“What are you trying to say, Rick?” I asked, my voice dangerously low.
“Just exploring all possibilities,” he said with a shrug.
“Enough,” Mr. Henderson cut in. “Chloe, we’re not trying to be unfair. Hand over your work to Rick for now. You’ll be on paid leave while we investigate.”
His voice softened.
“If you’re innocent, the company will clear your name.”
I looked at him, then at Rick’s smug face, and suddenly I understood.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate,” I said, standing up, holding on to the last of my dignity. “I trust the company will find the truth quickly.”
I left the meeting and went straight to HR to sign the suspension paperwork. The stares of my colleagues felt like physical blows. Back at my desk, as I was packing my personal items into a box, Rick sauntered over.
“You know, Chloe,” he whispered, “if you just confess, they might go easy on you.”
I looked up at him.
“What goes around comes around, Rick.”
His expression flickered. Then he sneered.
“We’ll see about that.”
I picked up my box and walked out without looking back. Downstairs on the street, I called Leo. When he answered, I didn’t know what to say.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, sensing my distress immediately.
“I’ve been suspended.”
I quickly explained what happened.
“Where are you? I’ll come get you.”
Half an hour later, I was in his car, my hands shaking as I tried to buckle my seat belt.
“Let’s go home and you can rest. I’ll make some calls. See what I can find out,” he said calmly.
“Do you believe me? That I didn’t leak anything?” I asked, looking at him.
“You don’t seem like the type,” he said, starting the car. “Besides, if you really needed money, you could have just asked me. It would be a lot less risky.”
I stared at him, a warmth spreading through my chest. The man I’d dated for three years probably wouldn’t have believed me. This stranger I’d known for less than a week did without question. Back at my apartment, I lay on the couch, overwhelmed by exhaustion. The familiar cramping in my abdomen returned, sharper and more intense than ever before. I curled into a ball, clutching my stomach.
“What is it?” Leo asked, noticing my pained expression.
“My stomach. It really hurts.”
I gasped, a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. His face went pale.
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
At the emergency room, after a series of tests, the doctor came back with a grave look on her face.
“It’s a threatened miscarriage. You need to be admitted for observation,” she said sternly. “You’ve been under extreme stress, and your emotional state is volatile. It’s very dangerous for the fetus.”
I lay in the hospital bed, an IV drip in my arm, while Leo handled the admission paperwork. The sky outside was a bleak gray, a perfect match for my mood. My job was gone. My baby was at risk. And my marriage was a lie. How had my life gone so wrong? When Leo returned, he saw the tear tracks on my face. He was quiet for a moment.
“I just had a friend do some digging,” he said, handing me a cup of warm water. “The project lead at Starbrite Solutions is Rick Donovan’s old college roommate, and Rick met with someone from Starbrite last week.”
My eyes widened.
“You mean…”
“It’s just a theory. No proof,” he said, sitting by the bed. “But if he leaked the files and framed you, he must have left a trail.”
“But why? I never did anything to him.”
“You were in his way,” Leo reasoned. “Henderson is looking to promote a new VP. You and Rick were the top two candidates.”
I was stunned. I hadn’t even known about the promotion.
“Just rest for now. The baby is what’s important,” he said, tucking the blanket around me. “I’ll figure out the work stuff.”
“Why are you helping me so much?” I asked.
He was silent for a moment.
“We’re in the same boat now. Helping you is helping myself.”
It was a practical reason. But underneath it, I heard a note of something else. Something that sounded like kindness. I was in the hospital for three days. Maya came to visit, bringing a USB drive.
“I got a friend to pull the security logs from the office,” she whispered. “Guess what I found? Not only did Rick go through your desk, he plugged a flash drive into your computer.”
My heart pounded.
“Is there proof?”
“The camera caught him plugging it in, but you can’t see what he copied,” Maya said. “But my friend, the hacker one, says he might be able to recover your computer’s deleted activity logs.”
Just then, the door opened. Leo walked in, his face drawn and pale.
“I just got a call,” he said, his voice breaking. “My mom. She’s taken a turn for the worse. They’ve moved her to the ICU.”
My heart clenched.
“Is it serious?”
“The doctor said to prepare for the worst.”
He leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor.
“She wants to see you one last time.”
I pulled the IV needle from my arm and struggled to get out of bed.
“What are you doing?” Maya cried out.
“I’m going to see her,” I said, fighting a wave of dizziness.
“But the doctor said you can’t move.”
