The bank office was quiet, save for the soft tapping of keyboards and the occasional ring of a phone. I sat across from the loan officer, a man in his late thirties with a crisp shirt and a nameplate that read “James Crawford”. He placed a sealed envelope on the desk, its contents unknown to me, yet it felt heavy with implication. “Your account number has been flagged,” James said, his voice steady, as if he had rehearsed this line many times before. The date on the envelope was today’s, October 12, 2023, and it was marked ‘urgent.’ I nodded, trying to maintain composure, while my mind raced with possibilities. Why was my account being flagged? Had there been a mistake? I glanced around the room, noting the absence of eye contact from the other staff, their polite smiles almost too practiced. “We need to discuss some discrepancies,” he added. I took a deep breath, readying myself for what might come next, knowing this was just the beginning of unraveling a much larger issue.
