Beneath Her Bastard Boss

Chapter 125

“Luca,” Nicole said, a smile spreading across her face. “I’m so glad you could join us. I was just updating everyone on the situation.”

“So I heard,” Luca replied, his voice deceptively calm. He moved into the room with Sutton beside him. “Please continue. I’m very interested in your theory about sabotage.”

Nicole’s smile flickered but held. “I was explaining that the attack appeared to coincide with recent structural changes in the development department.” Her eyes flicked to Sutton, cold and calculating. Sutton was shocked by the depth of hatred in her eyes. “And that perhaps certain rushed promotions might need to be reconsidered.”

Luca nodded slowly, as if considering her words. “That’s an interesting hypothesis. Also interesting that you would question my judgment in front of everyone here.” He moved to the chair at the opposite end of the table from Nicole. “But before we continue with that, I’d like to review some evidence

we’ve uncovered.”

Nicole’s smile disappeared entirely now. “Evidence? I thought the Kingston system was wiped. How can you have evidence? Unless of course it’s been fabricated to cover a certain person’s tracks.”

“They didn’t try,” Luca confirmed. “Our system got shut down to protect our customers and also our systems from the threat.” He gestured to Sutton, who had taken a seat beside Jake. “Ms. Warner, would you please share what you found?”

Sutton tapped a few commands on the conference room system. The screen behind Nicole changed, displaying the security footage they had captured.

“This was recorded at 3:12 a.m. this morning,” Sutton said, her voice steady. “It shows two individuals accessing the building.”

The room watched in silence as the footage played. Nicole, clearly recognizable, stood next to a hooded figure who was typing at a terminal.

Nicole’s face drained of color.

“That’s not possible,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically thin. “This is… this must be doctored.”

“It’s not. Luca and I watched it as it unfolded,” Sutton replied calmly. She tapped another key, and the screen split to show a second feed. This one displayed the keystroke log from the terminal being used. “These are the exact commands entered at that terminal, at that exact time. By someone using Jake’s stolen security badge.”

All eyes turned to Jake, who looked genuinely shocked. “My badge was in my locker,” he said. “I swear, that’s not me.”

“We know it wasn’t you,” Luca cut in. “The man on the video is considerably larger than you. The badge was duplicated or stolen and returned later. We will of course need to give you a new one just to be safe.”

Nicole’s hands gripped the edge of the table. “This is absurd. I was working late. I happened to be in that area. I saw someone suspicious and followed them to investigate.”

voice hardening. “Why didn’t you activate a security alert? Why

going to

an advanced script specifically designed to corrupt Kingston’s database? That happened to be the exact database Sutton had protected with her virus detection

room was deafening. Everyone was

another key. The screen changed to show a log of system access records. “This shows the deactivation of the virus protection system. It was done using Nicole’s credentials, from her office computer, at 7:43 p.m. yesterday. Right before she left for the evening. There is proof that the hacker was trying to delete this information from the Cyber 10 system. But he didn’t know I had cloned the system to

setting me up! You’re the one with the computer skills, not me.” She pointed at

anything. She was a little worried they hadn’t heard anything about

his voice dangerously quiet. “Why would I?” He rested back in his chair, arms folded across his

“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you? She’s got you wrapped around her finger! It’s the only thing that explains

expression neutral, though her heart was pounding. She

Nicole,” Luca warned. “You’re only making

along,” Nicole continued, her voice rising. “You

Luca commanded, his voice

fell silent,

team. Until she showed up

are these,” Luca said, addressing the room at large. “Someone deliberately deactivated the security protocols on Kingston’s server using Nicole’s credentials. Hours later, a professional hacker accessed our systems with Nicole present, attempting to corrupt or destroy client data. When that failed, a second attempt was made early this morning. What Nicole didn’t know was that a second person had paid this hacker to corrupt the Cyber10 system.” Shock

“You’re lying,” Nicole screamed.

not only Kingston

Nicole looked away.

sabotage. These actions have put our

her head. “You can’t prove I had anything to do with this. That footage doesn’t show

She tapped another key, and the screen showed a different camera angle. This time, Nicole could clearly be seen handing something to the hooded figure. “The object you passed to him was a data drive containing the specific bypass codes needed to access the Kingston database. Codes only you and Luca

Nicole’s face went ashen.

Sutton continued, “we’ve traced the hacker. His name is Miles Miller, codename Ghost. He’s a known cybercriminal who specializes in data

a false name, with a considerable sum of money recently deposited into an offshore account linked to him. Money that came from an account we’ve traced back to

him,

been

ab

boy.

room was completely silent now, all eyes fixed on Nicole.