avoid raising alarms.

He couldn't trust the internal corporate accountants and was already planning to hire an independent third party to audit them from the outside when Mary showed up for the interview.

The moment he learned she used to be a senior auditor at Ernst & Young, he used the nanny interview as a perfect cover to test her with the books.

Mary took a deep breath, piecing it together.

"So, do you already know exactly who tampered with those ledgers?"

Instead of giving her a straight answer, Caspian countered with a proposal. "I need someone highly competent with an absolutely spotless background to help me thoroughly audit the corporate books. Are you interested?"

Mary remained quiet, neither agreeing nor declining right away.

The fact that she didn't instantly refuse meant the current offer simply wasn't enticing enough.

Caspian smoothly raised the stakes. "The monthly salary during your probation period will be $50,000. Once you transition to a full-time position, it will be $100,000, plus performance bonuses."

Mary was undeniably, completely tempted.

"Am I supposed to be a live-in nanny or your private accountant?"

"Both."

Ugh, ruthless capitalists.

Mary extended her hand across the desk. "Deal."

Caspian firmly grasped her hand. "It's a pleasure working with you."

That evening.

Mary was giving her daughter a warm bath.

"Mommy."

The little girl was splashing around in the water with her plush duck, her cheeks flushed a bright pink from the rising steam. Suddenly, she looked up at Mary.

"Are we really moving into the big house to live with big brother?"

"Yes, we are. Don't you want to go?"

The little girl nodded eagerly. "I do. I really want to play with Big Brother. He's so incredibly fast at math, way faster than me. He even promised he'd teach me how to do programming in the future."

Mary froze for a couple of seconds.

Was Quentin going to teach her daughter programming? A five-year-old child teaching another five-year-old?

"Mommy, do you think big brother and I look alike?"

Mary asked casually, keeping her tone light, "Why do you ask that, sweetie?"

"Uncle John and the others at the house said that big brother and I look just like real siblings. I really wish he were my real big brother."

You actually do have an older brother...

The words rushed to the tip of her tongue, but Mary quickly forced them back down.

Mary cupped Sasha's small, wet face in her hands, examining her features with intense scrutiny.

Sasha had bright, crescent-shaped eyes and two beautiful dimples whenever she smiled. Quentin rarely smiled, but on the rare occasion that he did...

The exact curve of his lips was identical to Sasha's.

If that other child were still alive today...

"Mommy," the little girl poked her hand, breaking her train of thought, "why did you stop talking?"