Chapter 2

After work, I went straight to the apartment.

Behind the front door was a faint pencil mark.

Next to it, in crooked handwriting, were the words "Maya, age twenty. Even when you're grown, remember to come home."

My father had written it the last year he measured my height.

I stood there for a long time.

Then I got to work.

By the time Leah arrived with a certified evidence-preservation team, every light in the apartment was on.

Living room, bedroom, study, kitchen, balcony, and bathroom. Every corner was recorded continuously.

The lock cylinder, window latches, router, computer, bookcases, and the seals on the drawers were all captured in clear detail.

Leah glanced at me.

"Who exactly are you protecting yourself from?"

"A pregnant woman."

She stopped moving.

"That's not something you can say casually."

"I know.

"That's why I'm only preserving evidence."

With the witnesses present, I changed the administrator password on the smart lock and revoked every temporary access credential.

Adrian's visitor code was deleted completely.

The system showed "Access removed successfully."

I took a screenshot and uploaded it to cloud storage.

Then I factory-reset the old router and asked Owen Mason from Information Security to connect remotely.

After hearing what I wanted, Owen was silent for several seconds.

"You're sure you want every real copy of the bid package removed from your personal devices?"

"I'm sure."

"What are you leaving on the home computer?"

"A fake."

"How fake?"

"Real enough to look convincing.

"And traceable enough that every time someone opens it, I know."

Owen laughed.

At one in the morning, Adrian sent me a message.

"Still working?

"I ordered you some hot tea. It's at the front desk."

Right after that, Tessa posted in the project group.

"Today was my fault. I put Maya in a difficult position.

"Please don't blame her. I'll come in early tomorrow. Even if I have to live farther away, I won't let it affect the project."

The group immediately filled with sympathy.

"You're already working hard enough."

"Tessa, don't cry. Your health matters."

"Some people get promoted and forget how difficult life is for everyone else."

I didn't answer.

The comments appeared.

[Don't touch the document envelope at the front desk.]

[There's a USB drive inside. Plugging it into your computer will install remote-access malware.]

I looked at my phone.

The receptionist had just messaged me.

"Maya, someone dropped off food for you and a document envelope. They said it contains project materials."

I replied, "Don't open it. Leave it under the camera. Information Security will collect it tomorrow."

The next morning, Owen came to my office carrying the drive in an antistatic evidence bag.

"You were right.

"The USB contains malware disguised as a PDF reader plug-in.

"If it had been connected to your computer, the sender could have pulled files remotely."

I looked at the black drive.

"Can you trace where it came from?"

"No fingerprints on the packaging, but we may be able to trace the production batch.

"And the delivery person wore a mask, but reception caught a partial side profile."

Leah stood beside us, her expression grim.

"Maya, from now on, do not handle any of this privately."

I nodded.

"I need to file a formal disclosure with company compliance."

"About what?"

"My boyfriend, Adrian Cross, is the project lead for the company competing against us on this bid."

Leah swore.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

My voice dropped.

"Because I only realized today that he may not be just my boyfriend."