Chapter 7 - The Sabotage
The euphoria of the gala was shattered the following Tuesday.
Marcus arrived at the office to find his keycard deactivated. Security escorted him up to the executive boardroom, where Evelyn, Richard Sterling, and the head of legal were waiting.
Evelyn’s face was a mask of pale, impenetrable stone. She wouldn't look at him.
"What's going on?" Marcus demanded.
Richard threw a thick dossier onto the table. "What's going on, Thorne, is that the independent auditors found a massive structural flaw in the foundation blueprints for Harbor Point. A flaw that would have cost the firm eighty million dollars to fix, and one that bears your digital signature."
Marcus felt the blood drain from his face. "That's impossible. I double-checked the load-bearing calculations myself. They were flawless."
"The audit says otherwise," Richard sneered. "And worse, the digital logs show the blueprints were altered late at night from your IP address at the Zenith penthouse. It looks like gross negligence. Or deliberate sabotage."
"Evelyn," Marcus pleaded, looking at the CEO. "You know I didn't do this."
Evelyn stared straight ahead, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "The evidence is compelling, Marcus. Pending a full investigation, you are suspended without pay. Your access to the company servers is revoked. Please hand over your corporate phone."
Marcus felt a physical pain in his chest. It wasn't about the job; it was the betrayal. After everything they had shared, she was turning into the Ice Monarch again, freezing him out.
May you like
He dropped his phone onto the table, his jaw clenched tight. "If this is how it ends, fine. But I'm going to prove I didn't do this."
He walked out, the heavy boardroom doors slamming shut behind him, leaving his world in ruins.
