er cheek, artfully applied with makeup, and her eyes were red-rimmed as if she' d been crying for days. She wore old, simple clothes, a s

r. Chloe stood stiffly, not returning the embrace. "Leo... he hit me. He took

ing lip, in every fake tear. She knew from Marcus' s latest report that Leo was waiting in a car j

al as she gently detached herself from Bella' s hug.

owing the Trojan horse through the gates, fully aware of the soldier

"Thank you, Chloe. You won' t regret t

double meaning in her words that Be

ooked, she cleaned, she spoke in soft, deferential tones. Chloe watched her, a predat

she watched a live feed from the micro-camera installed in the main office downtown. Around 2 a.m., a

t-the same kind of device that had been used to corrupt her files in the past-and plugged it into the machine. She began rap

This was it. The confirmation she didn' t

ts onto the USB drive, and then, just as Chloe expected, she navigated to the system' s p

that was too simple, too clean. A simple arrest for theft wouldn' t undo the damage. It wouldn' t make Vance pay.

he trash bin and hit "Empty Trash." The files, representing months of work and millions of dollars in potential revenue, vanish

deleted were fakes. They were brilliantly crafted decoys, filled with subtle but critical flaws that would make any building

as "at the office dealing with a major server crash," Bella ransacked the apartment. She he

ed was insatiable. She believed she had crippled Chloe, that the company was

all. Meet me at the airport in

ds, the apartment' s main entrance was flung open. Two police officers

, her voice like ice.

her purse, the stolen jewelry spilling across the floor wit

hloe said, gesturing to the officers. "She has a USB drive in her pocket containing what

eaming Bella. "You set me up!" Bella shrieked, he

eras, tipped off by an anonymous source, suddenl

sister tried to steal from your

ggling with some personal issues. She has fallen in with a very bad crowd. As a result, our family has made the diffic

cument, combined with Bella' s very public arrest, created an undeniable narrative. Chl

y she would not press the most serious charges of corporate espionage. The theft charg

ou have her dead to rights. We

believe this is a family matter that re

ook at Bella. Her leniency made them suspicious, but also relieved. They thought they had dodg

being betrayed by her own flesh and blood. The story of the "server crash" and the attempted theft made her look resilient and strong. Investors who had b

have ever asked for. She was controlling the narrative now, turning her sister' s poison into h