Chapter 3My Ten Minute Handover Ended Their Entire Company

1:50 PM, on the dot.

My phone, face down on the table, vibrated, its alarm a soft, single tone. I calmly reached out, silenced it, and slowly took a sip of the now-lukewarm coffee. It was still rich.

In that very instant, Liv’s cartoon avatar began frantic, full-screen jumping. A barrage of exclamation points hit my screen like machine-gun fire.

“IT’S CRASHED! SLOAN! IT’S ALL CRASHED!!!!”

“Everyone’s test screens just went white! Everything is gone!”

“Database access is DENIED! The admin portal is down! Nobody can log in!”

“Cassie’s face just went sheet-white! Seriously, whiter than the wall! She was just bragging to Garrett that everything was fine, totally locked down!”

I watched the text scroll by, observing a distant catastrophe. I could vividly picture the pandemonium in the office where I’d spent the last three years. The frantic click of mice, the hysterical tap of keyboards, peppered with programmers’ shocked shouts of "What the actual hell?"

Moments later, Liv sent a shaky, 10-second video clip. The camera was jumping; it was clearly a stealth recording.

In the background, Garrett’s voice was sharp and hysterical, his professional composure utterly shattered by rage and terror. “What is this! What in God’s name is happening! Where is the data! I had gigabytes of data! It was fine a minute ago!”

The camera quickly panned across the tech floor: chaos. Some were slamming their keyboards, others futilely hitting the refresh button on blank screens, still others just staring into space.

The last two seconds framed Cassie. She was slumped at her desk, eyes hollow, her lips bloodless. A broken puppet, muttering over and over: “No way… that’s impossible… I checked everything…”

Liv immediately followed up with a voice memo, her voice low but trembling with excitement. “Sloan, the entire department is losing it! Nobody knows what the glitch is! They’ve checked all the logs, and there’s no trace of an abnormal operation! Garrett is reading your handoff document for the tenth time, and it says nothing about this!”

My lips curved into a cold, satisfied smile. Of course it didn't. Why would I write the instructions for your final, glorious exit in the owner’s manual?

“The investors are arriving in ten minutes! They’ve called the front desk! Garrett is purple with rage, I swear! He looks like a bruised plum!” Liv’s commentary was pure cinema.

I picked up my small spoon and gently stirred the last bit of coffee in my cup, watching the miniature whirlpool. My mind was profoundly, utterly calm.

I slowly typed my reply to Liv.

“Does this affect you?”

“You’re new. They can’t blame you.”

“Keep your head down, Liv. Protect yourself.”

I sent the message, flipped the phone over, and settled back in the chair. The sunlight outside seemed even brighter.

I closed my eyes and drew a long, slow breath. Coffee aroma, warm sunlight. The profound satisfaction of justified payback washed over me in warm, steady waves.

Garrett. Cassie. You engineered a plan to steal my livelihood and smear my name. Now, at the peak of your arrogance, I have shattered the thing you coveted most.

And this, I knew, was only the opening act.