All Chapters of A Screenshot Changed My Life—And Ruined His: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Caleb Knowles sauntered back to his desk. As he passed our team lead's station, he leaned in and muttered something under his breath. The two of them immediately glanced at me and exchanged a knowing smile. I opened WhatsApp and checked my privacy settings again. I'd blocked every single coworker from seeing my posts, and Caleb—saved in my contacts as "Operations - Caleb"—was clearly on the list too.So where the hell had that screenshot come from?I scrolled through my contacts again and again until I spotted a gray profile picture with the name "Southvale Industrial Park - Mr. Levine." He'd added me last month while we were working on the industrial park project, asking me to send over the first draft. I was so busy that I accepted his request without thinking. But after I sent him the file, he disappeared.Now, when I opened his WhatsApp profile, his Status was completely blank. There was literally nothing on his profile, which struck me as odd. I sent him a message. "H

Chapter 2

It wasn't until I was copying over last year's project archives that I noticed something strange. The e-commerce project that had won the company's Best Proposal of the Year award had a timestamp showing that the original draft showed its last modification time as 2:00 a.m. on a weekend.But that day, I clearly remembered having a fever and spending two days lying in bed at home. I hadn't even touched my computer.…The facilities supervisor shoved a broom into my hands, his face twisted into a scowl. "Clean all the restrooms on this floor today, and wipe down all the hallway windows. If the work isn't up to standard, it'll come out of your performance review."A few of the longtime facilities employees stood nearby with their arms crossed, leaning against the wall and watching me like I was some kind of joke.Then Caleb appeared out of nowhere. He walked straight across the floor I'd just finished cleaning, leaving two footprints behind."Well, well, well, Jethro," he drawle

Chapter 3

As I passed Caleb's desk, I deliberately slowed down and glanced at his screen. As expected, he was searching for design specifications, with several related pages open. I smiled to myself but said nothing as I headed back to the facilities department.Now and then, I'd deliberately complain to my coworkers in Facilities. "I was almost finished with that industrial park proposal, but then they transferred me."I kept my voice just loud enough for Caleb, who sat by the hallway, to hear. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He wasn't capable of doing the work himself, and every proposal he'd taken credit for before had been stolen from me. Now he'd personally assured Mr. Burton that he could handle this million-dollar project. If he screwed it up, all the credit he'd taken before would come crashing down.There was no way he'd resist accessing my computer again to steal whatever was left. Just as I expected, a little after three that morning, Caleb posted a WhatsApp Status

Chapter 4

The group chat went quiet for a moment. Paul was the first to jump in, his excitement practically spilling through every single word. "I've been saying all along that Jethro can't be trusted with his work! He nearly screwed up that smaller project last time, and Caleb had to clean up his mess."Mr. Burton, you need to look into this. Someone like him shouldn't be allowed to stay with the company!"Back in the facilities room, the lighting was dim, with only the fluorescent light overhead humming faintly. "@Jethro, get your ass to the conference room now!"The moment I saw the message, I slipped my phone into my pocket. I picked up the silver flash drive and walked out of the storage room.A few coworkers passed me in the hallway, and their expressions changed when they saw me. Some avoided me, while others stood around whispering. A few even pulled out their phones and started recording me. "That's him. He's the one who cost the company more than two million dollars.""I h

Chapter 5

Mr. Burton frowned. He asked, "What's this?""It's evidence." I pushed the flash drive a little closer to him. "Evidence that proves who was actually responsible for that two-million-dollar mess."Caleb stiffened, but he quickly slipped back into his usual victim act. "Jethro, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he said, sounding hurt. "Everything's already been laid out. Are you seriously trying to pin this on me?"I didn't look at him, my eyes remaining fixed on Mr. Burton. "Mr. Burton, before you decide I'm guilty, could you give me ten minutes to show everyone what's on this drive?"Mr. Burton was silent for a few seconds before glancing at Gordon. "Technically, he's entitled to explain his side," Gordon said, shrugging.Mr. Burton took a deep breath and nodded toward the projector. "Go ahead."I walked to the front of the conference table and plugged the flash drive into the laptop connected to the projector. My fingers slid across the trackpad as I opened the f

Chapter 6

Caleb shot to his feet, knocking his chair backward. "You're making this up!" he cried. "Those numbers were written by you.""Are you sure?" I calmly opened the third file. "Then let's take a look at the document metadata."A dense spreadsheet filled the screen."This is the complete revision history I extracted from the hard drive," I said. "Every change leaves a record of the username, timestamp, and exactly what was changed."I pointed to one of the entries with the laser pointer. "Take a look at this one. Timestamp: May 2, 2:15 am."Change made: 'Pending Confirmation' was replaced with the number '2.8'. Username: cknowles."I was asleep at 2:15 am on May 2. Caleb, what were you doing?"Caleb's lips began to tremble violently. He opened his mouth several times, but no words came out. The conference room was completely silent. Everyone's eyes shifted from Caleb to the projector screen, then back to Caleb. Mr. Burton's anger had given way to an eerie calm. "Caleb."

Chapter 7

"No wonder all Caleb's presentations went so smoothly. He stole every single one!"Paul stood at the back of the room, looking even more terrified than Caleb. He tried to back away, but there was a wall behind him. He had nowhere to go. Mr. Burton shot to his feet, sending his chair crashing backward into the wall. "Caleb, are you fucking insane?" he roared, his voice thundering through the conference room. "Do you have any idea what kind of crime you've committed here?"Tears immediately streamed down Caleb's face. "Mr. Burton, I'm sorry!" he cried, sliding out of his chair and dropping to his knees. "I'm really sorry. I just… I wanted so badly to do well on the project. I was afraid there'd be no one to take over Jethro's work after he was transferred. I was afraid it would hurt the company—""You were afraid it would hurt the company?" Mr. Burton grabbed the ashtray from the table and slammed it down in front of Caleb, sending ashes flying. "You cost my company two mill

Chapter 8

"Back then, I still thought Caleb was a good employee who genuinely cared about the company," Mr. Burton said, smiling wryly. "Looking back, I can't believe how blind I was."I said nothing.Mr. Burton looked up at me and asked, "When did you realize Caleb installed the monitoring software?""The day I was transferred," I admitted. "I noticed a strange process running in the background while I was going through my computer. Later, I had a friend of mine who works in IT look into it. That's when I found out it was remote-monitoring software.""Then why didn't you tell me right away?""I didn't have any proof." I held his gaze. "Mr. Burton, even if I'd told you that Caleb had installed monitoring software on my computer, would you have believed me?"Mr. Burton fell silent. "You wouldn't have," I answered. "You would've thought I was just upset about being transferred and trying to cause trouble. Meanwhile, Caleb had Paul backing him up, along with his WhatsApp Status about stayin

Chapter 9

"Jethro, please say something!" Caleb cried out. "I really didn't mean it. I just wasn't in my right mind…"I didn't stop. As he passed me, all I could hear was the metallic clinking of his handcuffs mixed with his sobs, growing fainter as he was led away.Paul, on the other hand, was huddled in the corner of the hallway, his face as white as a sheet. The moment he saw me coming, he instinctively shrank back."J-Jethro, I only said a few things to defend Caleb," he squeaked. "I didn't do anything else. I swear, I didn't know he'd installed monitoring software…"I stopped in my tracks and looked at him. "Guess what, Paul?" I bent down slightly and leaned closer. "Spreading false claims can get you into trouble too."His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the floor. Just then, Gordon walked out of the conference room and shot Paul a cold look. "Mr. Burton wants to see you in his office."The color drained completely from Paul's face. He stumbled toward Mr. Burto

Chapter 10

A month later, Caleb's case went to trial. I appeared in court as a witness. The courtroom was small, and a few people from the company sat in the gallery, along with Caleb's family. When Caleb was brought in, I barely recognized him. He'd lost at least 40 pounds. The suit that had once fit him perfectly now hung loosely from his frame. His hair had been cut short, and his cheekbones stood out sharply.His eyes swept across the gallery before finally landing on me. There was a mix of resentment, frustration, and something else I couldn't quite understand in his gaze.The prosecutor read the charges aloud—illegally accessing a computer system, unlawfully obtaining someone's personal information, and embezzlement.The evidence against him was overwhelming.Isaac's forensic report, the security footage from the office hallway, the access logs from my computer, the document revision history, and even the screenshots Caleb had posted on his WhatsApp Status about staying up late

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