Chapter 2Warnings Saved Me From Her Trap

After work, I drove straight to the apartment on Chestnut Street.

Behind the entryway door, near the bottom frame, was a faint pencil mark.

Beside it were crooked, faded numbers written years ago: Nora, age twenty. Remember to come home even when you grow up.

It was the final height mark my father had drawn for me during the last year of his life.

I stood in the quiet hallway, staring at those faded pencil lines for a long time.

Then, I got to work.

By the time Audrey arrived with two officers from the notary public, I had turned on every light in the apartment.

The living room, master bedroom, study, kitchen, balcony, and bathroom were bathed in bright light.

We recorded continuous video footage covering every single corner.

Door locks, window latches, the Wi-Fi router, my desktop computer, bookshelves, and tamper-evident seals on the drawers were all captured clearly on camera.

Audrey watched me, her eyebrows drawing together. "Who exactly are you protecting yourself against?"

"A pregnant woman."

Her hands paused mid-action. "You can't make accusations like that lightly."

"I know. That's why I'm only collecting evidence."

In front of the notary officials, I updated the master password for the smart lock system and revoked every temporary access code ever created.

The visitor pass code I had given Sam months ago was completely wiped from the system.

System Notification: Access permission successfully removed.

I took a screenshot and uploaded it straight to my encrypted cloud storage.

Next, I restored my old home router to factory settings and requested remote technical support from Ray, the head of our IT security department.

Ray listened to my instructions on the phone, remaining silent for a long moment.

"Are you absolutely certain you want to wipe the authentic bidding documents from your personal local drive?"

"Positive."

"Then what are we leaving on your home computer?"

"A honeypot file."

"How fake are we talking?"

"Fake enough to look entirely real, but embedded with tracking code so every interaction leaves a permanent digital footprint."

Ray let out a low chuckle. "Got it."

At one in the morning, a text from Sam popped up on my phone.

"Still working, babe? I ordered some warm milk for you. It's waiting at your office front desk."

A second later, Simone posted a message in the main project group chat.

"It was my fault today for putting Nora in an uncomfortable position."

"Please don't blame her, everyone. I'll come in early tomorrow. Even if I live far away, I won't let it slow down our project progress."

Comforting messages flooded the chat immediately.

"You're already working so hard, Simone."

"Don't cry, take care of your health first."

"Some people get promoted into management and completely forget how hard life is for ordinary staff."

I didn't reply.

A bullet comment drifted lazily across my screen.

[Don't touch that document folder at the front desk.]

[There's a flash drive inside. The moment you plug it into your computer, it will install remote-access spyware.]

I checked my phone.

The receptionist had just sent a notification: "Ms. Ellis, someone dropped off a late-night snack for you along with a document folder. They said it contains important review materials."

I typed back: "Leave it untouched under the lobby security camera. I'll have IT security collect it tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Ray walked into my office holding an anti-static bag.

"You've got terrifying instincts, Nora."

"The flash drive contains a custom Trojan horse disguised as a PDF reader plugin. The second it touches a PC, an external party gains full remote file access."

I looked at the sleek black drive. "Can we trace the origin?"

"No fingerprints on the casing, but we can trace the hardware batch number."

"Also, the courier wore a mask, but the lobby camera captured a clear side profile."

Audrey stood beside my desk, her face darkening. "Nora, from this moment on, do not handle any project materials in private."

I nodded. "I need to file a formal compliance disclosure with the company."

"Regarding what?"

"My boyfriend, Sam, is the project lead for our main competitor on this bid."

Audrey let out a rare curse. "Why are you only telling me this now?"

I kept my voice low. "Because I only realized today that he might be far more than just a boyfriend."