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Someone gasped. Arjun and a few guys laughed. Aaron made a strangling noise at the back of his throat. And me? Well, I was staring at Jade, whose eyes bulged as wide as saucers, throwing death glares at Maddy.
Remind me never to get on her bad side…
"That's enough," Jeff coughed, though it sounded more like a choked laugh. "Maddy, back off. Jade, stop antagonizing her. This isn't the time for you two to go off on each other." He pressed his palms flat on the table, leaning forward with the movement. "Blizzard Games doesn't just have information about the game. They have the entire layout and design system. This is a huge problem. We can't risk having a mole in the company."
"Well, why are we here? Most of us had no idea about the project details and are only hearing about it for the first time." A young man I didn't recognize spoke up, earning murmurs of agreement. "Shouldn't you be focusing on the people that were actually in on it?"
To the best of my knowledge, only five people were on the team, including Aaron and me, and we were all heads of a department. The idea had been to have only the best working on the project, and while that had been flattering, the idea that one of us had done such a thing was terribly unsettling.
"Yes, well, I've decided to leave no stone unturned,” Jeff explained. “Every working computer in this building will be thoroughly examined until the culprit is found."
Just as he finished saying the word, the door opened, and two men walked in. For some reason, they were both dressed in black, which added an ominous feeling to their presence.
The crowd parted, and they marched straight to Jeff, as one of them leaned down to whisper something in his ear. The room was so silent that one could have heard a pin drop as everyone held their breath.
I had to remember to breathe so I wouldn't pass out. The whispering continued for about ten minutes, and I could've sworn I heard Jeff ask, “Are you sure?”
The man nodded, twisting his body sideways. It was then I saw what he was carrying.
My whole body froze.
Jeff nodded grimly, and the man straightened. I wasn't breathing.
Jeff's gaze traveled around the room before resting on me. "We’ve found the source of the leak."
There was a ringing in my ear that threatened to explode inside my head. I watched in part horror and part shock as the man handed my work laptop to Jeff—there was no mistaking it was mine because of the Jungle Justice stickers I put on it. He wore a stern look on his face, though his eyes never left mine.
"Felicity, this is your laptop, isn't it? The leak came from this machine. Care to explain?"
nineteen
Felicity
There have been times in my life when silence was the answer. Keeping my mouth shut was for the greater good and saved me from unnecessary drama.
But right now was not one of them.
"It's not me." My mouth moved of its own accord. "I swear it wasn't me."
"Then how do you explain the leak coming from your laptop?" Jeff pressed.
My gaze dashed frantically to Aaron, who was staring at me intensely. I thought I saw doubt flash in his eyes for a moment.
"Felicity would never—"
"I wasn't asking you, Maddy. Stay out of it." Jeff's angry gaze fell on her for a second before coming back to rest on me. "I hope you have a very good explanation of why your father has the details of our new covert game in the works that only you and I had the design layout to."
My blood was rushing to my heart at an alarming speed. My chest heaved with each breath I took as I tried to focus on stringing my thoughts together and not on the numerous pairs of eyes staring at me.
"I don't know how," I said lowly, licking my lower lip. "But I swear it wasn't me. I can't explain how it came from my laptop."
"Felicity!" Jeff thundered, sending Aaron shooting to his feet.
"Calm the fuck down, man." I heard him say. "Don't yell at her."
"Think about it," I argued, blinking furiously to hold back the rush of tears that had gathered in my eyes. "It's just as Arjun said: Why would I do something like that, knowing I would be the first person to whom every finger would be pointed? My father and I aren't even on good terms."
It was the most I'd said in front of anyone who wasn't Maddy, Aaron, or Jeff. My life was falling apart. It wasn't so much getting sued as losing my job—the very thing I didn't want.
