Chapter 4

Eight people were waiting for us in the meeting room at the Tech Innovation Center. The institution's board members, the competition organizers, and the legal team were all present.

The projection screen displayed everything: the time the message had been sent, the laptop's serial ID, and the account that had been logged into.

The professor leading the investigation, Tony Harlan, rapped his knuckles against the desk. "The leak contained not only the model being used for the competition, but also confidential information regarding three investment firms supporting this project.

"According to the email, the recipient was your competitor's tech consultant. The information has already been downloaded.

"Do you understand the gravity of the situation? This isn't something that can be resolved with a simple apology letter."

My mentor had called me as well. "Are you involved in this, Darren?"

"No."

"Then you'd do well to tell the truth. Our team will only hold your spot until tonight," Matt said.

After the call, I went to the bathroom to wash my face. As I approached the corner of the stairwell, I heard Logan's panicked voice.

"I didn't mean to do it! I was just trying to send information about my visa to my mentor abroad. The zip files had very similar names, so I... I might have accidentally uploaded the wrong one!

"I deleted the email as soon as I noticed, I swear, but they'd already downloaded the information!" he explained frantically.

Clara lowered her voice. "Do you know if any surveillance cameras captured what you did?"

"There isn't one in the room, but there's one outside in the corridor. It could only have caught me taking the computer inside..."

"Then we might have a way out of this crisis."

I pushed open the emergency exit door and came face-to-face with them.

Logan's face went pale. "Darren? L-Listen. I'll apologize and compensate you financially. B-But I can't get caught like this. I-If this goes on my record, I could lose my postgrad recommendation, my exchange program, and my start-up eligibility!"

"So?" I replied indifferently.

Clara jumped in. "So... please take the blame for now, You're only responsible for the visual identity and design.

"You couldn't have accessed our core data, so the institute would simply treat it as a technical mistake and punish you with a demerit.

"Logan has much more at stake. He's a core member. If he's accused of academic fraud, he'll lose everything."

She spoke so quickly that it seemed she had already figured everything out.

"What about what I could lose?" I asked.

"You can still reapply for a spot on the project next year," she replied matter-of-factly.

"This was something my parents fought for before they passed away. It was their last wish for me. There isn't going to be a next year," I argued.

She frowned. "Darren, this isn't the time to exaggerate the importance of your project. I'm doing the best I can to control the damage here."

That was when the realization hit me. To her, my life mattered only when it was useful for damage control.

In her eyes, it was fine for me to sacrifice my career, my love life, and my time. It was fine for me to lose twenty years of my life because she believed she could compensate me simply by staying at my side. To her, that was a fair trade.

"No. I'm not going to be your scapegoat," I said.

Her expression darkened. "Damn it, don't you see that you're going to ruin everyone's lives?"

"I wasn't the one who made this mistake," I shot back.

"I can appeal your demerit afterward anyway. It would take only three days to clear your record!" she argued. "Just take the blame for Logan this once! Why is that so hard for you?"

An employee opened the door and informed us that we were needed. We followed him toward the conference room. Before we entered, however, Clara stopped me.

"Just trust me, Darren. I'll do my best to protect you from the worst of it," she urged.

She had said that many times in our previous life too.

I ignored her and wheeled myself straight inside.

Tony flipped through several papers. "Clara Ellis, you're the person in charge of the entire operation, correct? You're also the only one who knows what really happened with the laptop. Who was using it when the leak occurred?"

Every eye in the room turned to her.

Logan sat beside her, gripping the edge of the table so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

Clara held my gaze for a long moment before finally looking away.

"Darren Bronx was using it," she declared.