“The vendor review meeting with Daniel Pierce is at 4:00 PM today,” Meredith checked her Rolex. “It’s 1:00 PM now. If Alexander signs that contract, my firm is legally exposed, and you go to prison for corporate espionage. Women like us don’t let mediocre men destroy our lives, Victoria. Get the tape.”
I left the restaurant with my blood practically humming. I was locked out of the building, but I knew the architecture of my own prison.
At 2:30 PM, I slipped through the loading dock behind the building, timing my entry with the daily delivery of office supplies. I wore a baseball cap and kept my head down, navigating the labyrinthine basement corridors until I reached the service stairwell.
Climbing twenty flights of stairs felt like ascending Everest, my lungs burning, but adrenaline fueled my legs. I cracked the door to the IT department.
The security server room was at the back. It required keycard access, but IT was notoriously lazy. At 2:45 PM, exactly on schedule, the security chief left his desk to grab his afternoon coffee, leaving the heavy door propped open with a fire extinguisher.
I darted inside. The room was freezing, humming with the sound of a hundred server racks. I slipped behind the main console, my hands flying across the keyboard. I bypassed the standard login using a backdoor diagnostic code Chloe had once drunkenly bragged about.
Search: Camera 4B. Date: Thursday. Time: 19:00 to 20:00.
The footage loaded. I held my breath. There it was. Alexander, looking over his shoulder, slipping into my dark office. Ten minutes later, he emerged, slipping a small flash drive into his pocket.
“Got you,” I whispered. I plugged Meredith’s USB drive in and initiated the download.
Transferring… 40%… 60%…
Suddenly, the heavy server room door creaked open.
“Hey, who left this door propped?” a gruff voice echoed in the room. Heavy work boots thudded against the raised floorboards.
I dove under the main console desk, pulling my knees to my chest, the cold metal biting into my spine.
Transferring… 85%… 95%…
The footsteps stopped right in front of the desk. Through the gap, I saw the tips of a security guard’s boots. My heart hammered so violently I was sure he could hear it over the hum of the servers.
Ping. The transfer complete notification flashed softly on the screen above me.
The boots shifted. A hand slammed down on the desk directly over my head.
I clamped my hand over my mouth, suffocating my own scream.
“Damn servers always overheating,” the guard muttered. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard above me, oblivious to the completed transfer window hiding behind the diagnostic screen.
He turned and walked back toward the door. “Better tell maintenance to check the cooling units.” The heavy door clicked shut behind him.
I let out a breath that felt like it had been trapped in my lungs for a century. I snatched the USB drive, scrambled out from under the desk, and slipped out of the server room like a ghost.
It was 3:50 PM.
I didn’t take the service stairs this time. I walked directly into the executive elevator, hitting the button for the top floor. I wasn’t sneaking anymore. I was going to war.
The glass walls of the main executive boardroom were frosted, but I could hear the murmur of voices inside. I pushed the heavy double doors open with enough force that they banged against the walls.
The room went dead silent.
Alexander stood at the head of the table, a laser pointer in hand, projecting a slick graph onto the screen. Penelope sat to his right, looking horrified. And at the far end, leaning back in his leather chair with his fingers steepled, sat Daniel Pierce.
“Security!” Penelope shrieked, jumping up. “Victoria, you are suspended! How did you get in here?”
Alexander’s face drained of color, his charm instantly dissolving into panic. “Mr. Pierce, I apologize. This is the deranged ex-employee I warned you about. She’s unstable.”
I ignored them both. I walked straight down the length of the mahogany table, my eyes locked on Daniel.
“I have the floor,” I said, my voice ringing with an authority I didn’t know I possessed.
