I Thought My Coworker Was Flirting With Someone Else Until She Pulled Me Aside and Told Me the Truth
Chapter 8
Elias looked older in person.
But there was no weakness in him.
He walked into the archive as if it belonged to him.
In a way, it did.
Daniel stood behind him.
I stepped in front of Hannah.
Elias smiled.
“Your father was stubborn.”
I stared at him.
“You killed him.”
“No.”
“You destroyed his life.”
“I offered him a job.”
“You threatened him.”
“He refused.”
“And then he died.”
Elias sighed.
“People die.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“My mother.”
He looked at her.
“Rebecca made a choice.”
“You killed her.”
“I gave her a choice too.”
Hannah’s hands shook.
Elias looked at me.
“You see?”
“What?”
“She still thinks she’s brave.”
I clenched my fists.
“What do you want?”
“The archive.”
“You already have it.”
“I need the original.”
Hannah frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the copy can be destroyed.”
He smiled.
“The original cannot.”
I looked at the hidden servers.
“Then destroy it.”
Elias laughed.
“You don’t understand.”
He pointed at Hannah.
“She is the original.”
Hannah froze.
“What?”
“The system’s access pattern was encoded into her memory.”
“You used her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Rebecca designed the only system I couldn’t break.”
“And Hannah?”
“The key.”
I looked at Hannah.
Elias continued.
“She was never supposed to know.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“She’s remembering now.”
Elias smiled.
“Good.”
He looked at me.
“And you’re exactly where I expected you to be.”
I felt cold.
“You wanted me here.”
“Yes.”
“To frame me.”
“Yes.”
“To use my father.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because people trust honest men.”
He smiled.
“And when honest men are accused, everyone believes it.”
Hannah stepped beside me.
“You’re not going to use him.”
Elias looked amused.
“You already did.”
I frowned.
“What?”
Elias pointed toward the computer.
A file opened.
My name.
My digital signatures.
My account activity.
Every fraudulent transaction.
It looked perfect.
“You’ve been inside the system for months.”
“I haven’t.”
“You don’t know what your credentials were doing.”
Hannah looked at the data.
Then shook her head.
“This is fabricated.”
Elias smiled.
“But it will survive an audit.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What about Hannah?”
Elias’s smile disappeared.
“She knows too much.”
My heart tightened.
“You’re going to kill her.”
“Not if she cooperates.”
Hannah stepped forward.
“Never.”
Elias turned to Daniel.
“Take them upstairs.”
Daniel nodded.
Two security guards moved toward us.
I thought we were trapped.
Then Hannah whispered,
“Look at the server clock.”
I glanced.
The archive system was still connected to the external network.
She had noticed something.
A live transmission indicator.
She had started sending the files out.
Elias saw the screen.
“What did you do?”
Hannah smiled.
“I told you.”
“What?”
“I don’t trust computers.”
She pointed to the live indicator.
“I trust copies.”
Elias lunged toward the server.
I pushed him back.
The guards rushed us.
Everything happened at once.
Hannah pulled the backup drive.
I grabbed her hand.
We ran.
Behind us, Elias shouted.
“Stop them!”
We reached the basement stairwell.
Hannah slammed the door.
We locked it.
For a moment, we stood there breathing hard.
“We’re not safe.”
“I know.”
“What did you send?”
“Everything.”
“How much?”
“All of it.”
I stared.
“What if the transmission was interrupted?”
She shook her head.
“It wasn’t.”
Then she looked at me.
“I need to tell you something else.”
“What?”
“I knew you before you joined the company.”
I froze.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“My mother showed me your photograph.”
“When?”
“When I was seventeen.”
“Why?”
“She told me you would be important.”
I stared.
“To her?”
“To the truth.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Then footsteps sounded above us.
Elias had found another way in.
Hannah grabbed my hand.
“Run.”
