Ideally I’d just be able to pay you.

This is the part that pisses me off. It should be same crime same time.

I have two go with option B.

I’m sorry I took the money.

This is the problem with people that think in terms of being “management”. Management will always have an adversarial relationship with everyone else in an organization simply because they think they have to. The longer they stay in those positions the worse it gets.