The CFO Blocked My Expenses Too Bad My Dad Owns The Company!

I just got back from a business trip and went to see Vivian, our CFO, to get my travel expenses reimbursed. The moment I handed over the receipts, she didn't even look at them. She just pushed them aside. Leave them there. I don't have time to review them this week.

But Kevin submitted his yesterday and already got paid today, I pointed out.

Vivian didn't even look up. "Kevin's paperwork was perfect. Yours needs a thorough check. What, can't wait? You sales people make so much money anyway. Just pay out of pocket for now."

With that, she closed her hand cream and called over the new guy, Kevin. "Come on, Kevin. A new dessert place just opened downstairs. My treat."

After Vivian left, my coworker Mike casually sent a text message.

Instantly, our biggest client replied that they would delay the final payment for another six months.

Lisa simply made a quick phone call.

And a client we've partnered with for five years immediately put their contract renewal on hold.

As for me? I texted my dad.

"We can fire the CFO of our company now."

To be honest, standing at the door of the finance department, looking at our expense reports rejected for the third time, the three of us were completely stunned.

Before the trip, Vivian had practically sworn she would process them the second we got back.

Yet Kevin's was approved instantly.

Meanwhile, the three of usthe actual sales reps who had spent a grueling week on the road bringing in businesskept getting rejected.

Can someone translate what "as soon as possible" means in her dictionary?

Seeing the irritation on our faces, Vivian clapped her hands. "You three are the backbone of our sales team. Making you visit the finance department a few more times is just to help you get familiar with company procedures. That way, you won't make mistakes in the future!"

Mike was the first to lose his patience. He frowned.

"Vivian, we just got back. If there's something wrong with our reports, can you at least tell us what it is?"

"Besides, why did Kevin get fully reimbursed for a five-star hotel, while our budget motel rooms were flagged as 'over budget'?"

Right then, Kevin let out a soft chuckle. "Mike, aren't you just playing dumb?"

"Vivian always goes by the book. Your sales team submits way too many receipts. Of course she has to audit them carefully."

"You guys turn in more expense reports every month than the rest of the company combined. The company has to watch its budget, right?"

The moment Kevin said that, the three of us understood.

Vivian and Kevin simply thought we were spending too much.

But every single expense was strictly within the company's policy.

We were on business trips, meeting clients. Every penny had a receipt. Everything was totally legit.

Besides, yeah, our expenses were high, but the revenue we brought in was ten times higher!

But when I pointed this out, Kevin just smiled condescendingly.

"Sarah, that's not fair."

"Vivian is doing this for the company's best interest. How can you say she's targeting you?"

Realizing it was useless to argue with Kevin, Lisa turned directly to Vivian.

"Vivian, you need to give us an explanation. The three of us bust our asses bringing in clients. Is this really how the company treats us?"

Lisa's voice cracked slightly with frustration.

After all, she was a veteran employee who had been here since the company's second year.

Before Vivian could even reply, Joey from accounting poked his head out. "Lisa, your sales department's monthly expenses are literally worth six months of our salaries. What's wrong with waiting a couple of days?"

Liam, another accountant, chimed in. "Exactly. Vivian works overtime every day to review your files, and you're still complaining?"

Someone muttered from the corner, "Well, they're top sales reps. Of course they look down on us lowly accountants."

Hearing them blindly kiss up to Vivian made my blood boil.

I raised my voice. "Let's keep things separate. Your expenses get approved instantly, don't they?"

"Vivian, we travel for company business. Are you saying we should pay for work trips out of our own pockets?"

Right during this tense standoff, Mike pulled out his phone and flashed a screenshot.

"Vivian, you say we exceeded the budget. Then how do you explain this?"

On the screen was Kevin's Instagram story from last weekend.

It showed a luxury oceanfront room at a five-star hotel with the caption, "Giving myself a weekend getaway," geo-tagged in Miami.

"$588 a night, approved instantly. We stayed at a 0-049 budget motel, and our requests were rejected three times. Is this your definition of 'by the book'?"

Kevin's face turned pale. He lunged to grab the phone. "Why are you stalking my Instagram?!"

"If you're brave enough to post it, don't cry when people see it!" Mike sneered.

Vivian's expression darkened. She snatched the phone, glanced at it, froze for a second, and then slapped it face down on the desk. "Kevin was meeting an important client. The policy is different for that."

But her voice was noticeably quieter, and she avoided our eyes.

"What important client? His caption literally says 'weekend getaway'!" Lisa added, twisting the knife.

The surrounding colleagues began to whisper. Kevin's face turned beet red. He pointed at Lisa. "Y-You're targeting me!"

Vivian slammed her hand on the desk. "Enough! If you three have a problem with company policy, you can pack your bags and leave! Stop making a scene here!"

She took a deep breath, softening her tone slightly. "Alright, stop wasting my time."

Vivian waved her hand dismissively. "Kevin, grab last quarter's reports. We're having a meeting downstairs. As for you three, leave the files here. I'll look at them when I have time."

She walked to the door, then turned back to add, "Oh, and book economy class for your next trip. The company is cutting costs."

With that, she left with the other accountants.

Leaving the three of us stranded right outside her office door!

But the very second Vivian walked away, all three of us pulled out our phones.

The three of us looked at our phones, typed something quickly, and locked our screens at the same time.

Mike spoke first, "If she wants to play dirty, I'll play dirty too!"

"That $3 million outstanding payment from my client? I'm telling them they can delay it for another six months!"

Lisa shrugged right after him.

"Don't worry. My biggest client, who has been with me for three years, won't be renewing their contract next year."

I put my phone away and lowered my voice. "Mike, Lisa, don't rush. Listen to me, I have a plan."

They both looked at me, confused.

"I know you're furious," I continued. "But I have a better way. Give me three days, and I'll make Vivian ruin herself. But for now, we need to play cool. Don't confront her. Tell your clients to hold off, but don't actually break the contracts yet."

Mike frowned. "What plan? You can't even get your expenses approved."

I smiled. "It's not the reimbursement I can't handle. It's the web of corruption Vivian built. Trust me. In less than a week, both Vivian and Kevin will be fired. But I need you to play along. Ask your clients to drop hints that they're 'unsatisfied' and 'reconsider our partnership.' Once this is over, I promise you won't lose a single client."

Lisa stared at me for a few seconds. "Sarah, are you hiding something from us?"

I nodded. "Yes. But I can't tell you yet. You'll find out when the time is right."

Mike and Lisa exchanged a glance and finally agreed.

Honestly, out of the three sales reps, I was the youngest and had the least seniority. But I had a secret they didn't know.

My family owned this company.

I wasn't here just to pass the time. My dad wanted me to start from the bottom to understand the real issues in the company.

Over the past few months, I had discovered problems that went far beyond Vivian.

Now that Vivian had decided to cross all three of us, it was the perfect opportunity. The evidence I had gathered in secret over the last few months went way beyond simple travel expenses.

I had amassed plenty of evidence of Vivian and Kevin taking kickbacks and falsifying accounts. It was time to clean house.

We went back to our desks and kept working. A little later, I went to the breakroom to get some water. As I passed the stairwell, I heard Kevin's voice from inside. "Vivian, do you think they'll actually complain to HQ?"

I froze and leaned against the wall.

"Complain? Let them try," Vivian scoffed. "I'd love to see if the Chairman believes three lowly sales reps or his CFO."

"True," Kevin chuckled. "But sucks to be them. Working so hard just to have their paychecks held hostage by you."

"They brought it on themselves. If they had just kept their heads down, this wouldn't have happened. But they had to challenge me."

I went back to my desk and told Mike and Lisa what I had heard.

Lisa clenched her fists. "I swear, I want to quit right now."

"Don't," I said, putting a hand on hers. "Quitting now is exactly what they want."

Mike gritted his teeth. "Fine. Let them enjoy their little power trip for a few more days."

The next morning, as soon as we got to the office, a company-wide email was waiting in our inboxes.

From: Finance Department.

Subject: Policy Update: Optimization of Sales Expense Management.

I clicked on it. It was a new expense policy.

"1. Travel allowance for sales personnel is reduced by 30%. Any excess must be paid out of pocket!"

"2. All expense reports must be submitted three days prior to travel, or they will not be approved!"

"3. The reimbursement cycle is extended from 15 business days to 60 business days!"

...

The three of us literally laughed out loud.

As sales reps, last-minute trips to meet clients were completely normal.

If we had to pre-approve everything three days in advance, we'd lose half our deals before we even got on the plane.

And Vivian was obviously doing this just to choke our sales team because she thought we spent too much.

But these were actual business expenses we paid to bring in revenue. Why should we pay for them?

Mike was the first to speak up.

But Vivian appeared out of nowhere, offering a smug reply. "Mike, rules are rules."

"We might not be a massive conglomerate, but we still have to manage our budget."

"Besides, if the company didn't give you this platform, you wouldn't even have these clients. You wouldn't close any deals. Instead of being grateful, you complain about company policies. What a bunch of ungrateful freeloaders!"

"What did you just say?" I stepped forward to confront Vivian, but Lisa grabbed my arm tightly.

"Sarah, don't. If this gets out of hand, we're the ones who will suffer!"

I took a deep breath. Lisa was right.

We were outnumbered, and on paper, she held all the cards.

But Vivian was thoroughly annoyed by us now.

She didn't expect us to stand our ground instead of falling in line like everyone else.

She hated that we challenged her immediately.

To show her petty power, Vivian decided to take the rest of the office out for lunch, leaving only the three of us behind.

"Once you three learn how to be obedient employees, you can come talk to me!"

With that, she strutted off with Kevin.

Mike stared at their backs for a long time. "I can't do this anymore. I'm resigning."

Lisa sighed. "Another company has been trying to headhunt me for months. Maybe I'll just take their offer."

Seeing my two top-performing coworkers on the verge of quitting, I lowered my voice.

"Mike, Lisa, don't leave just yet. I have connections at the top. This isn't over. Trust me, just hang in there for a few more days."

In reality, our group was much larger than it seemed. The parent company had been publicly traded for years.

I had only come to this subsidiary because my dad wanted me to gain experience from the ground up.

After I graduated, my dad wanted to put me straight into management.

But I wanted to prove myself and avoid being micromanaged by my family, so I insisted on starting as a regular sales rep.

Now, though, I realized that since I was going to inherit the empire anyway, knowing the business inside out was actually a huge advantage.

During lunch break, I hid in the restroom and called my dad.

"Dad, Vivian is making her move. She just rolled out a new policy targeting the sales team."

The line went quiet for a moment. "Are you sure you want to shut her down now?"

"Yes," I said. "She's crossed the line too many times. It's time."

My dad hummed in agreement. "Alright. Keep playing cool on your end, and I'll handle things here. By the way, about Thomas in procurementthe guy you mentioned last time. I had someone look into his books for the past three years. There's definitely fraud there. We'll clean them all out together."

Going through this together brought the three of us closer.

Even though the expense issue wasn't solved, we were in much better spirits.

But because we didn't go crawling back to her, rumors started spreading over the next two days.

Gossip began circulating around the office.

Someone mentioned that Vivian had been complaining behind our backs: "Some people think they're royalty just because they closed a few deals."

Others whispered that Vivian had said, "An obedient employee is a good employee. If you don't play ball, talent means nothing."

Hearing this only made me want to laugh.

Without the three of us, where would the company get its revenue? How would they even get their bonuses?

But their petty remarks couldn't touch us.

That night, I opened my laptop and went over the files I had compiled: records of Vivian and Kevin's kickbacks, fake receipts, and evidence of Thomas in procurement colluding with them.

It was all there.

My dad was right. A company's biggest threat isn't the competition. It's the parasites on the inside.

Since Vivian was acting up, it was the perfect time to flush them all out.

On Friday afternoon, while I was preparing my itinerary for next week's business trip, a notification popped up on my screen.

My travel advance request was rejected.

The reason: Insufficient budget.

I froze and looked over at Lisa in the opposite cubicle.

She was staring at her screen with a dark expression. "Yours got rejected too?"

I nodded.

Mike poked his head over the partition. "Mine too."

Just then, Vivian walked out of the conference room with a group of colleagues.

Lisa immediately called out, "Vivian, did you reject our travel advances for next week?"

Vivian offered a sweet, fake smile. "What if I did? Since you three are so resourceful, why don't you just cover the costs yourselves? The company is facing budget constraints. Every penny counts."

I raised my voice. "Vivian, this is incredibly unprofessional!"

"Even if you had to reject it, you should have warned us!"

"Our flight is tomorrow. What are we supposed to do?"

"What you do is none of my business," Vivian sneered.

"If you miss your client meetings next week, it'll count as unexcused absences!"

"Then again, I'm reasonable. If you sign the new expense policy, I might make an exception and approve your advance."

"That new policy is a joke!" Lisa gritted her teeth.

"No company in New York would ever treat their sales team like this!"

"Vivian, I've been with this company for years. Is this how you treat your veterans?"

"Stop playing the veteran card!" Kevin snapped, stepping forward.

"Who cares how long you've been here? You think you're more important than Vivian and me?"

"We run the finances here. What we say goes!"

"You're just sales reps. There are thousands of people like you on the street. Don't act like you're irreplaceable!"

Kevin's words were incredibly nasty. Lisa's face turned white with rage.

Mike looked ready to punch him.

I held them both back and took a deep breath. "Vivian, do you really want to take it this far?"

Vivian glared at us.

"What? You're just nine-to-five wage slaves. You honestly think you're in a position to challenge me?"

"Let me tell you something: the company gave you your jobs!"

"Cross me, and I'll make sure you never see a single dime of reimbursement again!"

I didn't say a word. I just slipped my hand into my pocket and texted my dad: "Dad, it's time for your entrance."

I put my phone back and waited.

Less than ten minutes later, the office doors swung open.

A middle-aged man stepped inside.

The Chairman of the company, Mr. Harrison.

When the doors opened, Vivian was sitting with her legs crossed, sipping tea.

When she saw him, she nearly dropped her cup. "C-Chairman? What are you doing here?"

Mr. Harrison ignored her completely. His eyes swept across the room and landed on me.

He walked over, his tone as casual as if we were discussing the weather. "Sarah, I heard the sales department has been quite lively lately?"

The office fell dead silent.

Vivian's face drained of color. Kevin's cup slipped, nearly hitting the floor.

"C-Chairman... I didn't know Sarah was..."

"There's a lot you don't know," Mr. Harrison said coldly. "Bring me the expense records from the past three months. I want to see them."

Vivian panicked.

She rushed over to Mr. Harrison, lowering her voice. "Chairman, can we talk in private?"

"Say whatever you have to say right here," Mr. Harrison said, completely unmoved.

Vivian bit her lip, glanced at me, and then seemed to gather her courage. "Chairman, I admit I've been a bit strict with Sarah's expenses, but there's a reason."

"Oh? What reason?"

"Because... because I received an anonymous tip that the sales team was falsifying travel expenses. As the head of finance, I have to treat everyone equally. That's why I increased the audit level for all sales reps." She spoke with absolute righteousness. "I did it entirely for the company's sake."

Kevin nodded eagerly beside her. "Yes, exactly! Vivian did it for the company."

I almost laughed out loud. What a convenient excuse.

Mr. Harrison looked at her. "An anonymous tip? Where's the evidence?"

"Well... the tipster didn't leave any physical proof, but as the head of finance, I couldn't just ignore it."

"So, without any evidence, you targeted my daughter and two other top employees?" Mr. Harrison's voice turned ice-cold. "Vivian, I'll give you one last chance. Why exactly did you target them?"

Vivian's lips trembled. She couldn't utter a word.

Just then, Zach from the finance department came running over with a stack of files. "Chairman, I've pulled the expense records from the past three months."

Mr. Harrison took the files, flipped through them, and his face grew darker with every page.

The results were black and white. Kevin's expenses were approved instantly, despite exceeding the budget three times. Meanwhile, our expenses were repeatedly rejected for the most ridiculous reasons.

Mr. Harrison closed the folder and nodded. He didn't even bother taking Vivian to his office. Instead, he turned to me. "Sarah, do you have something else to show me?"

Everyone gasped.

I pulled a thick envelope from my bag and handed it over. "Dad, these are the files I've gathered over the past few months. It contains evidence of Vivian and Kevin taking kickbacks, falsifying receipts, and details of their revenue-sharing deal with Thomas from procurement."

Vivian's face turned completely white. "Y-You... since when?"

I looked her dead in the eye. "Since the very first day you rejected my expense report. Did you really think I was just some random sales girl? Sorry to burst your bubble, but my dad owns this company. I only came here to weed out parasites like you."

The pen in Mike's hand clattered to the floor.

His mouth flew open. He tried to speak, but it took him a full ten seconds to choke out, "So... your dad is the Chairman?"

I nodded.

He took a deep breath and looked at Lisa. Lisa had a complicated expression on her face, but she quickly smirked. "Damn, girl. You really had us fooled."

Mike scratched his head. "Wait, so all those times I complained about the company to you..."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, I didn't tell him."

Mr. Harrison took the envelope, didn't open it, and just nodded. "Well done. Vivian, come to my office."

Looking like a ghost, Vivian slowly followed Mr. Harrison.