LOGINOlivia pov;“It’s Luca,” I said. “It’s okay, he’s listening with me. Naomi, did Chloe submit a late-night work pass for last night?”“No,” Naomi said, her keys clicking faster. “According to her official schedule posted on the HR portal, Chloe took a personal emergency leave yesterday evening at 6:00 PM. She filed a form claiming she was out of town at her sister’s house in upstate New York from 6:00 PM yesterday until 8:00 AM this morning.”“She claimed she was out of town, but her badge swiped into the building at 1:45 AM?” I asked, leaning forward.“Yes,” Naomi said. “And look at the secondary log. Her badge swiped out of the executive garage at 2:15 AM. Exactly fifteen minutes after the bid package was sent to Carter Innovations.”“She lied on her HR form to give herself an alibi,” Adrian said quietly, his dark eyebrows pulling together. “She wanted everyone to think she was few hours away if IT audited the timestamps.”“Now check the other three dates in my notebook,” I urged Na
Olivia pov;“Naomi, please don’t hang up,” I said into my phone, my voice shaking as I gripped the cool plastic receiver in Luca’s kitchen.“Olivia? Is that you?” Naomi asked. Her voice came through soft and hesitant. “Where are you? Everyone in marketing is saying security escorted you out of Kingsley Tower few hours ago.”“I’m at a safe place with Luca and Adrian,” I said, resting my elbows on the wooden dining table. Spread out before me were my handwritten notes, the printed access logs, and the red pen I had used to circle the late-night maintenance windows. “They suspended me, Naomi. The board thinks I leaked the bidding package to Damian Carter at Carter Innovations.”“I knew that was a lie the second Jessica started spreading the rumor at lunch,” Naomi said quickly. Her tone turned sharp and firm. “You worked until midnight three days in a row to assemble those files. You wouldn’t give them to Carter Innovations. Nobody who knows you actually believes this, Olivia.”Hearing he
Chloe pov;“Put the file down, Jessica, before someone sees you!” I snapped, stepping into the empty conference room and closing the glass door behind me.Jessica jumped, almost dropping the blue paper folder in her hands. She pulled her hands back and pressed her back against the dark wood table.“I was just double-checking the board sign-in list,” Jessica said, her voice shaking slightly as she adjusted her designer blazer. “You don’t have to yell at me, Chloe.”“I don’t need you checking lists,” I said, walking toward her with quick, firm steps. My high heels clicked sharply against the hard tile floor. “I need you to stay at terminal 04 and make sure nobody touches the emergency logs. Olivia is suspended. Security walked her out of the building few hours ago. The board believes she leaked the bidding files, and Arthur Vret showed them the exact time stamps on the server.”A slow, satisfied smile spread across my face as I looked down at my neat, perfectly polished nails. For year
Olivia pov;I tapped the red pen against the page, then moved to the next sheet of paper.“Incident two,” I continued, my voice steady and sharp. “Another Few months past: crucial financial documents for the Riverwalk Plaza deal vanished from the shared drive right before Mason Grant’s presentation. Everyone blamed me because I had uploaded the files that morning. But look at my log. The deletion happened at 1:15 AM. The exact same time as the calendar wipe.”Luca gasped, leaning in closer. “The exact same time?”“Yes,” I said. “Now look at incident three: few weeks ago, a fake email was sent from my desk address to a local reporter, leaking minor gossip about the board. I proved I was in a meeting with Victor Hale when it was sent, so HR dropped it. But the server command used to spoof my email address was executed at 1:15 AM.”“And what about today?” Adrian asked, his voice low and serious. “ what time did the bidding package leak to Carter Innovations?”I flipped to the very last p
Olivia pov;“Give me the phone, Luca!” I shouted, pushing my chair back so fast it scraped loudly against the floor.“Olivia, wait, stay calm,” Luca said, his hand shaking as he held the black phone receiver out to me.I grabbed the phone and pressed it to my ear. “Marcus? Is that you? What happened to Ethan?”“Olivia, thank goodness you’re there,” Marcus’s voice came through the speaker, low and frantic. “Few minutes ago, someone accessed Mr. Kingsley’s private server using root admin controls. Every single file on his hard drive was deleted. When I ran upstairs to check his office, the door was wide open. His coat is still on his chair, his personal keys are on the desk, but he isn’t in the building. Security cameras on the sixty-fifth floor were wiped few minutes before it happened.”My heart hammered against my ribs. I held the phone tightly with both hands. “Did you check the parking garage? What about his private car?”“His car is still in his assigned space,” Marcus replied. “T
Olivia pov;“I’m allowed to yell!” Luca snapped, pouring hot tea into three ceramic mugs. He brought a mug over and pressed it into my cold hands. “Drink this. It’s chamomile.”I held the warm mug, letting the steam touch my face. “They had digital proof, Luca. My name was on the server logs at two in the morning. Victor Hale looked at me like I was a bug under his shoe.”“Victor Hale is an old man who only looks at balance sheets,” Luca said, sitting down right beside me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “He doesn't know you. We know you. You wouldn't steal a paperclip from that company, let alone confidential bids.”“Ethan tried to stop them,” I said, looking down at the pale yellow tea. “He argued with the board. But if he pushes too hard, they will turn on him too. Chloe knows that. She’s using me to tear down Ethan’s company.”“Then we tear her down first,” Luca said, his brown eyes flashing with anger.“We need to be smart, Luca,” Adrian said, leaning forward with his el







