Chapter 4

The hallway erupted.

"The baby is Adrian's?"

"Isn't Adrian Maya's boyfriend?"

"So the girlfriend caught the mistress and caused a miscarriage?"

"They aren't married, but still. Taking it out on a pregnant woman is vicious."

The paramedics pushed Tessa toward the elevator.

She clung to the rail, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

"I never wanted to take anything from you.

"I was already planning to leave him.

"Why couldn't you leave my baby alone?"

I stared at her.

Impressive.

She had twisted three separate things together.

The request to stay.

The affair.

The miscarriage.

My refusal became jealousy.

Her illegal entry became my invitation.

And a fetus that had already died became a life I had supposedly taken.

Victor arrived with several coworkers.

His face was grim.

"Maya, what exactly happened here?"

I ignored him.

I looked at Mr. Bell.

"Who opened the door?"

He stumbled over his words.

"She had an authorization letter from you, plus your chat history. She said you'd agreed to let her move in tonight.

"She's pregnant, and she said her stomach was hurting, so we called a locksmith..."

I held out my hand.

"Give me the authorization."

He handed me a printed sheet.

My signature was on it.

The imitation was decent.

There was also a screenshot of a chat.

"Tessa, stay at my place tonight. I'll have property management give you the key."

The profile photo was mine.

The wording wasn't.

I never called coworkers "dear."

Someone also posted Tessa's bank transfer in the group.

Five thousand dollars.

The memo read "Sycamore Lane rent deposit."

I opened my own transaction history.

The money had indeed entered my account the night before.

I had returned it one minute later.

My refund memo read "No agreement to rent, lend, or transfer possession of the residence."

I posted the screenshot in the company group.

The chat went quiet for one second.

Then someone replied, "Maybe you changed your mind afterward."

"Exactly. Tessa was already inside. She couldn't have broken in on her own."

"The baby is gone. Can we focus on saving her instead of arguing over wording? This is terrifying."

Adrian ran up the stairs.

He looked more distressed than anyone.

"Maya, stop upsetting her."

I looked at him.

"She says the baby is yours."

He swallowed hard.

"That's irrelevant right now."

"Whether it's relevant isn't your decision."

He stepped closer and lowered his voice.

"Calm down. The company system says files were sent from your home network, and Tessa got hurt inside your apartment.

"What you should be doing right now is cooperating and stopping making this bigger."

I stared at the familiar face in front of me.

For the past year, I had believed he was gentle, reserved, and respectful of boundaries.

Now I understood those traits had only been tools.

The comments appeared.

[Don't argue.]

[Don't beg them to believe you.]

[Go through proper channels.]

I took out my phone and posted in the company group, "I'm calling the police. Preserve the apartment and the servers."

Then I dialed 911.

"I need to report a crime.

"Someone illegally entered my home and forged authorization documents. I believe I'm being framed.

"At the same time, a sealed commercial bid appears to have been targeted for corporate espionage.

"I need the scene secured and the digital forensics conducted."