Chapter 26

The maliciously edited video went viral instantly, igniting a firestorm across social media.

Hashtags like #CorporateEspionage and #BetrayalBetweenBesties skyrocketed to the top three trending topics. Keyboard warriors swung their moral bats, hurling verbal abuse at me in the comments.

"People like her belong in jail!"

"Poor Vivian Lancaster—betrayed by someone she trusted most."

Others dug up my job-hopping history, creating a nine-grid comparison of the two companies' performance metrics. Numbers don’t lie—Lancaster Tech's profits plummeted after my departure, while my friend’s company surged ahead.

The court of public opinion had already ruled.

When the police summoned me, my phone kept buzzing. My inbox overflowed with hate messages from unknown numbers.

In the interrogation room, Vivian walked in wearing a Chanel suit. Her "seduction-red" lipstick glistened, but she averted her eyes the moment she saw me.

"You never broke up with him," I said, locking onto her gaze. "Ethan stole the core code, and you helped him frame me."

Her lashes trembled violently.

Suddenly, the odd details from that day at the villa made sense—the AJ sneakers by the entrance, the lingering scent of tobacco in the bathroom, even those blue curtains she always hated.

"I... I had no choice," she whispered, gripping her Hermès bag strap. "Ethan’s only twenty-five. His whole life can’t be ruined over this."

A cold laugh escaped me. "So my nine years of loyalty deserve to be buried by your hands instead?"

Memories flooded back—her kneeling in the rain, lashed bloody by her father’s belt. Me smashing my piggy bank, spending every penny to buy her freedom.

"Remember what you said to me then?" My voice shook. "You swore you’d never betray me."

Her nails dug into her palms. "I’m sorry..."

Those two words severed my last shred of hope.

As I watched her flee, I wiped away my final tear.

She didn’t know I’d already backed up all the evidence in the cloud.

She didn’t know Ethan’s offshore account held eight million embezzled from Lancaster Tech.

The game had only just begun.