Chapter 5 - Echoes of the Theft
By the time I returned to the hospital,
the rumors of the fundraiser had spread through every department like wildfire.
Nurses and residents offered me quiet,
supportive nods as I walked down the corridors,
their loyalty remaining firmly with me.
I entered my office and found my sister,
Clara,
waiting for me,
her face pale with anxiety.
"Vivienne,"
she said,
rushing forward to hug me,
"I saw the papers,
they are calling it a security breach,
but everyone knows it was about Bennett's mistress."
"Let them talk,
Clara,"
I said,
hanging my coat on the hook behind the door,
"the truth is much more damaging than a simple affair."
"Bennett has been calling me all morning,"
she said,
her hands trembling,
"he sounds desperate,
he says you are trying to ruin him."
"I am not trying to ruin him,"
I said,
sitting at my desk and logging into the secure server,
"I am simply allowing him to experience the consequences of his own choices."
"But what about the research?"
she asked,
"he has access to the server,
Vivienne,
he could delete the files."
"He tried,"
I said,
pointing to the monitor screen which showed a series of failed login attempts,
"but I changed the encryption keys last night while he was still at the police station trying to bail Julianna out."
"You changed them?"
Clara asked,
a look of relief washing over her face.
"Every single one,"
I said,
"and I also discovered something else while reviewing the access logs."
"What?"
she asked,
leaning closer to the screen.
"Julianna has been downloading clinical data from my personal folder for the past three months,"
I said,
pointing to her cloned badge number,
"she was feeding the information to Bennett's private lawyers."
"They were going to steal your patent before you could even file for divorce,"
Clara whispered,
her eyes wide with horror.
"Yes,"
I said,
"they wanted to claim that Julianna was the co-inventor of the technology,
making it marital property that Bennett could claim in the split."
"That is sick,"
Clara said,
shaking her head in disbelief,
"how could he do that to you after everything you did for him?"
"Because Bennett does not see people,"
I said,
"he only sees stepping stones to his own ambition."
"What are you going to do with the download logs?"
she asked.
"I have already sent them to the district attorney's office,"
I said,
"corporate espionage is a very serious charge,
and Julianna will be the first one to fall."
"And Bennett?"
Clara asked.
"Bennett will watch her fall,"
May you like
I said,
"and then he will realize that he is standing on the very same ledge."
