Chapter 1

Late at night, the sharp ping of an automated alert cut through the silence of my apartment.

I glanced at my monitor. A critical project's source code, sealed under my department's authority, had been leaked to a competitor's server.

The system log showed the transfer was authorized from my encrypted credentials. It was a perfect frame-up.

Before I could even process the technical impossibility of it, my doorbell rang aggressively.

I opened it to find my boyfriend, Matthew Clark, and my best friend, Molly Chavez, standing there. Molly' s face was streaked with tears.

Matthew' s voice was cold, laced with an accusation that hit me harder than any system alert.

"Jennifer, how could you do this?"

He pushed past me into the apartment, his eyes scanning my setup as if looking for evidence.

"The company has been so good to you. To us. Corporate espionage? I never thought you were capable of this."

Molly sobbed quietly behind him, a perfect picture of a betrayed friend.

"I just can't believe it, Jen. Why?"

I stared at them, the two people I trusted most in the world. My mind raced, trying to connect the dots. The data leak, their sudden appearance, the rehearsed performance. It felt wrong.

"I didn't do it," I said, my voice firm despite the shock. "My credentials were spoofed. Someone is setting me up."

Matthew scoffed, a look of disappointment crossing his handsome face. "Spoofed? Jen, we're talking about your encrypted key. Only you have access. Don't make this worse by lying."

He was a Project Manager at the same tech firm, and I was the head of Data Integrity. He knew exactly how secure my credentials were, which made his accusation even more chilling.

I looked from his accusatory face to Molly' s tear-stained one. The betrayal was so sudden, so complete, it left me breathless.

Something inside me went cold. This wasn't just a work crisis. This was personal.